PV grad is Star Search finalist


Fiyah

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By:Frederick Roberts

Special to the News Citizen February 06, 2003

PRAIRIE VIEW
- Star Search 2003 will not be the same since one of Prairie View's Productive People, Yolanda Gill, engineer turned Loni Love, comedian, won the semi finals and a place in the finals on Feb. 6, on Houston's KHOU CBS Channel 11 at 7 p.m. The winners of the show earn $100,000 and a role in a major show on CBS TV.

On her way to the finals, Loni was the only contestant the judges favored twice with a perfect score of 20. In her first appearance she garnered 20 points from the judges and 18 points from the American Public. On the second round, she scored 20 points again from the judges and 17 from the public. Her phenomenal performance invoked various comments from the judges.

"You're phenomenal," raved Carol Leifer, who gave her five stars.

Naomi Judd told Loni, "Three words: at-ti-tude. That gives you five stars."

Ben Stein raved with enthusiasm about Loni: "She could read the phone book and it would be five stars!"
Tyrese agreed with the others and also gave her five stars.

If a perfect score from the judges during the preliminaries is any indication of her enormity, her fans expect Loni to walk away with the title, $100, 000 and an appearance in a major CBS Show.

When Loni served as president of the Pan Hellenic Council and as a student assistant in Student Activities at Prairie View A&M University in 1990, being a comedian was a far cry from engineering because she was such a serious honor student and rarely let her hair down. Perhaps Loni was bitten by the bug while working with the entertainment committee of the Campus Activities Board at the University.

Yolanda is employed as an engineer with a major corporation in Los Angeles, a position she's held since her graduation from Prairie View A&M in 1991.

As a student, Yolanda held membership in several organizations, including the National Society of Black Engineers and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Her honors include the Prairie View Spirit Award, runner-up for the Prairie View Woman Award and Who's Who Among Students in the American Colleges and Universities.

Richard Pryor, Chris Rock, Robin Williams, Flip Schultz and John Reep are among some of her favorite comedians.

A win on Star Search should put her closer to meeting some of these luminaries in the industry.


Producers of Productive People



Loni Love & John Roy


In the closest competition of the evening, Chicago Comedian John Roy won tonight's Final battle for $100,000, a CBS development deal and a guest-starring role on a CBS program.

First up in the Comedian category was Loni Love, whose energetic routine focused on airline travel and the Middle East. Pressed for time, the judges scored Loni without comment. Despite their silence, the judges let their appreciation for Loni be known in their scores. Loni received 4 stars from Carol Leifer and Ben Stein and 5 stars from Jessica Simpson and Naomi Judd.

John Roy performed second, telling jokes about rap music and ethnicity. Carol Leifer, calling him "fresh, clever," gave John 5 stars, as did Jessica Simpson. Ben Stein gave him a "very good" and 4 stars, and Naomi Judd matched his score.

The judges tied Loni and John 18-18, and it was up to the home audience to break the tie. When home scoring was tallied, a mere one star made all the difference: John Roy won with 33 stars, and receives $100,000, a CBS development deal and a guest spot on a CBS show
 
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