Mahalo Vlog Idol

Wednesday, May 21st, 2008 | Uncategorized

Mahalo is a company that has made a [very good] human-powered search engine. Check it out at Mahalo.com

One of the things they also do is a daily podcast called, you guessed it, Mahalo Daily. It’s a short 5 minute video podcast about a ton of different topics, most of which are pretty interesting, informative, or entertaining. It used to be hosted by Veronica Belmont (@veronica on Twitter), but she recently left to go to Revision3, and now they’re looking for a new co-host. They decided to have a competition and play it American Idol style, and they’ve narrowed it down to 6 people. Each of those 6 put together their own episode of Mahalo Daily for review.

Here are the 6, in order of my most to least favorite.

1. Kristina Allison

I originally wasn’t too fond of Kristina in her early interviews. She had no real experience, but she pulled through as the “dark horse” as Mahalo CEO (and Idol judge) Jason Calacanis put it. That said, this girl knows what she’s doing. Her questions were fantastic, and her interview skills were great. The energy level was a little flat in this one, but I doubt that will be a problem once she does a couple more, given her previous stuff.

2. Nadine Heimann

I have no strong feelings either way about Nadine, really. Would she make a good host? Sure. This video reminds me a lot of what Mahalo Daily has been in the past. Would I be sad if she wasn’t picked? Probably not, it was good; not fantastically wonderful, but entertaining.

3. Leah D’Emilio

One of the things I like about Leah is her professionalism. Even just by the quality of the narration, I feel like I’m learning something. While I think it’s a great quality, it’s probably a weakness in this arena. One of the things about Mahalo Daily, especially with a guy like Lon Harris as co-host (check out some of the earlier MDs), is that it can be very light and funny. Not to say that she can’t be funny, but I think the contract would be a bit too distinct. If she doesn’t make it here, I think she’d be great on a “real” news program.

4. Michelle Hummel

Michelle started out as one of my favorites. She nailed the first audition, she’s a techie-in-disguise, as it were, and overall she seemed like a great choice. After watching this though, I have the same issue as with Nadine: it wasn’t bad in any way, but it didn’t really shine in any way either.

5. Andrea Rene

I have mixed feelings about Andrea. She’s enthusiastic about the show, and the topic was a good pick, but I have to agree with one of the commenters. Every time she started to turn around with the loaded gun, I winced. If it was just once, not a huge deal, she’s a newbie; forgivable. But she kept doing it, and it gives a very unprofessional vibe.

6. Sarah Atwood

To be honest, I never really liked Sarah, and this video reinforces my position. I think it was a great topic, fitting for Mahalo Daily (”Mahalo” is Hawaiian for “Thank you.”), but the video just did not sit well with me. For one, the use of the Hawaiian music was alright, but when it switched to “Gonna Make You Sweat”, that was a horrible transition, and that song really had no place in this video.
I really don’t mean to be so harsh, but I just can’t see any reason why she deserves to be any higher on my list.

Well, there are my picks for Mahalo Vlog Idol, based on their Mahalo Daily videos. I really wasn’t expecting to put Kristina on top, but a “dark horse” she is, and I think she’d make a great co-host.

Mahalo everybody!

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10 Comments to Mahalo Vlog Idol

Daniel Ehrlich
May 21, 2008

I’d go with #6.

Erik
May 21, 2008

I liked Andrea Rene best and Nadine Heimann 2nd.

Zara
May 21, 2008

Michelle Hummel is my choice. She was professional and yet personal. It was informative and entertaining.

Bill Green
May 21, 2008

I really like Leah and I think she did a fantastic job. Andrea Rene was acceptable. The rest are well-meaning amateurs and I think they degrade Mahalo Daily brand that Veronica and the team built. You may call it edgy, I call it lacking.

John
May 21, 2008

Andrea 1st, Kristina 2nd. I don’t think any were bad, but I didn’t appreciate them as much as these two.

Andrea is very pretty, funny and interacts well during the interview. Sure she waved the gun around a bit, but no one was hurt and it’s not like she pointed it at the guy. She didn’t pick some liberal nonsense topic; she picked something out of her comfort zone and wasn’t afraid to try it.

Kristina’s show was great. I liked it a lot because of the topic.

paul
May 21, 2008

Leah D’Emilio is my fav, hope to see more of her in the near future. If not here on rev3

paul

Techzen
May 21, 2008

My picks are a tie for 1. Kristina & Leah (I’d hire them both)3. Nadine 4. Andrea 5.Michelle 6.Sarah

Sarah Atwood
May 22, 2008

I enjoyed getting to know Kristina the most. She is a genuinely nice gal and has blossomed so much in such a short time.

Lee McKusick
May 22, 2008

Wow! That was quick! =)

I do want to mention two things real quick:
1. Sarah, you took the time to come here and comment, and that gives you mega bonus points in my book.
2. About Andrea, I can’t out my finger on it, but there’s just something about her that would take me a little bit to get used to if she was chosen. I wouldn’t mind, though, since she’s obviously having fun; plus, the clip at the end was great.

But, in the end, I do stand by my order. Thanks all for coming and sharing your input!

Kristina Allison
May 22, 2008

@ Sarah. You are so nice =) and definitely made me feel comfortable. In my opinion, genuinely nice and good people are hard to come by, but you are definitely one of them.

Thanks for the blog Lee!

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