University of North Carolina at Charlotte student Shannon Wiseman is in New York, for the first time, as a finalist in MTV’s national “Wanna Be a VJ3” contest.

“I have never been to New York or on a commercial airline,” Wiseman said during a phone interview Thursday.

She was one of 1,000 people who auditioned April 14 in Spencer for the chance to get to be a video jockey (VJ) on the popular cable music channel.

Florida resident Christopher Hart won the other finalist spot at the auditions on the grounds of the N.C. Transportation Museum.

Now he and Wiseman are in New York, along with four other finalists picked at auditions in San Francisco and St. Louis, competing for one spot.

So far, Wiseman has done “a lot of interviews with papers and TV people. And MTV followed me around for a day to get a little profile of me,” she said.

Wiseman’s brother, Shaun, a forward on Livingstone College’s basketball team, suggested the camera crew film him a little, too, for the profile.

“Whatever,” Wiseman said at the time.

“Everyone keeps asking me what I did to win. I was just myself. I don’t even remember my audition,” she said. “I do not know a thing I said.”

Though her 22-year-old brother knows the clout of MTV, Wiseman said her parents didn’t realize how big the auditions were.

“Now, my parents are in a different state of mind. Just the concept of MTV, they didn’t grasp. The idea of going to New York, they didn’t really grasp, and then when they (MTV) came to follow me around for a day, they were like, ‘This is the real deal.’

“I explained to my mom this is not like getting an A on a French test,” Wiseman kidded.

Now Wiseman’s mother, older sister and friend are in New York, seeing the sites. Or maybe not.

“Seeing the Statue of Liberty is nice and all, but I would rather go shopping. I am such a woman,” Wiseman said.

She does enjoy her time in front of the camera, though.

“For me, that is the most natural place that I am. I have no problem with people asking me just random questions,” she said. “I am more comfortable not knowing.”

She’s majoring in communications, with a concentration in public relations, at UNCC. “Don’t ask me what I am doing with that,” she said.

The six finalists face off Saturday from 2 to 5 p.m. live on MTV, Time Warner Cable channel 43, for the ultimate job, $25,000 and a new Kia Sportage.