Live audience gets peek at radio show

Normally, Joe Cicero's early-morning job involves talking to people through a microphone while tucked away inside a small room filled with audio equipment and wires.

That changed Friday when the morning host of WXLC 102.3 FM opened the doors to the community and hosted his first broadcast in front of a live studio audience in Waukegan.

"I would love to do the show like that every day," he said an hour after being watched by 15 listeners through a window. "It was so much crazier than we thought it would be, but also a lot stranger than I thought it would be."

The idea started earlier this week when Cicero and co-host Rebecca Ortiz started brainstorming on air that it would be cool to have a live audience, said station promotions director Janelle Rominski.

She said the staff met later in the week to determine if it could be done, and then pushed ahead with the idea.

"I think it worked out real well," she said. "The energy everyone has this morning is great and it seems like everyone's excited."

Sue Pantos of Libertyville and Mike Nigbet of Round Lake, two of the people who attended the live broadcast, said they enjoyed watching the process of putting on the show.

"It's really interesting to see the behind the scenes," Pantos said. "I like seeing how they make this happen."

Jen Fouts, a station intern working in the crowd Friday, said it was a different atmosphere than what is the norm for the group.

"I love it when we do things like this, she said. "We all love talking to people so when there are people watching us, it becomes a lot more fun."

Cicero said the live broadcast is something the station would like to explore again in the future.

"I think a lot of people didn't understand how the whole show comes together, and this really opened their eyes," he said. "I like it a lot. Maybe that means I want to be on television or something, I don't know. But, at the same time, it's tough being watched while we are in there."