Sexiest Man Alive ’05

Matthew McConaughey is People’s Sexiest Man Alive. Really? Discuss.

Years ago, when I was doing talk at CHML, McConoughey was the big breakthrough actor in the movie A Time To Kill. So that year, for my Midday Goes To The Oscar’s Special, I got Jeff Lumby (then on mornings at Y95) to voice my “arrival” to the Oscars by limo. He did a play by play voice-over of big stars coming out of their cars one by one, then McConaughey’s car pulled up. Out came the actor followed by a woman who Jeff, as the announcer, didn’t recognize. “She’s obviously not a model”, he said, reading my words in a snooty voice. “I’ve never seen her in any movies. She’s not even a familiar face from television!”, he continued on, appalled that a nobody would show up on the arms of the hottest new star of the moment! Finally someone whispers into the announcer’s ear that it’s “the host of CHML’s Midday, Lisa Brandt!”

I still smile when I think of that bit.

Jeff was kind enough to voice various things for me over the years. One of my favourites was a take-off on Titanic for another Oscar show. As the Leonardo DiCaprio character, Jack Dawson, Jeff’s teeth chattered appropriately as he gave his farewell-before-dying speech to Rose. As the strains of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will go On” began to rise, Jack reacted with horror and actually drowned himself to get away from the music!

I loved writing that stuff but I loved being able to hand it over to someone like Jeff who would bring it to life beautifully, punch it up with great ideas and make it even better than I had hoped.