Ong, Monteiro hot picks for radio show

Radio listeners have spoken - they believe DJs Glenn Ong and Rod Monteiro are the new hosts of radio station ONE FM 91.3.

On Monday, the Singapore Press Holdings radio station started a contest for listeners to guess the identity of the DJ or DJs when its new morning show launches in July. Listeners have until then to SMS their guesses and a winner will get $10,000.

So far, more than 200 listeners have taken part and Ong, 45, and Monteiro, 48, are the top two guesses.

The morning slot is now helmed by Part-time Pete and Andre Hoeden -Hoeden will stay on as part of the new morning crew.

The new DJ or DJs will be revealed on the morning show on July 3 and they will personally call the winner.

Ong left MediaCorp in January after 19 years as a radio presenter on pop music station 987FM and, later, adult contemporary station Class 95FM. He is now a director at hospitality consulting firm CIR VIS.

Monteiro is now presenting on Malaysian radio station Mix FM. In January 2013, he and his morning show team, The Married Men, had their contracts terminated by the then Hot FM91.3 over an inappropriate telephone prank.

Other names thrown up by listeners included former MediaCorp DJ Mark Van Cuylenburg, also known as The Flying Dutchman, ONE FM 91.3's Jill Lim and Part-time Pete.

Mr Galvin Ng, a 34-year-old IT executive who took part in the contest, is placing his bet on Ong.

"The biggest clue was when ONE FM said the person is a 'megastar DJ'. The first person I thought of was Glenn Ong, because he is one of the most popular radio DJs out there and he is not with any stations now."

Stunt driver Jason Tan, 38, who regularly tunes in to the station because of his love of rock music, says Ong is a perfect fit for ONE FM 91.3, which targets men over 30 years old.

He says: "What we need on a morning show is a good mix of mad banter and organised bromance."

Another regular ONE FM 91.3 listener, 39-year-old civil servant Wayne Yeo, thinks the new DJ or DJs could be Ong, Monteiro or Cuylenburg.

Ong had partnered with both Monteiro and Cuylenburg on MediaCorp radio in the past. Van Cuylenburg left MediaCorp late last year after 18 years with the company.

Mr Yeo observes that Ong has been namedropping ONE FM 91.3 a lot on his Facebook and Twitter accounts. On April 8, for instance, Ong tweeted: "Just woke up to Hotel California, Vertigo... love waking up to real music! Great start! Thanks! @onefmsg."

Mr Yeo says: "I hope it's going to be Glenn Ong and Rod Monteiro because the days when they hosted together were one of the wackiest times on radio.

"I think Glenn Ong suits ONE FM 91.3's image too as it plays a lot of rock music and he has an image that suits the station."

dinohadi@sph.com.sg

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