''Wanna Be a VJ'' was a show and contest on MTV in the United States. Contestants were selected from the crowd around MTV's

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...

office, and narrowed down via challenges testing the applicants' music knowledge and personality. Once narrowed down to six contestants, viewers were allowed to vote for contestants by

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and on the

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. The winner was awarded $25,000 and a one-year contract to be a veejay on

Total Request Live ''Total Request Live'' (known commonly as ''TRL'') was an American television program broadcast on MTV that premiered on September 14, 1998. TRL featured popular music videos played during its countdown, and was also used as a promotion tool by ...

. All three events were hosted by Carson Daly.

''Wanna Be a VJ'' (1998)

In the first ''Wanna Be a VJ'' contest Jesse Camp beat Dave Holmes. Holmes ended up hosting various shows on MTV until 2001. Camp's unexpected victory caused many viewers to suspect foul play. ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'' ran an article in which a source, identified only by his online

handle A handle is a part of, or attachment to, an object that allows it to be grasped and manipulated by hand. The design of each type of handle involves substantial ergonomic issues, even where these are dealt with intuitively or by following tr ...

"UglyPig", claimed to have hacked the voting site, allowing him to vote more than 3,000 times."MTV Contest Hacked"
''

'', May 5, 1998

''Wanna Be a VJ Too'' (1999)

The second ''Wanna Be a VJ'' contest was won by 21-year-old Thalia DaCosta, from Sunrise, Florida.

''Wanna Be a VJ 3'' (2000)

The third ''Wanna Be a VJ'' contest was won by Ray Munns. Munns went on to defend his job five times on a live show entitled ''TRL Presents: VJ for a Day'', where he and the contestants introduced the eleven through fifteen videos of ''

TRL TRL or trl may refer to: Arts * Temporary Residence Limited, a record label * ''Total Request Live'', a former MTV show * TRL Awards (''Total Request Live''), an Italian music award Libraries * Tampines Regional Library, a regional library in Ta ...

''. Ray was the first ever half-Korean VJ (he is also a quarter-Irish and a quarter-English) and was the first contest winner to stay longer than a year at MTV. Actress, Diana Polanshek was featured as a guest host with Ray Munns on MTV’s VJ 4 A Day. The runner up, Shannon Wiseman of

Dallas, North Carolina Dallas is a town in Gaston County, North Carolina, United States, and a suburb of Charlotte, located north of Gastonia. The population was 4,488 at the 2010 census. It was named for George M. Dallas, Vice President of the United States under Ja ...

, became a co-host for

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...

's '' Atlanta Tonight'' in 2004 and the host of ''NASCAR.COM's Post-Race Show'' in 2005.

References

External links

*
"I Want My Camp TV"
''

Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/ liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...

'', May 8, 1998 1998 American television series debuts 1990s American reality television series English-language television shows MTV original programming {{US-reality-tv-stub