New DJs on the block
By Rebecca Sou

 

Programme rehearsal in studio.

"Welcome to The Camp of Hot-Blooded Teenagers!" "Welcome to You-Me Family!" The joyful voices have been on air in TDM Radio from 3p.m. to 4p.m. every Sunday since November. 

They are the new radio programmes hosted by Communications students in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (FSH). 

Their radio programmes cater specifically to teenagers. The Camp of Hot-Blooded Teenagers, is hosted by Angel Yung, Primrose Che, Vanessa Josefina das Dores and Vivian Chiang. It is a funny and relaxing programme mainly about love affairs and hit topics of entertainment. "The specialty of our programme is that we always carry a short drama telling a love story of our listeners," Che said. 

On the other hand, You-Me Family is hosted by Joan Lei, Virginia Tai, Angel Seak and Alice Chong. It is also an entertaining programme focusing on things around teenagers like current events, trends, etc. "We make our programme in a relaxing way for teenagers to absorb information that is around them," Lei said. 

"There is a great difference between a training session and a real show," said Che. "We have much more pressure now than before." 

It is the first time for TDM to set up such a programme especially for students in FSH to practice DJ jobs. The purpose of the programme is to let the young DJs attract a young audience in a new and fresh way. "Actually, it is a win-win programme," Eva Chin, the trainer of this programme, said. "On one hand we can have a fresh programme for our radio, and on the other hand, it is also a great chance for the FSH students to gain such a rare experience."

The programme training was offered in August, and eight groups (four students in each group) joined the training course. They were taught about some talking skills and how to produce a radio programme. At the end 
of the month, two groups were chosen to be the programme producers and DJs. During September and October, these students had training in radio programming and audio techniques. They are given full autonomy in designing and producing their programmes. They can come up with any topics and performance. And the real show, a live radio programme, finally started in November. The two groups take turns to run the programme from 3p.m. to 4p.m.every Sunday afternoon.

To play a DJ for the first time, all of them are feeling both excited and happy. "I feel surprised and happy that our group can be chosen, since at first, we just joined the training out of curiosity," Lei said. After the programme has been on the air, Lei has another feeling, "It was really exciting, but I was also very nervous! We all made a mess on our first show. It was quite funny!" 

Most of the informational or entertaining radio programmes run by TDM are hosted by full-time DJs. There are also some university students who are hired as part-time DJs, but are responsible only for some music 
programmes. It is an innovative move on the part of TDM this time to have part-time DJs to host an entire entertainment programme all by themselves. 

Many teenagers think that there is a need for TDM radio to introduce some changes. "It is good to have some new and young DJs to host a new programme, I think there will be new sparks coming out," said Kelly Lei, 
a 19-year-old university student. "I hope they can give more updated news about fashion or technology," said Pauline Leung, a 21-year-old student in Umac. However, Paul Chan, a 24-year-old clerk, is afraid that the 
shows may concentrate more on girls "since all the hosts are girls." 

After their programmes have been on the air, some of the listeners think that they are quite interesting."Although they are not professionals, their programmes are fresh and interesting," said Charles Vong, a Form 5 student. "It seems they are still at the beginning stage. I think their programmes will be more attractive later," Tina Tong, a boutique sales girl, commented.

Having a chance to be a DJ may be a dream for many students majoring in communications. "I am glad that I have been chosen to be one of the DJs," said Che. "It is really a hard job, but I enjoy it."