Back at Crazy Go Nuts University, I used to say that “If this computer craze blows over, I might try getting into children’s television”. The computer craze didn’t fade away, but I am getting my first appearance on tween/teen television a week from now on YTV’s show, The Zone:
For those of you who don’t live in Canada or aren’t familiar with YTV, it’s a Canadian speciality television channel aimed at youth viewers. My American readers might want to think of YTV as the Canadian answer to Nickelodeon. I assumed that YTV was short for “Youth Television”, but the YTV “About” page says this isn’t so (although one should not take the word of marketers or TV executives — and especially marketers who works for TV executives — as gospel).
The Zone is YTV’s flagship “show”: an afternoon programming block featuring some of their more popular cartoons interspersed with segments featuring two PJs (“Program Jockeys”), Sugar (Stephanie Beard) and Carlos (Carlos Bustamente). You can find out some interesting facts about The Zone and its PJs — including the fact that Sugar was the voice of “Rini” from Sailor Moon — in its Wikipedia entry.
Next week is “Musical Week” on The Zone, and through the machinations of my friend Sandra Kasturi (at whose wedding I played back in 2002), I’ll be appearing on it with my accordion. The other musical guests will be a few members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and a local mariachi band, which suggests that the theme will be running from the sublime to the ridiculous. I never cared much for the sublime thing, anyway.
I have to show up at the YTV studios — thankfully only a couple of blocks away from the office — next Wednesday at around two-ish. It should be fun, and I’ll definitely blog the event.
