CBC's "Best Duet Ever" with us Common People at the Cobalt

CBC's On the Coast has become an afternoon ritual for me.

CBC's On the Coast has become an afternoon ritual for me. Most weekday afternoons I'll be streaming it in our office between 3 and 5 (it goes til 6), being kept up to date with all of the issues that are affecting our city, plenty of new music, sports, arts and culture news, topped off with a dose of random good fun. With the help of their wonderful producers, the on-air team of Stephen Quinn (the regular host), Matthew Lazin-Ryder, Lisa Christiansen and Shane Foxman deliver a daily look at our city that is not to be missed.

Source: cbc.ca/onthecoast

I mostly listen for the interviews and the news but it's that "random good fun" that sets them apart. A few weeks back they launched a contest called Best Duet Ever, with the concept being to reach out to their audience and ask us what we thought was... well... the best duet ever, then have us profess our love and the case for each of these tunes. One song would be ultimately decided upon as the winner and at the end of it all they were to draw a name out of a hat of the folks who made nominations and that person drawn would sing a duet with Quinn at a karaoke night at the Cobalt. The voting closed on Friday and the event was last night, and it was festive to say the very least.

When I arrived I - like everyone else in the packed room - was greeted by Stephen, and the experience was not what I had expected. He told me there had been a lineup to get in only a few minutes earlier, and I asked him if it was a single file line of solo nerds like myself (of course I mean this in the best way possible), as listening to his show really is a solitary exercise for me. His answer was that the room was full of family and friends, and as I got past my own awkwardness and talked with many others in that room I discovered what I probably already knew: that this was an honest to goodness community. The producers, the on-air folks, all of their friends, and a legion of listeners (solitary or not) who love what On The Coast is and does, we are all in this together.

Tessa Wright (aka @macaroni_duck) won the random draw to sing a duet with Stephen Quinn and they belted out Common People by Pulp, with Stephen showing us that not only is his vocal range better than he let on, but the man can dance. The song was a fitting selection by Tessa as this night, and this contest overall, was meant to bring together all of us "common" people and include us in our CBC.

Stephen Quinn and Tessa Wright. Common People.