SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS: As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I’ve been spending the past few Thursday and Friday afternoons sequestered with four others who are my co-judges on the upcoming Fox reality show Performing As. Although contact with any of the contestants is forbidden, my trusty T-mobile Sidekick helps keep me in touch with the outside world. My assistant Jill and Erika kept me informed of Thursday’s blackout—I’d wondered why nearly half of my “buddy list” had suddenly disappeared! Would it have been ironic or merely coincidental if one of the contestants that day was Performing As Springsteen and sang “Dancing in the Dark”? It’s weird to be judging a reality show on a soundstage, when, in reality, a large portion of the country was dealing with the biggest blackout in history… Earlier that morning, a friend IM’d me, “Turn on CNN, Oedipus is on!” Since the dressing room at the reality show comes with its own PA (a kid from Montana named Trent who loves Marilyn Manson and knows I drink Diet Pepsi, not Diet Coke) but no cable, I was left wondering what act of heroism our beloved Oedipus had enacted. Only later did I learn he was being interviewed about WBCN’s “I Survived Gigli” promotion. WBCN Creative Services Director Chachi Loprete came up with the idea of buying out a screening, calling it the “last screening of Gigli,” and promised to reward listeners who sat through the entire movie with an “I Survived Gigli” T-shirt at the end of the screening. The on-air spot was hilarious, which caught the attention of both the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald. This led to the wire services picking up the story, which led to Oedipus’ appearance on both CNN Headline News and CNN! How much did this promotion really cost? $15 to cover the theater for lost ticket revenue and $100 for T-shirts? I asked Steven Strick if any of Ben Affleck’s Cambridge-based family acknowledged the promotion, but if they had, he wasn’t telling. Steven was raving about Atlantic band Kill Hannah, who he had just traveled to Chicago to see. A number of programmers were flown to the Windy City to see the band and after the show, dropped by the House of Blues to see James Brown (at the same time, I was watching a contestant Performing As the Godfather of Soul—I’m not kidding). As it was also Ron Poore’s birthday, manager Super Frank (remember him?) arranged to have James sing “Happy Birthday” to Ron in front of everyone. Now that’s cool, and almost makes it worth having to spend your birthday surrounded by radio guys… I’m actually in a pretty good mood (for me) today, spirits elevated by the format adding true POMO records! How can you not feel proud on behalf of a format that chose Radiohead’s “Go To Sleep” to be #1 Most Added? Ted, Steve, Darren and the rest of the Capitol gang reeled in tons of majors: K-Rock, Live105, WBCN, 99X, Y100, Q101, KNDD, KTBZ, WZZN, WFNX, 91X, etc., but it’s the smaller stations in “non-Radiohead” markets adding the record out of the box that show the perceptual shift regarding this band’s meaningfulness to the format. Capitol also had a great week with Yellowcard’s “Way Away,” including KXTE, KPNT, WNFZ, WWDX, KCNL, KUCD and WRZK. If this song rocks hard enough for Dave Wellington, what possible excuse could you have for not playing it? Catch the band on Smash on the WB tomorrow night at 9 p.m. and again on Sunday at 5 p.m…. Speaking of Smash, if you had been in the audience for last week’s taping (like Christine from KROQ), you would’ve seen the place ERUPT when The All-American Rejects hit the stage. It was absolutely MAGICAL, especially during “Time Stands Still,” which also happens to be the next single. I cannot fathom why PoMo radio would allow other formats to dig their hooks into this band. Isn’t the cover of this month’s Alternative Press cred enough for you? Sure, the girls love the band, but SO DO THE BOYS (because I saw them singing along to every word). If this band is already writing great songs at the tender age of 19, why wouldn’t you invest in their long-term success?… Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I’m in a good mood. Our friends at Elektra have every reason to be euphoric as Jet’s “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” comes screaming in at #4 Most Added, including WBCN, K-Rock, KTBZ, KNDD, WFNX, KEDJ, WAQZ, WARQ, KTZO, KZON, WMRQ and more! Bill Carroll, Mike DePippa and Buddy Deal generated more power this week than any blackout could darken…. We were also COMPLETELY PSYCHED to watch our friends at Virgin launch IMA Robot’s “Dynomite” to Most Added glory, including CIMX (who clearly saw the “light” on this record), WWCD, WZNE, WNFX, KWOD, WROX and more! You gotta check out the video (which we are streaming on www.hitsdailydouble.com for your enjoyment). Our beloved B.R.M.C. has been given the green light to “Stop” at WHFS, KROX and WJBX! I told you this was a good week!…. WBRU PD Seth Resler can’t stop talking about the Postal Service record on Sub Pop. Here’s what he had to say about “Such Great Heights”: “This record is a flat-out hit. #1 phones when we put it on the air and it’s still Top 10 requests. The album Give Up has been Top 20 at Newbury Comics since its release. In our first full batch of research, the song was #5 with our P1s, surrounded by RHCP, Queens, The Ataris and Audioslave.” Since the CD has already sold over 70k with minimal airplay, Sue at Sub Pop is re-servicing the single to you this week. Obviously, there’s something “there” there… Hooray to Laura, Dave and Shannah at Arista for landing LIVE105, WNFX, WZTA, KFMA and WEND on the OutKast’s “Hey Ya” this week! Shannah celebrated her birthday in the blackout. I could light an entire city block with the number of candles I had on this year’s birthday cake, but Shannah’s cake would only cast a slight glow. I love her for not reminding me that I’m closer to her mother’s age than hers…. Many kudos to EMC’s Dan Connelly and Dayna Talley for continuing their quest to make Fountains of Wayne a HIT at PoMo. KDGE, WPBZ, WRAX, KTCL, WEND and WAVF were among the stations making a play for “Stacy’s Mom” this week!…. SONG TO HEAR: Travis’ “Re-Offender” (remember, the 8/26 add date is also Erika’s birthday)…. PEOPLE TO WATCH: Chris Woltman, Bill Burrs, Rae Cline, Bob Waugh, Mary Shuminas, Leslie Fram, Lisa Worden, Kim Monroe, Jacqueline Saturn and Lynn McDonnell.