New And Improved

The newly-revamped TRAXXfm has more to offer listeners.

HAVE you been listening to the new TRAXXfm? The English radio station, which was first known as the Blue Network, and later Radio 4, has a spanking new sound since its recent re-launch.

Blurbs from the national broadcaster RTM claims that it is the freshest sound in the nation.

Over the next few months, TRAXXfm hopes to bring to the airwaves a “bright, brilliant and thrilling” new presentation and sound display.

The revamped radio station aims to become the listeners’ choice as a one-stop travel and holiday guide to interesting places to visit in Malaysia. It promises to deliver it in a fun, informative and entertaining style for everyone. Apart from its interactive banter and contests, the station aims to equip listeners with a better knowledge of the country.

DJ Patrick from TRAXXfm.

What I liked about TRAXXfm’s new programming is the rotating of its DJs.

Previously, the DJs would work the shift from morning to afternoon and it would be rather boring to hear the same voices throughout the whole period. Not that any of the DJs were particularly poor or bad – a change now and then would have avoided the monotony.

The new setup also features a male and female host during the rush hour slot. This, too, adds a fresh feel to the programming, compared to the old format of having DJs of the same gender.

Another TRAXXfm feature that I like is the information on local events – this is not limited to those of urban hot spots but also includes cultural events throughout the country.

Having said that though, I think TRAXXfm would be prudent not to go overboard in its tourism quest.

The broadcaster is, after all, a radio station catering primarily to local audience. It is not an international radio station with overseas listeners.

Apart from tourism information, TRAXXfm also offers sports updates. The station says listeners will get first-hand information on major sporting events such as Formula One and the Monsoon Cup. There will also be updates on sports-related parades, speedboat challenges, motor sports, X Games and even the traditional wau competitions.

During religious celebrations, TRAXXfm will provide more information on the festivities and their significance.

As for music, listeners will be able to hear Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil tracks along with traditional and world music.

Great Way To Spend Your Day

Wednesday July 9, 2008
Great way to spend your day

Tune in to Aly on 10-1 every weekday and enjoy good music, fashion updates and even tips on how to lead a healthy life.

AIR RAVES by ANTHONY THANASAYAN
entertainment@thestar.com.my

ARE your weekdays often dull and dreary – especially in the mornings? If so, then fret not. Whether you are at home and about to start your morning; or at the office waiting by your computer for a dose of inspiration, Red FM has the right radio show to help you get straight into action.

The name of the programme is 10-1. The numbers also indicate the time the show commences and concludes every weekday.

Your deejay on duty? Her name is Aly, short for Alison J. Victor. Frankly. she is not easy to dislike. I fell in love with her voice at once when I listened to her for the first time last week. It is strong and clear – the kind of voice that every radio deejay should possess. On top of all that she is also delightfully vivacious.

Aly is who you need if you are feeling down and out. Especially on Mondays! She knows what to say and how to say it to cheer you up. I also love the songs she plays, going back all the way to the 80s from Paula Abdul, Madonna and others.

Another plus point (which other deejays rarelyhave) is that she gives listeners the details of each track. Ally describes the genre, names the songwriters, and gives you other interesting trivia related to the music and musicians she plays on her show.

To make the midmornings more interesting, she also uncovers interesting or controversial stories behind each album or performer.

Here’s a quick rundown of the programme-content on 10-1:

# 10am: Aly helps you increase your productivity with plenty of useful and common sense tips. Chatting with your colleagues at the water cooler will no longer be the same! Your boss may even notice a big change in you!

# 11am: If you are into fashion, you will be updated on all the latest and exclusive styles and trends. Today in Fashion History is featured within the hour, along with Beauty Buzz. Both programmes keep listeners feeling and looking good about themselves.

# Noon: The final hour is billed Healthy Lifestyle. We all know that for our body to be and stay healthy, we need to pay lots of attention to our mental health. Aly also provides the simple dos and don’ts on maintaining a healthy diet.

For those in their vehicles, Aly unveils a list of useful and ingenious exercises that listeners can practise in their cars or evenwhile lying down at home!

For those interested in contests, Aly has a CD-of-the-week offering. To take part, first tune in to the show. Then send in the following SMS to Red FM: “redfull name IC number.” Send it to 32722.

Try out 10-1 and see what you think.

# Despite living in the cyber age, the writer insists that radio still provides a unique window on the world. When he isn’t scanning bandwidths, he helps to raise awareness of positive living with pets through his organisation, Petpositive (Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association).

Wednesday July 2, 2008

Tasty new show

Air Raves by ANTHONY THANASAYAN

WHO among us dares to say that he or she does not love food? Now’s here’s a great radio show that delves into our favourite pastime.

“1-4 with Terry” is the name of this new show that is being served on Red FM on weekdays. And from feedback received by this column, the programme has been working up quite an appetite among midday listeners.

From 1.30pm until teatime, Red FM’s lunchtime DJ Terry takes listeners on a culinary cruise through a number of gastronomical delights. He not only unveils great places for us to dine out in the evenings, he also offers hints on what to wear and the kind of reception we are likely to get at these places. Then comes the tantalising details of the food spread in the various restaurants. The way this “on air connoisseur” talks about it, you can almost taste the dishes yourself!

Terry, who hails from Penang, recently spoke about the mouth-watering Penang laksa and chicken rice at Nipah, a restaurant at the Equatorial Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. Listeners got to hear how the Chalet, also at the Equatorial Hotel, has waiters to whisks eggs in front of their guests as a live band plays music in the background.

Terry is bright and lively – even better than he has been as a deejay for Red FM! What I like about the show is that it is fast moving.

Terry doesn’t elaborate too much, instead he gets straight to the point. And he always has vouchers from various venues to give away throughout the week.

Meanwhile, Chinese broadcaster 988 is all set and ready to kick off its Global Chinese Musical Concert (GCMC) Live Musical Party on July 12. It will be held at 7.30pm at Auto City in Prai, Penang.

As one of our country’s top events for Chinese music lovers, GCMC will feature local and international stars such as Jason Chan (Hong Kong), Kenji Wu (Taiwan) and Kelly Poon (Singapore). DJs Sam and Nick will host the event.

“It is going to be a truly unforgettable event,” Gladys Yew from Star Rfm told Air Raves last week.

In a run-up to the event, listeners have until this Friday to win VIP entrance tickets, goodie bags and RM100 cash. Tune in to 988 Laughter Noon (2.30pm-5pm), K6 Gang (5pm-8pm) and 988 Star Light Café (8pm-11pm) to win the prizes.

Despite living in the cyber age, the writer insists that radio still provides a unique window on the world. When he isn't scanning bandwidths, he helps to raise awareness of positive living with pets through his organisation, Petpositive (Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association).

Note: This article was rated as No 1 under The Star's Top 5 list for the Most Viewed Category and No 4 under The Most Emailed story.

Wednesday June 25, 2008

Noon delight

Air Raves by ANTHONY THANASAYAN

AMANDA is the deejay you want if you are interested in winding down your afternoons with great music.

Whether upbeat tunes, funky rhythms or just jolly strains – Amanda Suriya Ariffin does not disappoint.

She signs in promptly on CAPITAL fm on weekdays. You can hear her from 3pm until 7pm, on a show called CAPITAL Drive.

I caught the former WOWfm and Flyfm deejay during a traffic jam on a particularly gloomy, wet and stormy Wednesday.

What impressed me at once about Amanda was her presentation. She seemed to know exactly what songs to play to brighten up one’s mood.

And I always love deejays who are able to transcend themselves beyond the studio’s glass bubble.

Amanda tried her best to do this by keeping in touch with what was going on in our lives as listeners at that moment.

Her selections from Janet Jackson, Madonna and Guns ‘n’ Roses were exactly what the doctor ordered to momentarily take my mind off my frustrations on the roads.

I also relished the fact that Amanda spoke little, and sometimes not at all, during the first part of her show.

Sometimes this is exactly what some of us want in order to be able to sit back and enjoy the music without interruption.

Others may not like long song stretches as much. For them, Amanda’s style may be boring.

If you prefer interviews, Amanda has those too. CAPITAL Drive interviews celebrities at the end of every week.

Amanda will interview Kavita Kaur, the beauty queen and Malaysian film producer this week. Showtime is on Friday at 5.30pm.

CAPITAL fm is operated by ISY Holdings in Kuala Lumpur. It can presently be heard only in the Klang Valley on FM88.90MHz.

Also, I must mention the terrific show I heard on The Star’s REDfm on June 9.

The Red Breakfast’s Shaz and Will were truly in their element when they interviewed representatives from well-known charities Mercy Malaysia and World Vision.

The almost 60-minutes talk with the expert guests educated us all on how to make our donations truly count for the people we are trying to help – such as during the recent China earthquake and Myanmar cyclone.

The segment covered virtually everything that listeners ought to know about donating to charitable causes.

Will and Shaz asked all the right questions and kept the language simple and lively for everyone.

Note: This article was under the Top 4 of "The Most Emailed" and at No 6 on "The Most Viewed" of The Star.

Noon Delight

Wednesday June 18, 2008

Red’s hot

RedFM helps listeners deal with those long hours in traffic jams.

AIR RAVES by ANTHONY THANASAYAN

HAVE you tuned in to the hot, new evening drive time show on RedFM yet? It is called the Red Evening Drive. Or simply, “RED”.

And you can hear it on weekdays at 4pm. According to a spokesperson from the station which, by the way is operated by The Star, RED is already proving to be a hit with listeners – especially with audiences caught in traffic jams on their way home from work.

For four hours every day, hosts JD and Dilly will be out to entertain those on the road.

Not an easy task certainly for any radio deejay to accomplish.

However, RED has enough features on the show to help listeners overcome those crazy, tedious long hours in their vehicles.

“Music from the Movies”, for example, is a regular feature with a tricky trivia slant. Listeners are invited to match a soundtrack with a particular film.

Another mind game is the “Brainfreeze” segment where a tough riddle is tackled each day.

For the musically inclined, there is “Like A Version”. It is a feature that combines classic originals of the yesteryear with some of today’s top tracks.

Finally, be sure to catch the special recordings of “Marco’s Success Tips” on life and business that are aired daily on the show. Then catch the communication specialist on Wednesdays at 4pm when Marco Robinson personally drops by into the studio to share his success tips with listeners.

Listeners are invited to email in their questions to the special guest at marco@yourredfm.com.

Meanwhile, Father’s Day, observed on Sunday, saw quite a few interesting specials on our FM stations.

LiteFM’s daddy’s day offering was a football trivia contest.

The grand prize winner of the weeklong competition last week will be chauffeur-driven with dad on June 29 to the Euro 2008 football final viewing party at the Swiss-Garden Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

The treat includes a two-day stay at the same hotel for the duo.

“My Dad, My Hero” was ERA FM’s feature last Friday. The station’s announcers Kieran, Adi and Nana conducted a lively chat with three dads on the air.

The first was Toi, of Akademi Fantasia (AF) 6 fame. He was unable to spend the critical three months with his son after he was born. This was because three days after the toddler’s birth, Toi had to join the other AF contestants for the television show.

The second was celebrity dad Aznil Haji Nawawi – arguably the most popular and successful TV personality in the country. He is also an ERA radio announcer.

Aznil, a single father of two, spoke of how being divorced was never an excuse for not giving his very best to his children.

The third dad was ERA’s announcer Nana’s father. He hilariously had his daughter blushing when he recalled how frustrating it was for him when he had to change her diapers frequently when she was a child.

De-Stress With May