A junior fine arts major will be representing Ball State University in the upcoming mtvU VJ Search finals. Joshua McCutchen, who was announced as Ball State's representative after contest winner Brad Oman was discovered to be a Purdue University student, made it to the second round after producers narrowed the selection from 10 students to five.
MTV representatives originally came to campus on Monday, October 11 to hold auditions for video-jockey positions on MTV's college network, mtvU. An estimated 275 students came out for the event, but McCutchen believes that a combination of personality traits and timing played a role in influencing producer's decisions.
"I almost missed out on the auditions," McCutchen said. "I was in class at the time. Some of the people in my class encouraged me to try out... and I was the last person to get a video interview. I was really nervous; I'd been up all night, I was dirty.
"During the first audition, they asked me why I thought I would be a good VJ, and I told them I would just be getting down... just being myself. I did some beat-boxing and all of this crazy stuff, and I guess they liked it, because then I was asked to do a video interview."
After the first round, producers selected the best five students from the original 10 and sent them to New York City to begin the final round. From there, the finalists tried their hand at the VJ position by interviewing rapper Ja Rule. McCutchen saw an opportunity to relax and let his sense of humor do the work by asking questions like, "If Ja Rule were a car, what type of car would he be?" and "Do you take multi-vitamins to maintain your youthful presence?"
Along with the interview, McCutchen cites a visit to Total Request Live as one of the trip's highlights. Here McCutchen saw Destiny's Child and showed off his dance moves to Times Square.
"I started dancing crazy and they let me up on the stage," McCutchen said. "I was screaming 'Come on New York!' and 'Let's get this party started!' Next thing I know I'm on the jumbo-tron."
"I was just trying to have a good time with all of it," McCutchen said. "It was very laid back. I hung out with the other contestants the whole time. All of the people were really nice; I just don't think they've met someone like me. Seems like there's a really good vibe, I think I have a good chance."
Voting for the contestants will begin today and last through the week. Contestant profiles and voting information is available on mtvU or at www.mtvu.com/music/road_trip.
McCutchen wants to be sure to remind Ball State of his presence in the competition, saying, "I need everyone to go out and vote for me. I've got charisma, I'm high energy!"
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