Broken Love.

From the very beginning of this piece, I knew I was in for a surrealist treat. In the style of "The Fantasticks", Jessie Birdman spins a tale of young love, doomed to end in spastic pain. The need for affection lingers with every word in describing the feelings of the heroine. The guitar background brings to mind Americana images of the perfect couple. The confusion and hurt that comes with unmet expectations is displayed perfectly in Jessie's high but somber voice.

Things to notice: This piece is a lovely, sympathetic picture of young love, told without syrup and in a fresh, artistic way. The story is crisp with emotion, and isn't afraid to discuss the uglier parts of love's course. My main suggestion for Jessie would be to figure out the exact role of the song in her story. This is a beautiful song, and certainly lyrical enough to have a prominent role. But as it stands, the words only truly act as distractions to the larger story. Another suggestion, perhaps more important over the course of time, is for Jessie to ponder further the "why" behind her telling of this story. I want to sympathize with the woman in the story, but I can't figure out where Jessie's heart is in all of this. Does she pity the main character? Does she feel compelled to tell her story out of duty? Without this underlying motivation, the audience can't relate to this story as much as this producer deserves.

> order to make people still sound like themselves. The sound quality
> of her interview with Armstrong clearly displays good technical
> skills. My only suggestions for Barreca would be to further
> emphasize the time and location of her piece, to better establish
> the setting of the issue. Not everyone listening to her piece is
> familiar with Voxpod, after all. The second would be for Barreca to