>>FEATURE
MUCH VJ SEARCH
Tuesdays at 5 p.m. on MuchMusic
If any MuchMusic personality, past or present, deserves the title VJ legend, it’s Steve Anthony. Currently an afternoon radio host for Toronto’s MIX 99.9 and the imaging voice for many CHUM TV stations and networks, Anthony was arguably the best thing on MuchMusic from the late ‘80s through the mid-‘90s. On MuchMusic he created his own comedy skits and game shows, and conducted celebrity cooking segments, continually demonstrating that a good VJ can do a hell of a lot more than just introduce the newest music videos.
While today’s MuchMusic is a mostly polished entity with regularly scheduled shows, Anthony recalls that during his run, "Much didn’t quite know what it was. We were making it up as we went along."
His trailblazing VJ status has landed him a well-deserved spot as one of the four expert panelists on the currently running Much VJ Search reality series. The other panelists are goth rocker Robin Black, cool-as-ice rap artist and producer Kardinal Offishall and current MuchMoreMusic host Traci Melchor. Each week it’s these celebrity judges who decide which VJ search finalists stay on the air and which one is sent packing to a TV purgatory of broken dreams known as the Loser Loft.
Before the series launched, Anthony recalls, "Whenever anybody would talk to me or any of the other experts they would say, ‘So, what part are you going to play? Are you going to be the Paula Abdul or the Simon Cowell (of American Idol fame)?’ We kept saying, ‘well, no, we really don’t have designated roles.’"
It’s this point that gives the Much VJ Search some real teeth and credibility. There are no "everybody is wonderful" or mean for mean’s sake panelists. Each one comes across as a real person with real opinions and not as some manufactured TV caricature of themselves.
Anthony reports, "Nobody has told Robin Black to be the mean guy. That’s just what Robin Black does. He’s very vocal and articulate."
Being part of the Much VJ Search experience has been a pleasurable gig for expert panelist Traci Melchor, who is also the host of The List on MuchMusic’s sister station, MuchMoreMusic. She admits to leaping at the opportunity to be on the show, saying, "I am a fan of reality television and MuchMusic, going back to the Erica Ehm-Steve Anthony days. I grew up wanting to work in the CHUM building."
Melchor has found critiquing the contestants to be a lot tougher than she expected. With most VJ competitors in their early ‘20s, she finds, "They have a different attitude about themselves. They have confidence, which is great, but also have a perceived worldliness and knowledge of life that they really don’t have, because they’re so young. So when you want to give them guidance and direction, they challenge you at every turn."
Is there an Anthony-like VJ innovator left in the remaining crop of hard-to-school contenders? It’s hard to say. But as of the writing of this story, raven-haired Calgary gal Nikki Mah is still in the running. So go, local girl, go! |
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