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But Forman usually doesn't monkey around in the studio; she spends a lot of time preparing for the show, although says most of what happens on the air is spontaneous.  When she first started out in radio as a morning host in Champaign, the thought of being on the air without a script terrified her.

"No, I don't get nervous anymore.  It kind of becomes second nature," she says of being on the radio.  "Really, you feel like you're talking to your friends and people you know."

And although most days her goal is to put a smile on listeners' faces, she also ready to tailor her show to what the audience wants.  "On the day of the Sept. 11 attacks, people didn't want to hear funny things," Forman remembers.  "We opened up the phones and let people express themselves."

It took Forman years to learn how to master the studio equipment she operates for the show, which includes cuing up music and sound effects.  "It's unusual because in a lot of [radio] formats you have the guy running the equipment and the woman kind of plays a second role." she says.  "And in our show, people are surprised that I'm the one running the equipment."

Forman likes to do funny voices on the air, and her first big break in radio came from her ability to mimic Bart Simpson, the mischievous and underachieving character on the hit animated television show, "The Simpsons."

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E-mail: Melissa Forman