97.5FM rocks with presenters’ passion

It was close to five o’clock one Saturday morning when the young woman stepped out of her car. She gently closed the door, swung the designer satchel on her frail shoulders, pressed the ‘lock’ button on the electronic car key and hummed Celine Dion’s popular song ‘That’s the way it is ‘ as she walked, in the misty darkness, towards the entrance of Qatar Broadcasting Service (QBS).
She felt cold in the studio despite a hot cup of coffee and frenetically working for an hour; preparing notes, setting up the computer and Dalet digital media system, the commercial jingles, text messages and caller lines along with the technicians.
At half past six, she took a deep breath, flicked a switch to go on air, and said, “Good morning, this is Qatar Broadcasting Service, you are listening to 97.5 FM, welcome to Coffee Time with Nisrin for the next two and half hour up to 9 am. Today’s topic for discussion is, ‘Is it hard to find true friends as one gets older?’ Call me on 44894441 or send me SMS on 92627 or look up Coffee Time on Facebook and give your opinion, tell me what you think, is it difficult to make new friends in Qatar, and if you do find, is the relationship superficial, limited only to what value I can get out of this person? Before we start the talk show let me give you an update on the weather this morning.”
Welcome to the new interactive face of QBS 97.5 FM the best way to start your day the Gulf’s No.1 radio station as the promotional voice-over adverts says sporadically through the day’s transmission.
“Live talk shows are an interesting addition to the schedule, however it can be very challenging,” says Nisrin ElDifrawi, one of the many young part-time presenters on 97.5 FM. “Many callers speak to the point, some digress from the topic, others share interesting experiences, but tend to monopolise the airtime.”
Airtime management apart, presenters like Nisrin often go by their instincts while deciding to put a listener on air because there is probability, albeit slim, of the caller saying an inappropriate word or phrase inadvertently, if not deliberately.
”I have an ice-breaker telephone conversation before putting callers on air,” she says. “Most of the listeners are friendly and music lovers who are interested in sharing their opinion on the topic being discussed on Coffee Time.”
The talk show is popular, particularly with the multi-national expatriate community in Qatar, due to its interactive appeal. Figures from a private survey reveal 65 percent males and 35 percent females tune in on an average every Saturday with maximum listeners in the 25 to 35 (33 percent males, 17 percent females) age group.
The programme was launched two years ago after Nisrin succeeded in convincing the QBS management the need for such a talk show. Besides Coffee Time, she also presents every Sunday from 8pm to 9pm ‘Celebrity Gossip’ which is a collage of social, personal and lifestyle news of entertainers from Hollywood and the global music industry.
QBS’s 97.5 FM station broadcasts programmes like ‘Artiste of the Week’, renamed from ‘Album of the Week’ hosted by Huda Walid; Doha Top 50 Tunes presented by Dan Harper, The Alternative Top 40 by Haitham Jawhari, Country Music by Debbie Dickson, Cine Magic by Maya among others. Most of the presenters are creative and bring different styles and accents to the station.
“I love radio work since it connects to people,” says Huda, a multi-lingual part-time presenter who bonds well with listeners and is innovative. She wrote the lyrics and set the tune to Rihanna’s ‘Please don’t stop the music’ for the jingle which introduces ‘The ‘Evening Show’ she hosts every Tuesday from 5pm to 8pm.
”One has to be creative and passionate to work as a broadcaster. Besides job skills, it requires discipline, dedication and determination,” opines the Canadian of Palestinian origin.
Certainly, if discipline and a passion for radio work are the mantras Bernard Lyons has plenty of it. A QBS broadcaster over 32 years, he arrives at the studio around 5am twice or thrice every week, to open the day’s transmission at 6am and host the ‘Breakfast Show’ from 6.30am to 9am.
”Radio has always been my first love,” says Lyons, popularly known as Bernie. “It’s like telling a story. You can paint a picture in somebody’s mind; it’s not like television where you can see everything.”
Lyons is an engaging story-teller. He mimics voices besides adding emotion, drama and humour while on air. Presenters have to be well-read and updated on current events to hold listeners’ attention, says the Irishman who is virtually a performing arts encyclopaedia, loaded with information on singers from the 1940s, the swinging 60s, the rocking 70s, the disco 80s and the current hip hop generation.
“Interesting information about the song, its singer, musicians and recording companies or even talking about local events adds value to a presenter’s radio show,” says Lyons, whose anecdotes and spontaneity punctuate the celebrated hits he plays on ‘Breakfast Show’.
Elias Chalouhi, another QBS veteran, loaded with information on contemporary music, stands out, like Lyons, for his song selections as well as sombre and mellow presentation style. He has a wry sense of humour, often self-deprecating.
Radio is all about playing a wide variety of songs and QBS has a huge collection. “We have a fantastic library which has over one million songs,” says Lyons. “There are songs you never expect to find like Vaughan Monroe and His Orchestra’s ‘Ghost riders in the sky’, recorded March 14, 1949 and released by RCA Victor, the company that introduced the playback format of single songs on 45 rpm vinyl records.”
Many performers have recorded this country and cow-boy song written in 1948 by Stan Jones. However, Monroe’s version was the best-selling one. The recording first appeared on Billboard charts April 15, 1949. It lasted 22 weeks and peaked at position No. 1.
QBS even has famed operatic singer Italian Enrico Caruso’s - acclaimed as the best tenor before Luciano Pavarotti - renditions of the Cylindrical Disc era and the first 33rpm released by CBS. During his 25-year career Caruso recorded around 290 songs commercially released from 1902 to 1920. “It’s a matter of pride that QBS can go so far back into history of music,” Lyons adds.
Having a huge data base of songs on QBS’s sophisticated Dalet System would be of little value if the presenter is not well aware of the many icons the music world has seen and heard since the 1900s. This is where Lyons and Chalouhi’s knowledge on the history of the various genres of music is evident every time they are on air.
”97.5 FM is like a collage of fond memories sweeping your mind’s eye when Lyons and Chalouhi are doing the Breakfast Show. Both often play an interesting mix of chart topper songs from the 60s to the present age,” says a regular golden oldie listener.
Personal likes do creep in as the two senior presenters often play solo artistes like Tina Turner, Diana Ross, Elton John, George McGregor, Cher, Phil Collins, Madonna, Shania Twain, Robbie Williams and groups like The Eagles, BeeGees, KC and the Sunshine Band, Foreigner, Dire Straits while the younger presenters play more of current icons like Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga, Shakira, Taylor Swift, Akon and Usher.
“Presenters do have their favourite artistes, but we try to keep 97.5 FM listeners happy by playing requests of as many people as we can,” says Huda. “We are aware that listeners tune in because radio is a habit for many. People don’t listen to radio because they can’t afford a music system; that was 20th century deprivation for many.”
Concurring with her, Nisrin says, “People can choose to listen to their favourite band in their car or at home on CD or MP3 player.
”For many listeners radio is a habit and part of their lifestyle. Many of QBS’s regular listeners are executives who tune into 97.5 while driving to their workplaces to Qatar’s industrial cities in Ras Laffan, Dukhan or Meesaid,” she adds.
The bonding that presenters enjoy with their listeners is possible because there a lot of people doing work behind the microphone. “We are the public voice of the radio,” says Lyons. “We’ve got a lot people doing the background work, 99 per cent of them are Qataris. We are a team, all these people including our listeners comprise the radio family.”
How true! Indeed, Sister Sledge’s 1979 hit song ‘We are family, get up everybody and sing...’ encapsulates this bonding between radio presenters and listeners well.
QNA

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