Putting your best mouth forward

I rarely listen to the radio nowadays. The only occasions when I do are when I am a captive audience - riding in a taxi, or someone else's car. Maybe it is the far more varied and interactive content that the internet offers that has pulled me away from the radio. When I was younger, and when there was no WWW, radio, particularly shortwave radio, was my staple on what was happening around town and in the rest of the world. Heck, I also catch some music on air on occasions, but its really about the news.

News now is that disgraced former beauty queen, Ris Low, has been engaged by Mediacorp as a DJ for its 987 FM radio station. Is Mediacorp desperate or what? Ris isn't exactly perfect with her English diction, and she is hardly erudite. So why has Mediacorp dropped its standards so drastically? Or is this a gimick by Mediacorp, to put on a freak show to boost its listener ratings and make Ris the laughing stock of the country, again? The poor girl, I don't know if she knows what she is getting into. The media and entertainment industry is likely a dog-bite-dog place and I am concerned that she will be mauled, or the rest of the industry, particularly Mediacorp's radio business will be mauled, depending on your prejudices. But then again, what do I know? Maybe this is the silver-bullet that will send the ratings for 987 FM radio through the roof as people, like me, who do not usualy tune in to a radio station, will be curious enough to do so, if only to see if a freak show is on. OK, I am being mean. I am prejudiced too. It may not be a freak show, you just have to reach for the dial to listen first and then judge.

By this measure, Mediacorp has probably already succeeded in boosting the popularity of its 987 FM station by injecting a dose of notoreity. Already, there are reported antics going on, Ris being late for her first show, and her reportedly making uncomplementary remarks of her co-host, Ms Lee (Rozz). Maybe Ris thinks that there is one too many women on the show? The storm, its a brewing...