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Thu, Dec 13, 2012
The Straits Times
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Model DJs gaining popularity in S'pore
by Melissa Kok

Forget the usual club deejay being some guy in shades and a baseball cap, with it being more about the music than the man. A wave of female models has hit the decks and it is about the looks, not the hooks.

Dolled-up console queens in skimpy outfits are gaining in popularity. More are being booked for club gigs and private events here, be they foreign guest DJs or local ones.

Industry players tell SundayLife! that the past two years has seen more eye-candy turning up the heat on the dancefloor.

Before, there was hardly one event a month that featured a hot model DJ but now, they grace events at many nightspots.

Nightclubs that have hosted sexy DJs are Attica at Clarke Quay, Avalon, luxe lounge Pangaea and multi-party spot St James Power Station.

Home-grown spinners include DJ Tenashar, 25, an FHM cover girl with over 100,000 likes on her FaceBook page; Nicole Chen, 26, an FHM cover model and former beauty queen; and model Pearlyn Koh, 25, known as DJ Foxxxy K.

They earn good money. DJs say some local ones earn as much as US$5,000 (S$6,000) for a two- or three-hour set overseas in places such as Le Baron in Tokyo and Mixx Club in Malacca, and about $500 an hour in Singapore - higher than what some regular DJs with similar skills and experience command.

These spin sisters may not need to be trained turntablists but they do need to master the basics such as beat matching, where you mix one track to the next seamlessly. But some female model DJs are said to have played pre-recorded mixes at their shows, instead of mixing their songs live.

Mr Aaghir Yadav, 29, director of events company Creative Insurgence, says his firm has started grooming local models to be DJs. "When we find a model who has an interest in music and DJ-ing, we bring her in and our in-house instructors will train her," he says.

DJ Foxxxy K is a model-DJ roped in by Mr Yadav. On why model DJs are a hit with clubbers, she says: "It's like, why would a magazine with girls sell better than a magazine with guys? There's a 'for him' magazine, there's no 'for her' magazine. The appeal of model DJs is that you're doing a guy's job, equally or better, and you're a desirable object."

However, some would dispute the "better". There are clubbers and veteran DJs who call it a cheap marketing gimmick.

Audio systems engineer and occasional clubber Ron Koh, 30, says: "For marketing, they look good but it's only when you see them live that you get to understand where the skill level is at."

In a somewhat backhanded compliment, he adds: "Actually, I'm very pleasantly surprised by the more normal-looking ones, in terms of their skill sets."

Female clubbers are critical too. PR consultant Ulynn Lee, 26, says: "A good DJ is not only musically talented, but he or she is also able to create smooth transitions between tracks and, most importantly, play off the energy from the crowd and adjust the set accordingly. So far, I've not seen a female model DJ who has mastered that."

Marketing and communications manager Frederick Yao, 32, a veteran local house DJ who performs as DJ Fred E, says: "There is a chance that they may have decent skills, maybe not club-worthy, but they are really just making use of their good looks to push their careers and popularity."

He adds: "If scantily clad female DJs pull customers into clubs, the clubs tend to make money which in turn reinforces the notion that booking this sort of entertainment is a viable business model, even though it's not a credible musical, creative or culturally enriching model."

However, Mr Yadav of Creative Insurgence says: "People are seeking another level of entertainment, so now it's about the visuals as well. With a female model DJ, you have an attractive model who dresses up, makes eye contact with the crowd, poses, jumps and creates energy."

Mr Gordon Foo, 30, coordinating director of operations at St James Holdings, which runs nightspot St James Power Station and has organised events that hire female model DJs, says: "There's a demand for it because it's something fresh for Singapore. It's popular in Vietnam and China where such DJs spin every night but in Singapore, it hasn't grown to that stage yet."

Indeed, many of the model DJs doing a turn here - such as DJ Juicy from Hong Kong and FHM cover girl DJ Angie Vu Ha from Vietnam - are often foreigners who do one-off events.

While guys are quick to judge the DJs as just babes at the bench, the women themselves defend their skills.

A Singaporean Spanish-Chinese model DJ, who wanted to be known only as Tenashar, says: "I feel a lot of people judge me like, 'She's just a model DJ', but the minute they see me mixing live and being crazy behind the console and spraying champagne on people, the stigma dies after a couple of tunes."

The former wine broker, known for her racy outfits and bikinis, is fully booked till next March.

But pointing to her DJ skills, she says she is in talks to be signed on to a music label run by famed American electro-house DJ and producer Steve Aoki.

However, copywriter and veteran DJ Debbie Chia, 30, who has been spinning since the early 2000s, says the concept of model-DJs has "hurt DJs who care more about the music or skill than looks".

She says: "There will always be someone prettier and more bodacious. My advice to DJs starting out would be, yes, put some care in your presentation, find something unique that marketers can hook on to but do not let it be the only thing that's good about you. Because looks don't last and there's only so much you can strip off before they've seen it all."

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