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As the Greeks say "Kalos Elthate"
It's great to have you browse KIKIVALE.COM. Thanks to
Angela Design for creating a super fun and exciting website for me. This
website serves as a vehicle to entertain, inform and enlighten you on
many levels, primarily about my business KUKLA PRODUCTIONS which
provides a number of broadcast services. "The
Kiki Vale Show" formally Entertainment Plus
is KUKLA'S latest project and you can learn more by clicking the nav bar
with the same name.
In August of 2005, Kiki created and hosts another exciting program, which is syndicated, called "Destination Chicago" with Kiki Vale. Click the nav bar with the same name to learn more.
Every Friday check out MY BIG FAT GREEK WEEKEND page. I will update you on events, hot news items, and anything entertainment I feel you will enjoy finding out about both on a local and national level. You may want to bookmark KIKIVALE.COM so you can stay informed on a variety of levels in Entertainment News.
A bit of history for those of you interested in how Kiki got started in broadcasting. The radio and television bug bit me at the age of 12 and I will be involved in broadcasting on some level until I leave the planet. I hope I live a long, long time because I have so many goals to reach in this nutty business. Although I daily envision reaching my goals, I sure do enjoy the journey and the people I meet along the way.
Back to the semi-beginning, during junior high and high school I participated in and won many regional speech and debate contests. At the age of 15 I entered my first beauty pageant and placed 1st runner up in the Miss Missouri National Teenager Contest. Thanks Manula for getting us on that potato chip truck to make it to the pageant on time. The next two national teenage pageants that I participated in, I also placed in the top three.
Next
stop, college where I graduated from Loyola University in Chicago (Go
Ramblers!) with an emphasis in Radio/TV/Film. The television studio
and radio station WLUW proved to be exceptional venues to start
on-air. While at Loyola, I interned at WLS TV under Television
Director Frank Bianco (he's still there) and where Oprah Winfrey
called home at the time. Yes! I got to meet Oprah and she is just as powerful
off-air as she is on the tube. It's funny, I will always remember shaking
Oprah's hand on that day.
Upon graduation, I was eager to start working in my chosen field. The problem was there were no on-air opportunities for me in Chicago. I headed back home to Kansas City, Missouri and landed my first official paying job at KCNW, a Christian radio station. Thanks Mary for pushing me to go talk to Warren about a job even though I really wanted to be on television. At KCNW, I began as a producer working with taped, satellite and live programs. I wrote and produced commercials and worked on logs. No digital stuff back then, only reel-to-reel and cart machines.
Eventually I got to host the Saturday night request show; finally I was on the R-A-D-I-O! Everybody that I knew, that could hear the signal, was commissioned by me to listen and call-in from 7-midnight.
Not long after that opportunity, I was contacted by KBEQ top 40 radio to audition for the overnight weekend shift. KIKI VALE was born. The P.D. at the time asked me to come up with a short, catchy last name for on-air purposes. Sorry Dad, (he wasn't too happy that I was using a different sur-name and it wasn't for marital reasons) but thanks Kevin for helping me find a name that has served me well over the last 16 years. Kiki has always been my first name and really sums up who I am. Actually, Kiki is short for Vasiliki and means queen.
By now you may have gathered that I am of Greek descent. My parents were born in the old country and fortunately they instilled in me a strong work ethic and many wonderful traditions, which I now pass on to my children.
Weekend overnights turned into full-time overnights at the Q and after about 6 months I moved over to 98 KUDL Adult Contemporary to do weekends. I also was hosting and producing "To Your Health" on American Cable TV. When 98 KUDL offered me the "Cuddle At Night" position (Monday-Saturday 7-midnight) I jumped at the opportunity and said TaTa to TV.
Two years later, my knight in shining armor, who also happened to be a football player and a LAWYER (but the good kind, Brian helps people get their real estate taxes reduced) entered the picture and not to the tune of KC. It's back to the Windy city if I want to ride into the sunset with the man of my dreams. And that's what I did! But first, I had to saturate the Chicago market with my air check and resume so I could get an on-air job.
My efforts landed me an interesting opportunity. I was hired by Metro Networks in 1993 as the first female airborne reporter. I reported traffic/news from an airplane during a split shift for WMAQ AM670. Monday thru Friday I would rise at 4am, be on the road at 4:15am, at Pawaukee airport by 5:30am, flying by 5:45am and reporting by 6am until 9am and back for the same routine beginning at 2pm until 7pm. A long day for sure, but I witnessed some of the most spectacular sunrises and sunsets flying around Chicago in that little Cessna airplane.
My flying buddies at the time included Scott Childers now doing mid-days at Windy 100, Thom Johnson now at the Chicago Department of Transportation, Bill Keller now doing traffic for NBC-5 TV and Chuck Henson who now manages Metro Networks in Florida. Pat Cassidy was the morning drive anchor for WMAQ and now does the same job at All News 780 WBBM with Feliccia Middlebrooks. I worked with some very talented people!
A year later I was grounded so I could do weather on US*99 Country and News/Traffic/Entertainment on suburban station WAUR! Dean Abbott was the Host/Ops Manager for this great radio station and it was during that time on WAUR in 1995 that I asked Dean to let me do an entertainment segment during his show. He said yes and "What's Up, Chicagoland" ("WUC") was born!
Every Friday morning I brought the listeners of WAUR the latest happenings in the Chicagoland area with celebrity interviews thrown in the mix. My first interview for the segment was Robert Wagner who was starring in "Love Letters" with his real life wife Jill St. John at the Royal George Theater. "What's Up, Chicagoland" later expanded to additional stations such as WJTW to appear on "The Martini In The Morning" show and on WPNA. In 1996 "WUC" went information & print for the Sun-Times Info-Line which was carried along with 800 categories. My segment was also featured in the newspaper every Friday.
In the meantime, Metro Networks selected me and five other reporters to cover the 1996 Democratic National Convention being held at the United Center in Chicago. Each convention day I would file relative stories for WOR in New York City and WWDB and WPEN in Philadelphia.
Clinton was running and so was Dick Morris. Some of my favorite interviews were done with Mayor Daley of Chicago, Sam Donaldson and George Stephanopolous both of ABC, Attorney/Activist Gloria Allred, Olympian Carl Lewis, Actor Ted Danson and the late Tom Foran who prosecuted the Chicago Seven back in the 60's and who also was my husband's former boss.
The convention concluded and it's back to live radio where I was doing traffic again on All News Radio 780 WBBM, while continuing to grow "WUC." Some of my favorite interviews for "WUC" were done with Oscar winner Tom Hanks (married to a beautiful Greek), Larry King of CNN, Oscar winner Faye Dunaway, Baseball great Frank Thomas, the late Steve Allen, actor Tony Randall and the legendary Mickey Rooney.
Boy life can be interesting when you talk to interesting people. But, as my husband always says "Kiki, TRY TO BE INTERESTED NOT INTERESTING!" In 1998 I put "WUC" on hold and I went back to work full-time to do morning drive on adult contemporary Windy 100. For nearly two years I enjoyed my traffic stint and news fill-in job on the highly regarded "Kevin and Susan" show, still going strong. After my shift ended at 8:30am every weekday I would file entertainment stories for Metro Source, which is Westwood One's National News Wire.
Some of the more interesting interviews conducted for Metro included Actor Billy Bob Thornton, Actress Kathleen Turner, Musician Richard Marx, and Barbara Streisand protégé, Lauren Frost from Downers Grove!
Fast forward to the year 2000 and it's time to dedicate more of my energy to what I enjoy most in broadcasting and that's ENTERTAINMENT! So, I exit Windy 100, hop back on WBBM weekends (I'm full circle now) and "WUC is resurrected as........... drum roll PLEASE
*****ENTERTAINMENT PLUS!*****
"Entertainment Plus," the #1 entertainment show on Chicagoland radio, is a one hour program with local and national appeal. KIKI VALE is off and running and loving every minute of it. Dreams do come true, and necessity is the mother of invention! Today, "Entertainment Plus" is multimedia, heard on Chicagoland airwaves, featured on the world wide web and in Pioneer Press publications specifically in The DOINGS newspapers!
Kiki's next big broadcast job will be in 2004 when she reports feature stories at the Summer Olympics in her native Greece. Zeeto H Ellatha and GOD BLESS AMERICA!
Until we meet in Athens, stay well, be healthy, enjoy life and pray for peace!!!!!
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