MUMBAI: The wait is finally over, as the winner for 'The Sound of India@IRF2014' is out!

The RJ, who will represent India at the International Radio Festival (IRF) in Zurich this September, is 94.3MY FM's RJ Meenakshi. She emerged as the winner in a competition which had around 100 entries from radio jocks and radio show producers from more than 70 private and public FM radio stations all over India.

The bubbly Meenakshi hosts the morning show 'Salaam Chandigarh' on 94.3 MY FM from 7 to 11am. This is a power packed show which starts with a motivational story which is then followed by national, international, sports and bollywood updates with funny entertaining takes and trivia.

Says indiantelevision.com group's Radioandmusic.com founder Anil Wanvari, "Almost all the entries which came in for the Sound of India @IRF were of a very high calibre. India has a rich crop of professional RJs who really connect with their audience. What made 94.3MY FM's Meenakshi stand out was her Punjabi chutzpah; and her fun and masti loving character on her show. It is seen in her RJing and her song selection. She also addresses social issues and accompanied with the right entertainment quotient which is very crucial on radio, this made her a winner. She truly reflects a very important Indian region, which has a rich culture and heritage. This apart, the language she communicates in – Punjabi – from time to time also is spoken by a large section of the Indian populace. We are delighted to have her as the representative face of Indian radio at the IRF."

Adds IRF festival co-founder Darryl von Daniken, "We were delighted to partner with radioandmusic.com to help us zoom in on the RJ who will represent India at the IRF this year. Meenakshi will be representing a different Indian mood and aspiration which is why we have collectively chosen her to be the Indian RJ face – along with her show producer Himanshu–at the IRF this year. We hope to see more entries next year so that the best RJ and its program make it to our international platform which is expanding every year."

Winning the Sound of India @IRF 2014 means that Meenakshi and her show producer Himanshu Gupta will be flown and given accommodation in Zurich at no cost to them. This has been made possible with the support of Swiss Tourism.

Meenakshi for her part is ecstatic on being selected as the Indian RJing face at the IRF in Zurich. "Oh my god - were the three words that came to my mind when I got the news that too straight from my CEO Harrish Bhatia," she says. "For any RJ in India, it is not just an achievement but it also is an honor to represent and showcase your own country. This recognition has definitely humbled me and I suddenly feel that I have to represent my country on an international stage. I had never imagined to be recognised like this but every artiste, every performer, and every entertainer needs appreciation. I am so happy that I got this opportunity. For a person who is always involved in word play behind the microphone, in moments like this, it is difficult to find the right words because I am overwhelmed with the recognition. I owe every bit of this success to my organisation, my leaders and my colleagues who have given shape to the person that I am today."

94.3MY FM CEO Harrish Bhatia highlights that Meenakshi's selection has reaffirmed his belief that his radio network has some of the best talent in the industry. He says, "Meenakshi has been one of our leading RJs and in fact the first ever RJ in India to cross one lakh likes on Facebook and her achievement is a testimony of all the hard work we have been putting in creating consumer centric content and of course, Meenakshi's superlative talent. I am very pleased with this achievement. We have invested heavily on developing unique and proprietary content that has the edge of utilitarian knowledge. Customer centricity has been the core not only for 94.3MY FM but also for our parent company. Right from picking up the content cues from the changing tastes in music, talk and style of presentation, we today can boast an evolving content mechanism."

"The life of a radio station is its RJ and when I say that Chandigarh wakes up to the voice of Meenakshi, I am not exaggerating. Her achievement is a very happy surprise for us. I know how much time, energy and hard work; a whole bunch of creative people put in to create that winning breakfast show in our markets," points out 94.3MY FM national programming head Viplove Gupta. "A team of content specialists, content writers, journalists, writers, sound engineers, show producer and even the intern at our radio station, everyone contributes in this success story of Meenakshi. She is a talent that is unparalleled; and coupled with hard work, determination and an instant connect with the listeners; what more can you ask for. The achievement proves our belief that a real talent will shine through always."About the Sound of India @IRF competition in 2014

The International Radio Festival (IRF) together with Indiantelevision.com group's Radioandmusic.com (RnM) and Mixcloud.com had teamed up to find the Indian FM Radio Show and Radio jockey of 2014 to be showcased at this year's IRF Festival in Zurich, Switzerland which is being held from 3-7 September 2014. As part of the contest, Indian radio stations upload RJ and show entries on to Mixcloud.com which are then shotlisted and judged by IRF in partnership with radionamdusic.com.