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Lesley

Grey Matter

2.20.7

No Real Surprises

Results of the favorite c2c host poll were not a big surprise. 72 votes were cast and the winner was Art Bell with 35 (49%). Coming in second was Ian Punnett with 22 votes (31%). Noory trailed those two with only 11 votes (15%), but he did beat Hilly Rose, who had 3 votes, and Ross Mitchell, who got 1 vote.

I am sure Noory fans will be shocked by this, but I wasn’t. It isn’t because Noory is a bad host, it is because of a loyalty that Art Bell fans have and also because Noory hosts 5 nights a week, which makes other hosts seem refreshing.

If there is any surprise in this it is that Punnett came in second with double the votes of Noory. In fact, for the first week or two Punnett was quite a bit ahead of Bell. I voted for Punnett, but really I never thought that many others would vote for him too. Never underestimate the good taste of c2c listeners. My reason for voting for him, even though I have always been a big fan of Art Bell, is because Bell has been really irritating me with his politics lately. Don’t get me wrong, I still love Bell, but I do often get angry while listening to his show. As I have said before, Bell is still the best host if the show is about something he believes in, but he isn’t the all around host that Punnett or even Noory is.

Back to why I voted for Punnett: He is fun! Many times he has on guests that I am pretty sure he doesn’t agree with or doesn‘t believe the same as they do, but normally he doesn’t get angry (I can think of one exception to that) he keeps a good sense of humor and also asks pretty good and often unique questions. Besides that he normally has actually read at least part of the guest’s book and often all of it and that is how he knows what questions to ask. I know Noory has 5 shows per week, but I would really like him to do a bit more research on his guests rather than coming up with his questions from movies he has watched.

Noory shouldn’t fret over coming in 3rd. I will bet you that if it were Punnett hosting 5 nights per week and Noory only doing a Saturday show, it would be Noory who came in second because people would be burnt out on Punnett instead of him. Bell with his fan following will probably always come in first, even if he hosted 5 nights per week.

Some may be wondering if there is host burn out, why didn’t Rose and Mitchell do better? Because they don’t host often enough for people to feel like they know them. We all feel we know Art, George and Ian because we hear from them at least once a week and while we might like the substitute hosts, we don’t feel we have that relationship of knowing them.

Punnett is my favorite right now, but unlike many people I enjoy all three hosts. They all have something that they are the best at. For Noory, I think he is best at conspiracy shows. He seems to be an actual believer and I love the outrage he exhibits at the puppet masters when he has someone like Alex Jones on. Art Bell is the best ufo related interviewer because like many of us, he has actually seen something that has made him a believer. Also, some of us will remember that it was Art Bell and his quest for the truth about ufos that turned what was then The Art Bell Show from politics to the paranormal. Ian Punnett is just an all around entertaining host. He seems to be able to tackle whatever subject he is given. There are more than a few times I have looked at who his guest is and rolled my eyes, thinking that nobody could make that interesting and almost every time I have been wrong and Ian has pulled it off.

So as a reminder, just because you have a favorite doesn’t mean that all the hosts aren’t great in their own way. You can like Art Bell best, but you don’t need to hate Noory in order to prove your allegiance to Bell. Remember it was Bell who chose Noory to replace him, so in a sense you would be disrespecting him by hating Noory. I have, at times, been irritated with Noory, but I have never hated him. Noory does not have an easy job. Can you imagine interviewing 4 or 5 different people a week, often all on different subjects? It can’t be easy. I know that Bell made it seem easy, but if you think back to the Bell days he didn’t have the variety of subjects that Noory has. That was by his own choosing, but I don’t think Noory really has as much control over who he interviews as Bell did and does. So like whoever you like best, but at least cut Noory some slack.

BTW, thanks to everyone who voted!

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