This is by far the most people we've ever had in this room," Cities 97 DJ Brian Oake proclaimed to the 100 lucky folks crammed into a radio studio to hear an intimate performance by British pop star James Blunt.

"These are the ground rules: Cell phones, all turned off. No photography during the performance. Once the song's over, don't rush the stage; just show how excited you are."

Without further ado on a recent morning, Blunt and his pianist were summoned to the small, foot-high stage. "I've got to turn my phone off," said the singer, poking fun at Oake.

The lights were dimmed. The tape was rolling. The DJ cued the crowd to cheer. "Once again," Oake, his headphones on, intoned into the microphone in his deep, smoke-stained voice, "we're back in Studio C."

Cities 97, which records its "Sampler" CD here, calls it Studio C. Other stations at the Clear Channel Radio building in St. Louis Park call the room by different names: the Roadhouse for country's K102, the Sky Room for Top 40 KDWB and the FAN Press Box for sports talker KFAN.

Whatever the moniker, the acoustically superb room is a special space where a select few radio listeners can get up close and personal with their favorite stars for performances and interviews.

Since this conference room was converted into a studio in June, more than 50 stars have appeared there -- from Kenny Chesney and Miranda Lambert for K102 to author Vince Flynn for KFAN. One day in October, Carrie Underwood for K102 and Marc Cohn for Cities 97 were booked back to back in the studio.

These appearances have been big hits with listeners.

"You could see the emotion in James Blunt's face," said Tricia Hammond of East Bethel. "That's what makes it intimate."We had to be here," said Jerry Schmidt, Hammond's boyfriend, who took off work to catch Blunt. "It's great that they do this." In addition to the music, he appreciated the free postperformance catered breakfast of stuffed French toast, eggs Benedict, omelets with asparagus and maple pecan sweet rolls.

Artists think performing in this Twin Cities studio is superior to other live radio appearances around the country.

"This is so much nicer," said rising pop star Colbie Caillat, known for the hit "Bubbly."You have headphones on and they can give you some reverb and you can hear yourself well. In other radio performances, they don't give you anything; you just sing into a mike and the room is stale. So this makes it more special, and it gets you in the moment more to sing."

CD will raise $6.4 million

The new Studio C has been a key component in "Sampler Volume 19: Live from Cities 97's Studio C," a high-profile annual charity project. When the disc goes on sale at 8 a.m. Thursday at 59 area Target stores, it will sell out faster than Hannah Montana concert tickets. (Cities 97's press run is limited to 30,000 by the recording industry to avoid having to pay royalties to artists and songwriters.)

Last year's "Sampler" raised more than $600,000 for Minnesota charities. With sales of this year's CD at $19.97, the "Sampler" series will have raised $6.4 million, said Cities 97 program director Lauren MacLeash, longtime producer of the "Sampler."

Of the 19 tracks on this year's edition, six were recorded in the new Studio C. Several others were recorded at a previous, much smaller Studio C, which had very limited space for audiences. A couple of selections were recorded during concerts at the Varsity Theater and Midway Stadium.

Anselmo's pet project

Miami's Clear Channel complex has a similar studio, with tiered seating, shared by stations there. The Twin Cities space was the pet project of Mick Anselmo, Clear Channel's longtime regional chief who was fired a few weeks after it opened.

"It was a big deal for Mick," said KDWB program director Rob Morris. "He wanted this room to be something we could utilize for all our [stations]."