FACES ’93 : Some Names to Be Reckoned With in the New Year : TELEVISION

Ahhh, a new year and so many unknowns: Will Jay, Dave and Johnny be genetically spliced to produce the Ultimate Talk Show Host? Will the Yuppie-in-Chief name Stevie Nicks to run the NEA? Who will Sinead pick as her tag team partner against Madonna and the Pope? Will the activist group AWOE (Actresses With One Eyebrow) demand that one of them be chosen to play Frida Kahlo? Oh well, frivolity aside, one thing is certain: You’ll be hearing these names and seeing these faces in the next 365.

Tabitha Soren

MTV News reporter Tabitha Soren last year on the Los Angeles Riots: “L.A. burned brighter than 1,000 points of light.” Such sharp commentary made Soren, 25, political reporting’s rookie of the year. Her “Choose or Loose” coverage of the presidential election and her barn-burning tour of college campuses countrywide helped increase voting among 18-to-24 year olds by 25% over 1988. Last month, NBC snapped up Soren, who also remains under contract with MTV until November, as a network correspondent for “Today,” while syndicators ranging from MCA to Time Warner want her to host her own TV show. Soren would have been on “Face the Nation” on Sunday, but she’s vacationing with friends, whom she describes as people “who don’t bathe a lot.”