Dancing with the staff for volunteers

Actual newsroom memo:

Editorial Staff:

Does anyone out there like "Dancing With The Stars?"

Wait, let me rephrase that: Who out there doesn't like "Dancing With The Stars?"

As I'm sure all of you know, Naperville's own Evan Lysacek, Olympic men's figure skating gold medalist, will be a contestant on the show. And, as is the case when we have a local person on "American Idol," "The Apprentice," "The Bachelor/Bachelorette," "A Shot At Love With Tila Tequila" and shows of that ilk, we want to provide our readers with a next-day report on how our local hero fared.

So, does anyone want to sign up to cover Evan's appearances on DWTS, which begins at 7 p.m. Monday, March 22? That day is a particular challenge because so much of the reporting staff is covering night meetings.

I'm presuming that Evan will do pretty well on the show, so this could be a commitment of 10-12 weeks (not positive how long the show runs). If you're interested in the whole shootin' match, great; just let me know. If you want to take this on every other week or once a month, let me know if that's your preference, and I'll cobble together a schedule. Heck, I love the show so much, I may assign myself to the rotation.

Please let me know ASAP if you're interested.

Thanks.

Jim

My in-box was flooded almost immediately with eager volunteers, such is the esprit de corps at the Daily Herald. The first e mail read:

"Jim: Allow me to projectile vomit at the thought of it."

I'll spare the wiseguy who sent the note the humiliation of public exposure. Fortunately, a few more legitimate volunteers came forward, and I'm sure we'll find a way to get the job done.

So, for those of you who are counting, Lysacek's appearance on DWTS brings to four the number of local people we're covering; Rod Blagojevich on "Celebrity Apprentice," Lee DeWyze on "American Idol" and Michael Ventrella of "The Biggest Loser" still survive on their respective shows. I guess we're covering the former governor from a regional standpoint, but DeWyze, of course, is from Mount Prospect and Ventrella hails from Bartlett.

Our current local celebrities are a drop in the bucket of suburbanites whose 15 minutes we've chronicled.

I was talking to another editor about this and opined that it all started in the early part of the millennium with the appearance of a Wheaton woman on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" when the show first appeared in prime time and was one of the hottest things on TV. As I recall, she didn't advance too far up the millionaire ladder, but we did cover Gary Gambino of Naperville, who won a cool $500,000.

But the editor reminded me of a story we wrote in 1998 on "Janet" who wouldn't give us her last name. She appeared in a season of "Real World," the MTV show that was among the first of the reality genre.

I also thought it would be fun to try to chronicle all the people from the suburbs we've covered over the years.

Gee, where to begin? Oops, so many instant suburban celebrities, so little column space. Stay tuned for another report.

• jdavis@dailyherald.com