RadioStar Awards Spring 2012 ~ ‘Spreads the Love’

With the fullness of Spring in the Air, RadioFlag’s Inaugural RadioStar Awards was one all about “Spreading the Love.”  Much of the feel good affections RadioFlag is planting this vernal season is of the much needed green varietal; fresh, fertile, lush, “cashola” without the payola. In spite of being a boot strapped, totally self funded start up; Radioflag wanted to give back to this community of early adopting tech savvy stations in a way that really matters. The RadioFlag team consists partly of a handful of veteran and current college DJ’s, who know first hand how much it helps a station to receive those cash donations, especially considering how skilled many university campus broadcasters can be at making those dollars stretch. So RadioFlag decided to put its money where its mouth is!

In the weeks leading up to the RadioStarAwards, it was quite a kerfuffle among the judges to select winners.  Some of the fuss was caused by judges feeling as though certain shows were not placed in the most appropriate categories, as seemed to be the case with shows like Scottie Lee Meyers’ General Store Social, a total righteous slice of Folk, Rockabilly, and Soul pie served up by a genuine Redwood forest dwellin’ Organ Grinder’s Monkey. Tune in to iKRFH sometime to taste some of that downright wholesome retro goodness,  sure to shake the wax right outta y’er ear blossoms.

It was difficult choosing some shows as winners, like one recognizable DJ who was nominated by iKRFH, and then soon thereafter left the air and the station. This was the case with Elliot Golan’s Friday Night Feast, a ever revolving ear feast of themed based & listener driven delectable lixx. Similarly, show favorites like Burrow Klown’s 54/40 or Bust, a multi- genre trek into the Canadian Music scene, was difficult to consider, since she had unexpectedly moved from her nominating station WSBF Clemson in South Carolina to KNDS in North Dakota. Other shows like DJ Hot Sexy Midnight’s “Music to Make Love to your Old Lady By“ were simply deemed un-categorizable ( beyond a solely “Music” Category to say the least) due to an absurdly creative “out of the box” extraordinarily, disorderly, un-ordinary radio personality. Ahhhem….

Next year RadioFlag expects to see even more stations connecting with listeners  through its social- radio tech platforms. A totally new way of socializing ‘Real Live Radio’ is pretty foreign to most people, but the momentum that has been generated after barely just one year is evident that things are on an emerging upswing!

For those who are curious to know more about the “big decision makers;”  the RadioStar Award judges were a blend of longstanding RadioFlag team members, RadioFlag interns, veteran college radio Djs, current college radio Djs, professional sportscasters, professional radio hosts, professional musicians, RadioStar bloggers (yes little ol’ me had her two cents to share).

I personally was relieved to hear the decisions were finally made, and was happy to see the love reach out to as many winners as possible, for this first ever Radio Star Awards. In the future, RadioFlag is keen to connect with sponsors for the upcoming Fall RadioStar Awards. Do you know a sponsor you think would pair up nicely with RadioFlag & partner up well for next season’s RadioStarAwards? If so, you can let RadioFlag know by just dropping them a line at the email below.

Meet Spring 2012 RadioStar Award Winners

Sponsorship Suggestions / inquiries contact: info@radioFlag.com

Contact the Writer:

AirAmbrosia@gmail.com

@AirAmbrosia on RadioFlag

@AirAmbrosia on Twitter

 

 

Amanda Duncan, Presented by DJ Queen Bee

Looking for a holiday EP that will uplift your spirits and make everything feel a whole lot brighter for everyone? How about some crooner-inspired folksy tunes that are sure to make young and old alike swoon, tap, snap, swing, and smile? Who wouldn’t wanna hear some catchy retro jingles, with a refreshing twist of upbeat positivity; melodies ideally suited for merry making and bringing in the New Year? Well, your search is over folks, and I mean “folks” in the sweetest most nostalgic sense of the word. What I really want to relay, is that I believe I spotted a true twinkly starlet amongst songstresses this season; one that warmed my heart with so much holiday glow, that I may possibly find myself lit up and in a kind of “folksy cheermeister” mood throughout this whole New Year to come.

My discovery is all thanks to DJ Nicole Vitale, hailing on RadioFlag as “QueenBee”. She made this season a whole lot more sparkly, after she sent a flag last week alerting her listeners about a local artist from Hazlet, New Jersey, who was appearing on WMCX FM 88.9 to promote her newest holiday EP. I was lucky enough to catch glimpse of her flag that morning, and was excited to tune in, since I am often on the lookout for DJ’s who are savvy enough to spot and promote new talented artists they plan to have “On-Air Live”.

WMCX's Queen Bee Nicole Vitale

Tuning in to the Monmouth University’s campus station that morning, I was greeted with the joy filled melodic laughter of music artist Amanda Duncan. Her laughter had a harmony of its own that was so pleasing, that I actually would have been content just listening to her laugh for an hour. Ha, ha, ha! Really, it was the kind of laughter that heals with contagion, like honey blending in to a hot cup of tea. Like when you have a sore throat, it just coats over you, uplifts you, and makes you smile warmly from the inside out. In other words, it’s rare folks!

The Queen Bee courteously introduced Amanda in her usual effervescent, classy, well-mannered way. She announced that this is actually Amanda’s second EP release, and pointed out where people can find her music, including her Holiday EP (by visiting Bandcamp, iTunes, or Amazon) http://amandaduncan.bandcamp.com/. Amanda was excited to let listeners know how much she loves her Mac computer, and reveals how her engineering skills have come in handy, helping her put her own records together. Incidentally, this led her to form her own music production company called “Please N Thank U” productions, which I might add is an adorable name, not to mention two perfect rules to live by.

 

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