The cicada invasion isn't even at its height yet, but danged if the little red-eyed things are already turning up all over the national TV landscape.

Last FridayGood Morning America did a segment on Seventeen Year Itch, the CD featuring four local bands singing cicada related songs. Earlier in the week, Dan Rather did a segment on the CBS evening news and promised a follow-up in coming weeks.

Now the Los Angeles based Game Show Network will hit town Saturday to shoot the Mariemont Garden Center's Cicadamania party, an evening full of cicada appetizers and other non-cicada food, cornhole tournaments, kid activities and live music. It will air the segment on its Games Across America show plus give away two $1,000 prizes for the best cicada-related events. Get info from the Center, 561-4769. No word on when the segment will run.

Morning anchor report

And one more round of applause, this time for Channel 5 morning anchor Michelle Hopkins. Mental Health Recovery Services (MHRS) of Warren and Clinton Counties has awarded her its 2004 Media Award.

In presenting it, MHRS director Brent Lawyer cited her 5 "Connects with Kids" segments as helping "promote a greater awareness and understanding of the many issues that kids and teenagers face."

Antiques star

Antiques dealer Wes Cowan is turning up on national TV almost as often as the cicadas. He's a regular on PBS' History Detectives, a frequent guest on Antiques Roadshow (both on CET, Channel 48) and now a guest on PBS' Roadshow-like Find! with Leigh and Leslie Keno. It airs at 5:30 p.m. Saturdays.

The crew has been here since Thursday, hanging around his annual Spring American History, Americana and Decorative Arts Auction at the Sharonville Convention Center.

The auction is unloading $1.5 million worth of antiques, but what brings Find! to town is an 1856, daguerreotype of San Francisco. Taken by daguerreotype pioneer Robert Vance, the item is expected to bring $30,000-$40,000.

The Find! crew will be here until Monday. The segment does not have an air date yet.

Broadcast winners

A round of applause for WVXU-FM (91.7) news director Ann Thompson. She won first place in the Ohio Associated Press Broadcast awards in Best Use of Sound in her feature Musical Appliances. Reporter Mark Heyne won a second in Spot News Reporting for his work on "Trucking Company Shooting Spree." 'VXU competes in the Major Market category against stations in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, so the award's a big deal.

Up the road in Oxford, WMUB-FM (88.5) won three firsts and two seconds in the Medium Market category. Producer Tina Weingardner won a first and a second in Best Use of Sound; the station won a first for Best Broadcast Writing; Jeanne Hey won a first for commentary and Bob Hostetler got a second in the same category.

E-mail jknippenberg@enquirer.com