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27 Apr 2010 09:02:55
Media graduate Waqas Saeed, aka Wax, has been nominated for the Rising Star Award at this year’s Sony Awards for his BBC Asian Network morning show.
Born in Luton, Waqas joined the network in 2005 and worked his way up from broadcast assistant to presenting the Early Breakfast Show slot. Mixing Asian cultural references, humorous observations of daily life and constant references to his family, all delivered in his bubbly and engaging style, Waqas has built up a loyal following among his largely-Asian audience.
The nomination is a considerable achievement for Waqas who took over the show in April last year. He faces tough competition in his award category, including Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker (BBC6 Music) and Max Dickins (Absolute Radio).
Waqas said: “It’s fantastic to be recognised as one of the bright new talents in radio. And to find out I was in the same category as Jarvis Cocker is a really big thing for me. But I am humble – a working class hero, as I like to describe myself. I always remember how I got where I am. It was down to a lot of determination and hard work.”
That hard work was evident when Waqas was a student at the University and he and a couple of friends worked through the night in the editing room to complete a film dissertation project to meet a deadline.
As this is the only award that is decided by public vote, listeners can choose their favourite presenters and also win World Cup tickets while they are doing it. Votes can be registered at http://risingstar.sony.co.uk until 30 April.
Waqas is encouraging, in his own unique style, his friends and followers of the show in Luton to vote for him and boost his chances of winning. “Vote for me – it will only take five seconds. Even if you don't know the show, just do it...go on, be nice!”
The winner will be announced on 10 May at The Grosvenor House Hotel in London at a show hosted by Radio 2 presenter Chris Evans.
Latest news» 2010» April» Wax is up for major music award
