For anyone who has ever aspired to be the country-esque equivalent of Howard Stern, or maybe someone a bit subtler in their on-air approach, your time has arrived.

Local country station KAJA 97.3 — more commonly known as KJ 97 — is holding a KJ Kountry Idol contest, in which people can submit audio or video clips with the winners getting to serve as temporary sidekicks to morning show host Randy Carroll. The contest has no definitive end date, and listener voting will determine who gets to try out on the air.

“At the very least, people can go on the air and try out,” said Carroll, who has more than 20 years experience in the radio industry. “Who knows — we might even discover a good talent. But what we're trying to do is have some fun with it.”

Anyone who's interested in entering the KJ Kountry Idol competition can submit an audio or videotape — no more than two minutes in length — to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Officials have asked that submissions include “KJ IDOL” in the e-mail subject line, plus name and contact information in the text. More information on the contest is available at kj97.com.

“We'll see what transpires, but I don't really know what (listeners) will take into account,” Carroll said. “We took a call from this lady (last week), and she said people will just vote for whoever is best looking, because that's how shallow we all are ..... I told her that I don't think the business is based on that. Look at me. I've been doing this for 25 years, and I'm not particularly good looking.”

As for Carroll, he has criteria of his own considering he will be paired with those selected.
“An ideal type of co-host, for me, would be someone who's not exactly like me,” Carroll said. “Of course, someone sitting across the room just told me there's no one like me, and thank God ..... We want a different attitude, someone who's not as redneck conservative (as Carroll). Bring a different point of view.”

CLINT HALE | 210SA