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BIG hunt for a cool RJ

Deepa H Ramakrishnan

More than 90 people, many of them women, turn up

— Photo: T. Singaravelou

RJ material?: An aspiring radio jockey being interviewed at the BIG 92.7 FM RJ Hunt in Puducherry.

Puducherry: Being a radio jockey needs much more than just a good voice, it is about having personality… about being yourself… and that’s what the 90-odd candidates at BIG 92.7 FM RJ Hunt on in Puducherry found out.

“The panel, which included RJ Deena, asked me to introduce myself in Tamil.

"They asked me, if I were to do a programme which category of people I would target, and I chose the youth.

"I told them that I would chat with my audience rather than give advice,” said J.P. Vinolinne, who has done her M.A. in English, and is a casual newsreader and translator at AIR, Puducherry.

Attracted by the voices of people such as Suchitra, Thenkachi Ko. Swaminathan and Uma Mohan of AIR, Puducherry, this 24-year-old lab technician from Villupuram, came to attend the RJ Hunt. “I want to be an RJ. I think it’s a fun job where you can communicate with a lot of people,” said Sivasankar from Villupuram, who spoke on HIV/AIDS for five minutes at the hunt, which was held on Saturday.

Several women, including housewives, turned up at the hunt. Students waiting to join college could also be seen there. “Among the 90-plus candidates. there were more women than men.

In fact, one lady said that she had left an infant at home to participate in the event,” said M. Raja Marthandan, Executive, Corporate Communications.

Those selected from the 90 candidates will have to undergo an intensive training for 10 days.

“As RJs people mustn’t put on accents. They must be able to handle pressure, have a lot of patience, and not talk for more than 50 seconds.

Otherwise, the listeners will lose interest. They must also be able to present things in a crisp manner,” said RJ ‘Speed’ Deena, who was recently selected as the best Tamil RJ by India Radio Forum.

“If you are serious be serious on air also… if you are funny be a wacky, nonsense guy, and if you are an irritating character be that,” he added.

An advertisement in The Hindu calling for RJs caught Deena’s attention in April 2003 when he was working as quality control engineer after completing his BE in Mechanical Engineering.

“I attended the hunt organised by another FM station and among the 120 people who turned up I was selected. After a 10-day training I was on air,” he explained.

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