Students might recognize his name from student body president campaign posters and signs two years ago, when he ended up being the publicity commission chair.
But many more will soon recognize Kornelius Bascombe, senior in criminology, who recently found out he won one of four available hosting spots for Time Warner Cable Inc.’s new nationwide television show.
Bascombe and the three others were chosen out of the 500 contestants who entered TWC’s “Born to Shine” competition, a three-month search for TV personalities best suited for the debut talk show, called TWC Presents: Born to Shine.
According to Time Warner Cable, the program–airing in the fall–aims to tell the stories of African Americans paving the way in entertainment, sports and community.
Bascombe–also the youngest winner in the competition–said he was floored when he heard the news.
“I genuinely could not believe that I won,” Bascombe said. “For the first time in a long time, I started crying. It was a huge sense of relief, knowing that hard work really does pay off. It felt really good.”
Last year, Bascombe flew out to Los Angeles for a different casting call after submitting a video for the Oprah Winfrey Network’s “Your OWN Show” competition.Bascombe almost won; he got fourth in the nation and racked up almost 6 million votes on Facebook.
“It was an amazing experience,” Bascombe said. “The producers all gave great feedback. They told me I had a knack for this and I should follow a TV-related career. So when I got back I started to look out for TV production-related jobs.”
After the Oprah show entry, Bascombe wasn’t planning on submitting another video for the Time Warner Cable show. But after more brainstorming and feedback, he said he realized he had nothing to lose.
Demi Olubanwo, who graduated from N.C. State last year, said he has known Bascombe for years as a friend and fraternity brother. Olubanwo helped brainstorm ideas and shoot both videos Bascombe submitted.
“He has this unique personality,” Olubanwo said. “We’ve always joked that he should be on TV and have a show. When he told me he won I was like, ‘Are you serious?’ It was kind of surreal.”
In the winning video, Bascombe played a TV host and interviewed random Raleigh residents, including a rapper, singer, football player and a couple he ran into downtown. After submitting the video, again on Facebook, and receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback from fans and the celebrity panel of judges, he got the call.
Bascombe’s experience hosting shows also prepared him for where he is now. The Korn Show, which featured student interviews about life at N.C. State, quickly became one of the most popular and highly rated shows on Wolf TV.
The successful journey has not been without a series of personal struggles, however. At 17, Bascombe was forced to take over as guardian of the family when his grandmother and only previous caretaker suffered a stroke, and a fire devastated his house.
“I persevered and made it through high school,” Bascombe said. “Preparing for college during all that was my rock bottom point. But I’m here now, focusing on being successful.”
Bascombe will fly out to Florida next week to do an interview for the show. Bascombe mentioned big names in the TV and movie industry that have impacted their communities, including Will Smith and Spike Lee, whom he hopes to interview one day.
