His most challenging interviews ever.

When it comes to hosting an interview on air, one name that stands out above the rest, even here in Y101, is the great John M. Aside from so many great names, John M has interviewed many politicians - senators, candidates for presidency, vice presidency, honest as well as corrupt. “See, politicians are always trying to please everyone” John M says, “They are not much of a challenge.” So we asked John M who has also interviewed many artists, athletes, and even other DJ’s, who were your top 3 most challenging guests to interview?

After a few minutes of thinking, John M began to recall a few particularly memorable interviews. First one that came to his mind was when he had interviewed the late Elizabeth Ramsey who sadly passed away on October 08, 2015. Her well known comedic eccentricities on stage he says were definitely carried into the Y101 booth that day. Although John M always prepares for all his interviews, Elizabeth Ramsey threw him the curve balls on that particular interview. Elizabeth Ramsey may have thought she was the interviewer that day as she was the one bombarding John M with questions such as “You speak very well, have you lived in the USA”, and “Is this job paying you enough”. John M admits at times he found it quite difficult as Elizabeth Ramsey at one point threw her seat back behind her and started dancing in the Y101 DJ’s booth in Cebu Plaza Hotel. Aside from the challenges, John M does go on to say though that during some moments she would make him laugh so hard he couldn’t even respond. This was the first time John M had trouble ending an interview. Though difficult, John M explains that this was one interview he could never forget, and wishes he could have that same challenge again as this time he would know what to do. Elizabeth Ramsey tugged on John M ever more during that interview and John M had to eventually cut his interview short. The rumor at the time was that the only way to end an interview with Elizabeth Ramsey was to give her a kiss? Was this what John M resorted to at the end of his interview?

On a separate occasion John M recalls interviewing Mike Francis Puccioni, most famous for his 1982 hit Survivor. He says he remembers this artist because Y101 was the station the made Mike Francis Puccioni a huge hit in cebu. But it was was Mike Puccioni did in the booth that was most memorable. Mike Francis Puccioni asked for a cigarette and a guitar. John M happily obliged, handed him a stick of reds, and an acoustic guitar that we had laying around the office. What a privilege one might think, but John M was watching as Jack Jackosalem, his boss at the time was giving him the stink eye, hehe. Of course with all the expensive equipment in the booth the last thing we would want is to damage the equipment with any fire hazards or smoke.

John M on a third occasion remembers one particular local hip-hop group who were “Too cool for school” he says. Dressed in clothing that was way too hot for the tropics, wearing sunglasses at night, and were trying to talk like they grew up in Compton, California. John M doesn’t have time for these fake and unprofessional artists. He says as a veteran interviewer, the most common and challenging problem is dealing with professionals.

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