Jordin Dykes decided at a very young age she wanted to do something in entertainment.
“I’ve been singing since I was in third grade,” said Dykes, mass communication sophomore. “It prepared me to be in front of an audience.”
In January of this year, however, Dykes’ career path shifted when she was selected by Maverick Productions to host a cable TV show called “Off the Circuit.”
The program is a look at what is going on behind the scenes in Hollywood.
Dykes’ father was at dinner with the CEO of Maverick in L.A. when he got a phone call.
“When [the CEO] answered the phone I could tell it wasn’t good news,” said Paul Dykes, Jordin Dykes’ father.
Paul Dykes said when he asked what was wrong, the CEO told him the girl they had selected to host the new show did not work out – the buyers of the show didn’t like the way she looked on camera.
He told Paul Dykes they needed a girl between 18 and 25, with a good personality and camera experience.
Paul Dykes told the CEO he had “just described [his] daughter.”
Jordin Dykes has been helping her father, who worked for the Blue Cross raising money, host a fund-raiser for Louisiana Public Broadcasting for the past five or six years, so being in front of a camera was nothing new to her.
After seeing the tapes of her on the LPB fund-raiser, Tara Pirnia, the producer of the show, called Jordin Dykes the week before the Golden Globes to see if she could fly to Los Angeles to work the red carpet.
Jordin Dykes said she quickly agreed.
When she got to Los Angeles, she attended the Australian Lifetime Achievement Awards, at which she interviewed Mel Gibson.
“I basically had thirty minutes to get ready to interview Mel Gibson,” Jordin Dykes said.
She said Pirnia told her to prepare about three questions to ask, even though she may not get through all of them. She only had about thirty seconds with each celebrity.
Jordin Dykes said it was difficult to get celebrities’ attention on the red carpet since she had to compete with other reporters – but she did manage to interview Keith Urban.
Even though the show has not been picked up by a network yet – Paul Dykes said they are still shopping for buyers – Pirnia was impressed with her.
“Tara [Pirnia] wants me to move to L.A. and go to college out there, so I’ll be closer if it gets picked up,” Jordin Dykes said. “But, they do want me to tone down my accent.”
Contact Zachary Broussard at [email protected]