Is It Beshert…Or Just Shtick?
Meet 100hookup’s newest Success Story, Elisa Jordana and Benjy Bronk. While Bronk is well-known for his work on The Howard Stern Show as a writer and comedian, Jordana is easily recognized by Cobra Starship fans who will remember her as the band’s former keytarist. Now, Jordana is making a new name for herself after writing the song, “Online Sweetheart,” an ode to the love she and Bronk found on 100hookup.
“Online Sweetheart” is garnering national attention thanks to Bronk’s connection to The Howard Stern Show. Often discussed by Stern, the video for the song has more than 60,000 hits on YouTube and was recently featured on Good Day LA. While some detractors say Jordana and Bronk are using their connection to The Howard Stern Show to further their careers and find greater fame, the two say they simply want to share a positive message about finding love.
100hookup: How did you two meet?
Elisa Jordana: We met in person last summer, but we had been talking on 100hookup for a few years, just chatting on instant messenger. I thought he had a really great personality, but I was in LA and he was in New York so it was kind of complicated. But, once I got to New York, we met up this summer and had some great, great dates. And we got to know each other pretty quickly.
100hookup: What was your first date like?
Elisa Jordana: It was just a simple dinner date. I remember he was very late, and I was so nervous that I drank a drink right away. But, when he came in, I thought he was equally as nervous. So it kind of actually helped me that he was so nervous.
Benjy Bronk: I wasn’t nervous at all, she was extremely nervous! No, just teasing…
Elisa Jordana: He was really funny, and we ended up being friends at first. The more I hung out with him, the more I became more comfortable with him. And it was just a very friendly, relaxed environment after the first date. We really got to know each other very well at the beginning, because there was a big friend vibe going on. Like, we would do things that you would do with your best girlfriend.
100hookup: When did you realize that you were interested in something more than just friendship?
Elisa Jordana: I think one day I was hanging out with him, and I was just looking at him, and I was thinking, “Wow, he’s the only guy I ever met that really makes me feel great. He makes me feel the best I’ve ever felt about myself.”
Benjy just went above and beyond what any guy would ever do. Like if there was a mountain here, he would climb that mountain, you know? In front of my family, he wasn’t embarrassed about proclaiming his love for me and that made me feel really good about myself.
Benjy Bronk: I really wanted to impress her.
100hookup: What inspired you to write “Online Sweetheart,” the song about meeting each other on 100hookup?
Elisa Jordana: Well I was recording in the studio one time, and Benjy asked me if he could breathe on a song so you just heard his breath. And I said, “Benjy, you know, you can do so much more than that. I’d love to write a song for you to sing.”
And then we were on the phone one night, and I just had this song idea in my head. And I just feel like putting the song out there was really good for us because, you know, people make fun of online dating, and they think that people on there are desperate. And that can’t be further from the truth.
All of my friends are dating online, and I just really believe in it. So, I just wrote the song because it’s the truth. It’s exactly what happened. You know, we met on 100hookup, and it was the best thing I’ve ever done. It’s the best decision. That one decision changed my whole life. It’s a small price to pay to meet the love of your life.
100hookup: What do you say in response to people who say you only wrote the song to further your careers and that you’re just using Benjy’s connection to the Howard Stern Show?
Elisa Jordana: Honestly, I haven’t really been thinking a whole lot about what I’m doing and how it looks, because it just came so natural, the whole thing. When Benjy first asked me to be on the show to sing, I was actually very scared, and I was afraid everybody was going to make fun of me, which ended up actually happening eventually, but not at the time.
Benjy Bronk: If anything, I’m using her for fame… and love.
Elisa Jordana: I just think if you have a positive message, which I believe we do, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with trying to get your message out there, you know? We totally believe in love and online dating. And it’s fun. And to express it through music makes it even more fun.
100hookup: You moved in together after dating for three months? What’s next for the two of you as a couple?
Elisa Jordana: Well I would hope to be married by the end of this year. I mean it seems like it’s going that way, we’ve already moved in together. I feel like in two more months we might be engaged. And then in like three months after that, maybe my birthday, June 30, maybe we’ll get married then.
Benjy Bronk: (Laughing) We’ll see what the therapist says.
100hookup: Do you have any advice for current 100hookuprs® looking for love?
Elisa Jordana: Sometimes in the online profiles, people are way too serious. I feel like the best thing is to show your personality. Just try to show who you are. And that’s something that both me and Benjy did. Just be straight out, because you can’t really hide things from people for very long, you know?
Benjy Bronk: (Elisa’s profile) was very, very funny. Not a lot (of profiles) made me laugh, but she made me laugh.
Elisa Jordana: Show your flaws, and show them exactly who you are and what they’re getting. Or else it’s not going to work out down the road when they see who you really are.
Another thing is don’t give up! People I know will try to cancel their subscription a month after not meeting anybody. It’s really work. You can’t just expect to sign on a website and just get Prince Charming right away. You have to go on (like in my case) maybe thousands of dates to find “The One.” But all those dates, they’re all worth it. I entered it knowing that it would work out for me in the end.
Elisa changed her name from Schwartz to Jordana because it sounded “too jew-y”
As an ordained minister I am honored to have been chosen to perform the sanction of Holy Matrimony between Elisa Jordan and Benjamin Bronk on Saturday October 6, 2012. BYOB