The race to become Canada’s next sportscaster has reached its end, and next week the two finalists will duke it out in the ultimate pro sports challenge.

The contestants were put through a gauntlet of challenges last night that put their improvisational skills to the test. The three challenges were reading a highlight package for Copa America, preparing a segment called Gillette Young Guns with Brent Furtney and passing a job interview with theScore judges, Sid Seixeiro and Chris Lamb, a representative of P&G/Gillette.

Rohan was eliminated early in the competition, during the interview part of the show. His mind was elsewhere during the highlight shoot, and he was at times quiet, losing his place and appearing generally rattled by the competition. He also failed to produce any chemistry-laden dialogue with Brent Furtney, and had a few line-flub problems. He didn’t seem surprised when the judges told him that he wouldn’t be drafted. Mike delivered a relatable performance with Brent Furtney in the Young Guns segment and did well at his interview with the judges and the Gillette representative, explaining what, exactly he thought he could bring to the table. After his performance, however, the judges wondered if Mike wasn’t just a very talented actor who was playing the part of a wannabe sportscaster for the purposes of TV, and he was eliminated.

Jackie, on the other hand, aced her interview with the judges. She also revealed that she applied for internship positions with theScore at least three times in the past. She delivered a great highlight read of the Copa game, minus some pronunciation difficulties with of one of the player’s names. She also created a great rapport with Brent during the Gillette Young Guns segment taping. She was chosen as a finalist without hesitation from the judges, who unanimously agreed that she had earned her spot based on the current, and past performances.

Ryan was the last performer to head into the lion’s den. He had a great highlight commentary read, but acted fidgety, made very little eye-contact and relied heavily on his notes throughout the challenge. He produced a great (albeit slightly Pauly Shore-ish) Young Guns segment with Brent Furtney and gave all the answers the judges were looking for during the interview portion of the show.

The judges eventually decided that the top two should be Jackie (because she performed the most naturally and relatably during the gauntlet challenge, and Ryan, because the judges said they wanted to see what he would come up with during the final two challenge abroad.

Next week the finalists take the plunge performing as real sportscasters in Boston and Chicago. Whoever creates the best reel-to-reel piece will be crowned the winner of Gillette Drafted 3. Tune in Monday to watch the first part of the finale!

Only four contestants are left in the race to become Canada’s Next Sportscaster on Gillette Drafted 3!

Only Rohan, Ryan, Jackie and Mike remain in the race, and this week’s challenge will incorporate three very different tests in a gauntlet that will have the contestants jumping through all the judges’ hoops, with very little time for preparation. The draftees will each have to read a highlight reel, host a mock segment and pass an interview with a Gillette representative, Chris Lamb. From this point on, the judges will be looking for the person who can rock every single challenge — and they’ll also be looking for a co-worker who’s a perfect fit at theScore.

Will it be Rohan, the confident hipster who walks to the beat of his own drum? Or will it be Ryan, the band frontman who’s a sucker for extreme sports? Will it be Jackie, the radio vet who knows everything there is to know about the Leafs? Or will it be Mike, the “clubhouse lawyer” who can own it in front of the camera in any situation? The gauntlet challenge will help the judges decide who deserves to win that elusive contract with theScore and become a spokesperson for P&G/Gillette. Make sure you watch tonight right after RAW! as the race gets one step closer to singling out a winner. Who do you think will be in the final two? Let us know on Facebook, or by tagging your tweets with #GD3.

Last night’s episode of Gillette Drafted saw the contestants attempt to prove themselves in a setting very typical of theScore—the dreaded 5 p.m. news meeting. Remember, in this episode the contestants were asked to pitch a short segment or show to theScore’s editorial department.

Each contestant fell victim to fumbles and stumbles this week; the greatest obstacle in this challenge was that many of the contestants didn’t fully understand how theScore produces or chooses its content or how the network brands itself.

That said, each of the five contestants came up with excellent ideas.

Mike suggested a heritage/fan appreciation show, about sports and other Canadiana.  His idea really fit within confines of theScore’s talent and budgetary constraints. The staff’s only concern was that the audience might not want to listen to a fan talk about the day the Blue Jays won the World Series, for example — they’d want to hear a story like that from one of the actual players.

Jackie was the second contestant to present. She offered up a show idea she called Outsmarted, with herself as the host. She suggested a mini-competition between herself and a pro athlete where the two would compete in a non-sports specific challenge for a prize. The newsroom guys let Jackie know just how hard it is to get athletes to agree to such an on-air challenge.

Peter suggested a road trip show highlighting the various stories that arise from traveling while on away games. The production team let him know that not only did his pitch idea seem costly and difficult to execute, but there’s an unwritten rule that whatever happens on the road should stay on the road.

Rohan missed the mark a little with his pitch, suggesting a combination talent profiling and commentary show at theScore because “theScore doesn’t usually deal with a lot of opinion.” He suggested a show that would profile on-air talent and deal with strong (yet unpopular) sports opinion. His idea was somewhat…unpopular.

Ryan was the last presenter, giving another great performance that focused on—you guessed it—extreme sports. He suggested a short interview type show for the extreme sports layman, where he (Ryan) would interview an athlete about his chosen sport and then attempt the same extreme sport at the end of the segment. The editorial team liked his approach, saying they could picture him hosting such a show, but questioned its relevance and budgetary constraints.

In the end, Peter Brown was sent home this week, following a performance that the judges said was too shaky and lacked confidence. Peter was devastated, as the judges told him that he hadn’t managed to “be real” enough during the run of the show.

Up next week, the ridiculously hard “gauntlet challenge”. The judges will have each remaining contestant participate in a series of three tasks. Don’t miss it, because this challenge will be the most difficult yet!

The remaining Gillette Drafted contestants will need a thick skin and the gift of gab to get through tonight’s elimination challenge — if they’re not careful, the production employees will eat them alive. theScore’s editorial team doesn’t exactly beat around the bush.

This week the final five contestants — Jackie, Peter, Mike, Rohan and Ryan — will have to show theScore writers exactly where their interests lie and how deep their knowledge runs by pitching a TV show idea at the 5pm news meeting. The contestant with the best pitch will win the challenge (although the win won’t necessarily guarantee the contestant will be safe from elimination).

The atmosphere of a 5pm news meeting is a “free dialogue” format. The daily news meeting is the place where news and potential news stories are diffused. It’s also the place where new ideas are pitched and new content is shaped. The daily news meeting will be a regular part of the Drafted winner’s career, so passing this challenge is an vital step on the contestants’ career path.

Find out who the final four will be tonight, as the draftee with the weakest pitch leaves the show’s competition for good. Tell us who you think should be ejected from the race by tagging your tweet with #GD3 and visiting our Facebook page.

Last night’s episode ventured more into reality TV land than Drafted has gone in the past, as Rohan and Peter tried to throw Jackie off her game — and it worked (to a degree).

The round-table challenge was a test of the Draftees’ debating skills — contestants were supposed to learn about a specific subject chosen at random and present their opinions on said topic to the rest of the group. Contestants were then told to interject and add their own opinions to the discussion — in no discernable organized format. The lack of opportunity for structured discussion left some of the quieter contestants in the dust. Elli, who failed to find points of interjection, remained largely silent throughout the challenge. Jackie also found it hard to break into the discussion, and so did Peter; both felt that Mike dominated the talking points and basically,  well….didn’t shut up.

In the end, even Elli was unable to suggest a contestant who’d fared worse than herself during the debates, and like Alex, she too was eliminated right off the bat at the start of the elimination panel that once again, did not acknowledge a “bottom three”.

Ryan and Rohan delivered more or less a middling performance during the debates, but Rohan’s integrity was thrown in question when the viewers were allowed to see a self-taped interview that Rohan and Peter made, where Rohan (jokingly) called Jackie “fake” and Jackie didn’t see the situation so jokingly. The awkward situation reflected in both Jackie and Peter’s performances during the challenge, and the judges interpreted the behaviour as condescending and aloof. Only five key players are left on the show, and it’s still anyone’s game. Let us know who you think the frontrunner is on Facebook, or tweet us with the #GD3 tag.

Will this week’s “hot button” topic challenge have Drafted judge Cam Stewart seeing red?

This week, Gillette Drafted 3 contestants will participate in a round-table debating challenge where each must study and become well-versed in a “hot button” sports topic, present their issue to the group (at the round table) and debate with the other contestants for a set length of time. This week the judges are looking for strong opinions and well-researched commentary. This challenge is designed to show which contestants are in the know, and which are in over their heads. The judges will be looking to award “challenge winner” status to the person who shows the most (unique) sports knowledge, both while it’s their turn to lead the discussion, and when others are presenting their topics.

Jackie was the winner last week and will have immunity going into the debating challenge this week, so she won’t be going home regardless of her performance tonight. Things are kicking into high gear on Drafted, as no more immunity prizes will be given out — contestants who stay in the competition after tonight’s elimination will have to make sure they deliver a stellar performance every single week from now on. With just six contestants remaining, can you spot the winner of tonight’s challenge? Let us know on Twitter by using the #GD3 tag, and don’t forget to check us out on Facebook!

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Another shocking elimination round of Gillette Drafted left the contestants momentarily speechless last night, as Alex was sent home right off the bat — no bottom three. This left the remaining contestants wondering if more than one person would be eliminated.

Instead, Sid counted backwards until the winner of the immunity prize was reached. It was no surprise to anyone that 102.3 BOB FM correspondent, Jackie was named the radio co-host challenge winner and was granted immunity for a third time since the competition started. But Sid stressed that this is the last challenge featuring an immunity prize. From now on, the contestants are on their own, and will be forced to deliver.

This week’s challenge, a 10-minute radio co-hosting opportunity with Tim Micallef, forced the contestants to form opinions about topical sports issues on-air, while delivering a “transcending” performance. There were a few standout competitors this week — Jackie, of course — who cheerfully and seamlessly worked her opinions into the ‘cast, and Peter, who was highly organized and recounted a story about the Vancouver hockey riots, though it came off a bit too controlled.

Ryan was rattled but delivered a solid performance as well, staying within the narrow confines of his sports knowledge. Elli went the flirtatious route again, complimenting Tim’s smooth, bald head right at the beginning of the podcast. She also did something the other contestants didn’t — she wrote her own intro and outro for the mockcast. Tim indulged her by reading the lines she wrote, complete with mysterious expletives, surprising the judges. Rohan held his own personality-wise, but failed to produce any substantial, factual opinions. Mike also did reasonably well sports knowledge-wise, but the judges said his voice and personality came across the airwaves as weak.

Jackie has immunity going into next week’s challenge, and things will get even more difficult as the contestants are each asked to debate a “hot button” topic next week. Who will be forced to leave their dream behind in episode 6? Comment about it on our Facebook page or join the Twitter discussion with the #GD3 tag.

Contestants go head-to-head with one of theScore’s toughest sports gurus in tonight’s episode of Gillette Drafted.

This is a solo challenge — each contestant must prepare material for their podcast taping in advance, but in the unpredictable world of radio, the contestants are sure to be thrown a curve ball or two. This challenge will separate the poseurs from the players, as any lacking sports knowledge will be painfully evident on-air. Aside from showing an unflinching understanding of all sports and stats, the remaining contestants will have to riff off of their co-host’s energy. The winner of tonight’s challenge must create a funny, organic rapport with theScore’s veteran podcaster, Tim Micallef, and nail all the sports facts that come up during the taping. Remember, Peter has immunity from tonight’s elimination round, so he definitely won’t be going home this week. This leaves remaining contestants, Alex, Elli, Jackie, Mike, Rohan and Ryan to fight it out for a spot in next week’s final six. Catch it all after RAW! tonight, because one of the contestants you love is going home! Don’t forget to tweet us your comments with the #GD3 tag, and follow us @Drafted. Check out the show’s Facebook page for even more extras and comments about the episodes.

This week, contestants pulled a Tim and Sid, narrating the plays of the week. The first group was ingenious duo, Peter and Mike, who completely rocked the challenge, coming off natural, funny and confident. Peter won immunity for next week’s challenge, edging Mike as the more charismatic of the two.

The second group included last week’s immunity winner, Jackie along with Spencer and Ryan. This group was by far the weakest, and Jackie fell victim to her teammates this week, as the group stumbled though a somewhat awkward (and overlapping) highlight commentary. Together, Jackie and Ryan wrote the script for their group’s rundown of the weekly highlights, while Spencer stressed and disappeared into his room, still reeling from his bottom finish in the previous challenge. Eventually, Spencer rejoined the group, writing his own lines for some of the highlights. Spencer delivered his lines by interjecting and speaking over his teammates, who had already prepared their dialogue. Ryan Long made excuses at panel when the judges commented on his hard-to-understand, gravelly voice (Cam Stewart said he talks like he’s got a mouthful of rocks), blaming a medical issue involving his vocal chords for his mumbling performance. It was ultimately Spencer’s greenness that led to his demise this week, as Renee Paquette said he lacked the life experience necessary to become a relatable TV personality.

The last group to tape its commentary was Elli, Rohan and Alex, who proved a real mixed bag of competitors. Both Rohan and Alex pride themselves on their deep sports knowledge, while Elli puts on more of a flirtatious air, and has more selective knowledge. The group did fairly well, and the judges said Elli “really went for it”, whether or not her jokes were actually funny. Again, Alex was accused of leaving his personality back in the hotel room.

Make sure you watch next week’s challenge — the hardest yet, as contestants host a radio show along with Tim Micallef. Join in the discussion on Twitter using the #GD3 tag, and “like” us on Facebook to get all our Drafted 3 updates.

Episode 4 of Gillette Drafted airs tonight! If you’re thinking things can’t possibly get any weirder after last week’s shocking elimination panel, think again. This week, the finalists are assembled in groups and participate in the “Plays of the Week” challenge, shepherded by ‘casting vets Tim Micallef and Sid Seixeiro. For this challenge, the contestants must narrate the week’s clips and highlights, while demonstrating a high degree of all-around sports knowledge. The winner of this round will be natural, interesting, funny and innovative all at the same time. The format of the challenge is similar to theScore’s “Plays of the Week” spot. To find out what the contestants are up against, see an example of the segment here. There’s a lot that can go wrong on this week’s episode of Drafted, and who knows what the judges’ reactions will be if one of the contestants crashes and burns. (And who are we kidding? Someone always crashes and burns!) Who will be the next Drafted hopeful to hit the bricks? Watch tonight after WWE RAW! to find out.