No boy zone is fine for melody maker Uaneen

0 Comments | Sunday Mirror, Apr 18, 1999 | by Report: MAEVE QUIGLEY Pictures: MIKE McSWEENEY

FLAME haired Uaneen Fitzsimons' obsession with music has taken her to the top of a profession dominated by men.

The 27-year-old broadcaster's driving ambition has landed her a dream job as the presenter of the top music show, No Disco on Network 2.

And now she gets to interview childhood idols such as Lou Reed and Siouxsie and the Banshees whose posters lined the walls of her bedroom when she was a teenager.

Before she dyed her hair shocking red, Uaneen knew she was going to become a star on the small screen.

"I always wanted to get involved in television," she said. "And when I was 17, I started doing something about it by sending letters to the BBC in Belfast.

"I eventually got on a CSV media course at the BBC and I spent nine months training and working on Across The Line with DJ Mike Edgar which was great experience for me."

The music show was the perfect platform for Uaneen who had a great passion for music since she was a child. So it was no surprise to her parents, Mary and Brian, that Uaneen got a break on the popular show.

"I have an older sister, Sharon, and two older brothers, Ciaran and Shane, and when they were going to discos, I'd be out watching the latest guitar bands in local pubs.

"When I was a teenager I was really into Gothic music. I walked about with my hair all spiked and hairsprayed up and listened to bands like Echo and the Bunnymen, The Jesus and Mary Chain and The Cure.

"My mother used to say to me: 'Would you not just this once go out to the disco and have a dance for a change, rather than watching all these bands.' But discos have never really been my thing."

Uaneen landed her dream job three years ago when she started presenting No Disco, Network 2's alternative contemporary music showcase.

Pop bands such as B'witched or Steps would never appear on the show. And viewers are more likely to get an earful of Cork's drum 'n' bass group Bass Odyssey or Brit award winners The Manic Street Preachers.

But it was not easy for Uaneen to fill the shoes of respected former presenter Donal Dineen.

"I moved from Belfast nearly 10 years ago to do a degree in communications and media at Dublin City University.

WHILE I was at university I worked in the media production society but I was also heavily involved in the entertainment's department, although I didn't do any television work at that stage."

After finishing her degree Uaneen started working for independent company Frontier Films, as a researcher on a number of children's television programmes for RTE.

"After that I worked in the Ormond Street multi-media centre and the Temple Bar Music Centre as a press and promotions officer. It was a brilliant job because I got to promote all the gigs that took place there," she said.

"At night time I co-produced and co-presented a show called Wired for Celtic Vision which is broadcast in Boston. It was all about bands from Ireland, Scotland and Wales. I did this for two years at night after work. And then I got my break on No Disco.

"When I heard Donal Dineen was leaving the show, I just thought that they'd do away with No Disco because he was such a hard act to follow.

"But a friend told me that there were screen-tests and interviews scheduled for lots of people who had applied. So I stuck in a showreel I had made.

"Then one Friday at 6pm I got a telephone call to say I'd got the job. I was told to start on Monday at 9am. I ended up recording my first show on the Monday afternoon.

"When I went in I didn't start trying to change the world. I just eased into the show and made it my own gradually. It would have been much harder for another guy to take over from someone as good as Donal.

"But I think it just came across that I really loved music and that's why I was there."

Her interviews for No Disco have enabled Uaneen to meet many of her favourite stars and childhood idols. She has also presented a number of one-off special programmes centering round big concerts and events in Ireland.

Uaneen will be seen on Network Two tonight presenting a one-off special on the Irish dance music industry.

The show, A Decade Of Dance: An Irish Fairytale, is just one of Uaneen's many extra-curricular activities. Last summer, she also found herself on the stage of the biggest rock concert in Ireland, in front of more than 80,000 people.

"I was asked to compere Slane after I did the Galway Big Day Out earlier in the summer. The Big Day Out was great - I was really into all the bands like Pulp, Garbage and Ian Brown. But that was a much smaller concert.

"With Slane, it was the thought of going out there in front of 80,000 people, that made it such a daunting prospect.

"And on the day of the concert, Dave Fanning and I were getting a lift and the car we were travelling in got stuck in traffic. I nearly didn't make it onto the stage at all.

"When I finally got out there in front of the crowd, I loved it.

"There was this little back area of the stage were the bands were and Mo Mowlam, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, was a watching them from there - it was a great atmosphere and I met all of the acts except for Robbie Williams."