Gerard Ekdom (born 26 March 1978, in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

) is a Dutch

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

DJ formerly at the radio stations

NPO Radio 2 NPO Radio 2 is a public-service radio station from the Netherlands, broadcasting in an adult hits format, focusing on music from the 1980s to the 2010s and current hits, however 1960s and 1970s hits may also air. It is part of the Netherlands ...

and the 3FM. Programs he hosted include Arbeidsvitaminen (lit. ''labour vitamines'', a Dutch term for music played while doing manual labor) between September 2001 and September 2010) on weekdays from 10:00 until 12:00 am, "Effe Ekdom" (September 2010-October 2015) as well as the Friday evening show

Ekstra Weekend ''Ekstra Weekend'' was a Dutch radio broadcast by the Dutch public broadcaster NTR for 3FM. The show aired on Friday nights between 7 and 10 pm. The show was hosted by Gerard Ekdom and Michiel Veenstra. The name ''Ekstra Weekend'' is a cont ...

, together with

Michiel Veenstra Arjan Michiel Sander Veenstra (Almelo, 6 March 1976) is a Dutch radio DJ on KINK. He presents the program Michiel every Monday to Friday, between 9.00 and 12.00 Career He started with his own show at ''Regio FM'', the local radio station ...

Biography

From early in life, Gerard Ekdom had the ambition to become a DJ. As a young talent, he was frequently asked as a drive-in jockey since he was fourteen. He started his radio career at local station

Radio De Bilt Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

. He has worked for the Stadsomroep Utrecht and NEW Dance Radio. He owes his career in part to DJ Fred Siebelink. Ekdom met Siebelink one day in Utrecht, recognizing him by his voice, and introduced himself. Siebelink spotted the boy's talent and showed him around the Stadsomroep, which was happy to employ him. In 1998, Ekdom started his career at 3FM. A year and a half earlier he had sent a demo tape to then-manager Jan Steeman of the project ''Pyjama FM'' by

AVRO AVRO, short for Algemene Vereniging Radio Omroep ("General Association of Radio Broadcasting"), was a Dutch public broadcasting association operating within the framework of the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep system. It was the first public broad ...

studios. After a phone call from Steeman he was welcome to AVRO's night school. During this studies he was occasionally heard on Magic FM and

Hot Radio Hot Radio is a community radio station for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and the surrounding areas offering rhythmic music and local information. The station started life as "The Bay 102.8" and was awarded a community radio licence by O ...

. In September 1999 Ekdom moved from night shows to Sunday morning and hosted the show ''EKDOM!''. His major breakthrough was seven months later, when the ''Arbeidsvitaminen'' needed a stand-in host. Both Ekdom and the AVRO enjoyed his hosting of that show, and quickly afterward he was given the opportunity for his own nightly show. On 17 September 2001 he succeeded

Wim Rigter Wim is a masculine given name or a shortened form of Willem and other names and may refer to: * Wim Anderiesen (1903–1944), Dutch footballer * Wim Aantjes (1923–2015), Dutch politician * Wim Arras (born 1964), Belgian cyclist * Wim Blockmans ...

as host of ''Arbeidsvitaminen''. Since then, he has been on air every weekday between 9 and 12, and has made the show the most famous of its station.

3FM Serious Request

From 19 to 24 December 2005, Ekdom teamed up with colleagues

Giel Beelen Michiel Antonius Adrianus Beelen (born 25 May 1977 in Haarlem), better known as Giel Beelen, is a Dutch radio DJ and presenter, working primarily for public broadcaster VARA. Since 2004 Beelen hosted his own breakfast show ''GIEL!'' on national r ...

and

Wouter van der Goes Wouter van der Goes (born 18 January 1973, Alkmaar) is a Dutch radio DJ. At age twelve, he was tinkering with audio equipment as a hobby. Later, during his free time, he worked with several local radio stations, as well as pirate stations, wh ...

, to host the 2nd edition of

fundraising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

radio show 3FM Serious Request. For the duration of this show, broadcast 24 hours per day, they lived in a so-called 'glass house', without solid food. Radio listeners could request songs in return for a donation. The proceeds were donated to the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

for victims of war in the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. Since then Ekdom has co-hosted

Serious Request Serious Request is a family of annual multi-day, multimedia fundraising events for International Red Cross initiatives, typically hosted by radio stations in the week before Christmas. The project was begun in 2004 by Dutch public pop music ...

another seven times, each year for a different Red Cross charity. * 2006 with Giel Beelen and

Sander Lantinga Sander Lantinga (born 27 September 1976 in Biddinghuizen) is a Dutch program maker at BNN, and a radio-DJ at radio station 3FM from 2006 till 2015, in August 2015 he is one of the co host of the Coen en Sander Show on Radio 538. Lantinga drew ...

— for victims and clearing of

land mine A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automati ...

s * 2007 with

and

Rob Stenders Rob Stenders (born 18 April 1965) is a Dutch radio DJ. Stenders had a long-lasting career in radio starting with local radio stations. Stenders followed up Edwin Evers with the 3FM morning show "Stenders Vroeg" for the public radio and televisi ...

— to provide more people with safe drinking water * 2009 with Giel Beelen and

Annemieke Schollaardt Annemieke Schollaardt (born May 3, 1979) is a DJ for AVROTROS on popular music channel NPO Radio 2. Until April 2009, Annemieke was heard daily on a radio project called Uruzgan FM. On Saturday and Sunday morning between 10:00 am and 12:00 am sh ...

— raising money to fight malaria * 2010 with Giel Beelen and

Coen Swijnenberg Coen may refer to: * Coen (name), a given name and surname * Enrico Coen (1957), a British botanist * Coen brothers, a U.S. filmmaker sibling duo * Coen River, Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia; named after ''Jan Pieterszoon Coen'' in 16 ...

— for children who lost their parents to

aids Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

* 2011 with Coen Swijnenberg and Timur Perlin — to aid mothers who have taken damage through wars and conflicts * 2012 with Giel Beelen and Michiel Veenstra — to reduce infant mortality * 2014 with Coen Swijnenberg and Domien Verschuuren — to aid girls and women victimised by sexual violence in conflict areas. A year earlier, this charity show had won a

Marconi Award :''"Marconi Award" links here. Note that in the Netherlands, the radio academy awards are also called Marconi Awards.'' The Marconi Radio Awards are presented annually by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) to the top radio stations and ...

. Since then, every year it has been a greater success than the year before. Gary Fomdeck is an alias name of Gerard Ekdom; he used this name to release a Christmas song for Serious Request, all revenue from the song shall be donated to the Red Cross. The song called ''I'll Be There This Christmas'' made it to number one in the Dutch

Single Top 100 The Dutch Single Top 100 or Single Top 100 is a Dutch chart, based on official physical single sales, legal downloads and since July 2013 streaming and composed by Dutch Charts. It is one of the three official charts, the other two being the Du ...

chart, and in the Dutch iTunes chart as well.

Television

Ekdom also made television-appearances; he hosted ''

Toppop3 AVRO, short for Algemene Vereniging Radio Omroep ("General Association of Radio Broadcasting"), was a Dutch public broadcasting association operating within the framework of the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep system. It was the first public broa ...

'', the revived version of the chart-show ''

TopPop ''TopPop'' is the first regular dedicated pop music television series in the Dutch language area. The Netherlands broadcaster AVRO aired the programme weekly, from 22 September 1970, to 27 June 1988. Presenter Ad Visser hosted for its first fift ...

'', and the talent-search ''Join the Beat''. In 2011, he presented the Dutch version of the game show '' Fort Boyard'', alongside Dutch television presenter

Art Rooijakkers Art Rooijakkers (born 29 August 1976) is a Dutch television presenter. He is best known as the presenter of the popular television show ''Wie is de Mol?'' from 2012 to 2018. Career In 2011, Rooijakkers presented the Dutch version of the game ...

. In 2022, he appeared in the television show ''

The Masked Singer ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''.

NPO Radio 2

In 2015 Ekdom moved to NPO Radio 2; he hosted the breakfast-show ''Ekdom in de Ochtend'' and the 00:00 - 02:00 pm-slot in the Saturday-sounight. On April 4, 2018 Ekdom announced his upcoming transfer to Radio 10; he hosted his last show for NPO Radio 2 on June 29.

References

External links

Gerard's websiteWebsite of ArbeidsvitaminenWebsite of Effe EkdomGerard Ekdom on 3FM's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ekdom, Gerard 1978 births Living people Dutch radio personalities Mass media people from Utrecht (city) 21st-century Dutch people