Two UAE based jockey's have entered the Guinness Book of World Records for hosting the longest marathon for a radio music show by a DJ team this week.
More than 84 hours of continuous banter and music, with just a few power naps and toilet breaks in between. That sums up five days of two radio jockey's at the Malayalam station - Hit 96.7, who broke the world record by hosting the longest radio music show this week.
Sindhu Biju and Mithun Ramesh, who host the Radio Active show from 5pm to 9pm everyday, completed an 84 hours and 15 minutes talk and music marathon on December 9 to enter the Guinness Book of World Records.
The team set up their temporary booth at LuLu Hypermarket in Al Barsha, Dubai and were visited by thousands of listeners and fans, causing traffic chaos around the venue during the event.
“We had been planning this for over a year, but it required a lot of coordination and preparation to pull together,” says Biju, who has been with the station for six years. “And there were rules to be followed, like the show had to be conducted in a public place for absolute transparency. We managed to convince the organisers to give us that air time after our trail run earlier this year.”
The team organised a lengthy version of their regular show, which includes taking callers, playing music, commercials, weather reports and news. They beat the previously held record of a 77hours and 11minutes show hosted by a radio team.
“It was an amazing experience. We couldn’t make out day from night,” says Biju. “We never thought we would get such a massive response from listeners. Our booth in the supermarket was surrounded by people and at one point the management had to close the store.”
The team could go off-air for a few minutes after every hour, but decided to only take an hours break after a 16-hour segment on air instead. “We used the break for power naps. We also avoided eating or drinking too much, just sipping on water to prevent dehydration.”
She says the biggest challenge was synchronising her washroom breaks with her co-host. “According to the rules both team members need to be on and off-air at the same time. There were some things we couldn’t prepare for in advance.” The hosts could not be silent for too long and had to cut listeners conversation that went on for more than 50 seconds.
Some listeners camped with them at the supermarket for more than 22 hours to show their support. “They went without sleep too. This event made us understand how much they love us.”
And the first thing they did after breaking the record? "No, no rest! We went back to work."