On Friday 22 April, after three weeks of off-air and on-air auditions, and much blood, sweat and tears from the recruits, 21-year-old Kate Kearney from Sandton was named the official Raw Recruit on Joburg’s biggest breakfast show: the Rude Awakening.

Over a period of three weeks, thirty hopefuls chosen by station management, (over 3 000 participants auditioned at Clearwater Mall, Southgate Mall, East Rand Mall and Wits University) passed through the studio doors of the Rude Awakening, attempting to convince the listeners to vote for them as the newest member of the station. Joburg’s biggest morning man, Jeremy Mansfield and his team, put wannabe-radio-presenters through a series of tests and challenges to see who had what it took to impress the listeners.

Thousands of votes later, all the recruits joined the Rude Awakening for a broadcast to choose the best of the best. Jeremy named Kate Kearney, together with Bongani Nxumalo and Tony Karamitas, as the recruits chosen by the station listeners as the top three finalists. Listeners were given an hour to vote for their favourite recruit and the votes came in thick and fast. Over thirty thousand people voted on-line and via text message and just before half past eight, Jeremy Mansfield announced Kate Kearney as the winner.

Kate, who previously worked for the retail radio station CNA live, is thrilled with the result. “I can’t believe it, I’m so thrilled!” the pretty young blonde said excitedly. “Radio has been my passion for so long and to win this is a dream come true.”

Station Manager Ravi Naidoo says he’s very pleased with the way the Raw Recruit has gone. “Kate is a great example of what we’re looking for - fresh, young talent that can be developed and grown into the station. We’ll definitely be looking at the other finalists as well, and trying to see where they can be slotted into station format. The Raw Recruit doesn’t stop here.”

The Rude Awakening’s Jeremy Mansfield agrees, “It’s wonderful to be in a position where you’re wondering what to do with all the talent you have access to, instead of desperately looking for some. We have been really lucky and surprised at how much ability and passion we’ve uncovered during this promotion.”

A big thank you to Wimpy, the sponsors of The RAW Recruit Promotion, and all the listeners who auditioned and contributed to its success.

94.7 RAW Recruit:
Caption: Kate Kearney, winner of the
RAW Recruit promotion in the 94.7 studios.