Swank Earns A Thumbs-Up From Ebert

Hilary Swank is getting rave reviews in New York and L.A. for her tour de force performance in the just-released indie film “Boys Don’t Cry.”

She plays a young Nebraska woman who poses as a man, based on a true story. Critic Roger Ebert has praised the “enthusiastic purity” of her performance.”

If the name Hilary Swank rings a bell, maybe it’s because she’s a local. She lived in Spokane from age 3 to age 7, and then moved to Bellingham for a few years. She moved back to Spokane at age 16, and shortly after that, in 1991, she moved down to Los Angeles to pursue her acting career.

She soon landed a key role in the film version of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” and then she was given the title role in “The Next Karate Kid.” She was also in the TV show “Beverly Hills 90210” as Carly Molloy.

And now, with “Boys Don’t Cry,” she has a career that is getting her profiled in The New York Times.

Changes at The Peak

Old names are leaving and new ones are arriving at KAEP-FM (The Peak, 105.7).

Haley Jones, the program director and morning person, took off for California where she will work for Trauma Records. Jennifer Bell, mid-day jock, went back to Montana, where her husband got a new job. Geoff Scott, evening jock, went to KHTQ-FM (Rock 94.5), where he’s now doing afternoons. Promo guy Jeff Downz also went to Rock 94.5.

Meanwhile, the suavely named Dom Casual has arrived via Salt Lake City and the Bay area as the new program director. Jonathan Mick is doing the evening shift.

Roy Plumisto is handling mornings by himself after the departure of partner Jones, according to operations manager Ray Edwards.

Contested issue

KISC-FM (Lite Rock KISS 98.1) is holding a $10,000 Workday Payday contest, and some people (read, people at rival stations) are calling foul.

At issue is a practice known as “collective contesting” in which a radio chain holds the same contest simultaneously in more than one market.

Here’s how the $10,000 Workday Payday contest works. You listen for the Workday Payday Song of the Day, then you call a toll-free number. If you are the 25th caller, you win $1,000 and are automatically entered to win the $10,000 grand prize.

What Spokane listeners may or may not know is that they are also competing with listeners in two other markets, Fresno and Colorado Springs. The same contest, with the same song and the same toll-free number, is playing simultaneously at AMFM Inc. stations there. In the contest’s first week, two of the daily winners were from Spokane; the other five were from Fresno or Colorado Springs.

This is all perfectly legal. One other group of stations in the Midwest is running contests with 12 stations simultaneously.

But the question is: Do Spokane listeners realize that they are competing with a pool of contestants three times bigger? A KISC-FM contest calendar failed to mention this detail.

However, Rob Harder of KISC-FM said that they are upfront about it in their on-air promotions. And he said the intention is not to mislead, but merely to pool resources.

“The main reason we are doing these kinds of contests is to offer larger prizes than we could offer otherwise,” said Harder.

So it sounds like there is nothing inherently wrong with this, as long as listeners know. And now you know.

Beatlemania at Oldies 101

KEYF-FM (Oldies 101.1) will be one of 12 stations nationwide to broadcast live from London’s Abbey Road Studios to celebrate the 30th Anniversary re-release of the Beatles’ “Abbey Road” album this week.

Morning host Beau Tyler will be on-site at London’s most famous musical crossroads, broadcasting Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m.

The shows will include numerous Beatle-related interviews and other special events. The entire event is coordinated by Paul McCartney’s publicity department.

Tyler said the station considers the invitation a “tremendous honor,” especially since all of the other stations are from much bigger markets, such as San Francisco and Detroit.

The show can also be heard on sister station KEYF-AM (1050).

Sevendust cancellation

Yesterday’s Sevendust concert at the Spokane County Fairgrounds was cancelled for an extremely good reason: The drummer’s wife was having a baby by Caesarean section and the drummer needed to be at her side.

We’re sure that there were some disappointed fans, but we’re also glad that the drummer had his priorities straight.

Fairgrounds venue?

Cancelled or not, this concert brings up the question: Since when did they start holding national-act rock shows at the Interstate Fairgrounds (or, as it is now officially called, the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center)?

As of last week, that’s when. Dolly Hughes, the Fair and Expo Center director, said that they see this as a new and natural use of the facilities. Concerts can be held at either the Ag Building, which can hold up to 1,500, or the Floral Building, at about half the size.

The Insane Clown Posse, a wild rap-punk outfit, inaugurated the Floral Building on Oct. 9, in a show that had its upside and its downside. The upside is that 800 concertgoers showed up and had a good time.

The downside is that the good times were manifested by, among other things, shaking up pop bottles and spraying the sticky stuff everywhere.

The maintenance staff had a big cleanup job, washing down the walls and cleaning out the heating ducts on the ceiling. Those kids can really spray that pop.

Hughes said they might pick the acts a bit more carefully next time, but they are undaunted. She said they hope to book more acts. Sevendust, in fact, hopes to reschedule for mid-November.

By the way, I almost wish I had been there for that Insane Clown Posse show. Another group was holding a barn dance in the adjacent building at the same time, and the culture shock might have been worth the price of admission.

Tomlinson’s gone

Kerry Tomlinson, longtime KXLY-4 reporter, has taken a new job at KPTV-12 in Portland. She came to KXLY in 1993, and since then she has distinguished herself as a member of “The Investigators” reporting team and an anchor.

Her last day was Oct. 8.

“Basket” festival

The Spokane-filmed movie “The Basket” had its screening at the Denver International Film Festival on Wednesday. According to the people at North By Northwest, the movie was well-received, but it’s still too early to tell what kind of commercial fate the movie will have.

“The Basket” will open on four screens in Denver and Colorado Springs on Friday, and will add more screens in Colorado on Oct. 29.