http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,13528,00.html
Stuttering John Joins Leno
by Sarah Hall
Feb 18, 2004, 11:00 PM PT
Suh-suh-suh-see ya, Howard.
Stuttering John Melendez, Howard Stern's on-air sidekick for the last 15 years, is making the move to Jay Leno's Tonight Show.
Melendez will replace longtime announcer Edd Hall, who's leaving the show after 12 years to pursue an acting career.
Melendez begins his tenure March 29. In preparation for his new gig, he's working on his stutter with the help of a vocal coach, according to a Tonight Show spokeswoman.
"Growing up, I was always a big fan of The Tonight Showand its amazing history. Now to actually be a part of it is beyond my wildest dreams!" Melendez said in a statement.
"I thank Howard Stern, the most talented radio personality, for giving me my start, for without him, The Tonight Show would never even know me. I am looking forward to working with Jay Leno and the rest of The Tonight Show staff."
Beyond his duties as announcer, Melendez will be conducting interviews for the show--but not of the same ilk that he did for the Stern show, the spokeswoman said.
Melendez lists some of his favorite interviews that he conducted for the Stern show on his stutteringjohn.com Website.
For example, there's the time he asked Bill Clinton paramour Gennifer Flowers if then Governor Clinton had used a condom during their encounter, and if she planned on sleeping with any other presidential candidates.
Or the time he asked the first lady of the Philippines, Imelda Marcos, if she ever farted and blamed it on the family dog.
Not all of his subjects were shocked into silence, according to his recollections. For instance, when he asked E!'s red carpet diva Joan Rivers if she thought ugly people should be allowed to have children, she snapped back, "No, and I told your parents that!"
Melendez started on the Stern show in 1988 as an intern but managed to parlay the grunt work into a full-time job.
Last year, he appeared on the ABC reality show, I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here, and impressed Tonight Show execs as a "family man" and "peacemaker," according to the spokeswoman.
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