KATIE O’ NEILL FROM ARTANE WINS €8,500 AS RADIO NOVA’S ‘NOVA NOISE’ IS GUESSED AFTER SIX MONTHS
Illusionist Keith Barry predicts the winner live on air
A Dublin woman has scooped €8,500 in cash in Radio NOVA’s ‘Nova Noise’ competition, after correctly guessing the identity of a specific sound that the station’s presenters had recorded. The competition had run for over 6 months, with tens of thousands of calls made to the station over that time. NOVA had promised to give the cash away by the end of the month of September, to coincide with its 5th birthday on-air, and gave enhanced ‘super-clues’ throughout yesterday and this morning to lead listeners closer and closer to guessing the ‘Noise’
The winning guess was made by student Katie O’ Neill of Artane just 8.30am this morning during the station’s ‘Morning Glory’ breakfast show. Katie successfully guessed that the NOVA Noise was ‘an apple being rolled into a glass’. The Artane lady, who is studying at the Grafton Academy of Dress Designing, now intends to spend the money on college fees and Doctor Who Convention tickets!
“I’ve been listening for ages with my partner Darren and got up extra early this morning to try to get through to NOVA. My phone actually stopped counting the amount of calls I’ve made to NOVA, in excess of 200 for sure!”, says Katie.
The prize had started at €1,000 in March and had increased by €50 for every day the Noise Noise was not correctly guessed, with listeners having four daily chances to win the jackpot.
In a bizarre twist, well-known Irish entertainer and mentalist Keith Barry predicted today’s win. Ahead of a scheduled appearance on NOVA’s Morning Glory breakfast show, Barry sent a sealed package to the radio station last Friday, which was opened live on-air by the show’s presenters an hour after Katie’s guessing of the NOVA Noise. The package contained a hand-written note, correctly predicting the identity of the Noise, the time it would be guessed and the name and student-status of the person who would win the Noise.
Radio Nova’s Assistant Programme Director and Executive Breakfast Producer Clint Drieberg says “We didn’t expect to keep everyone guessing for 6 months, it has been extraordinary! Katie has finally solved the mystery and scored the biggest cash prize we have ever given away on Radio Nova.”
Nova has posted a video of the Nova Noise, as recorded during its creation, on its Facebook page – www.facebook.com/radionova100
Dee Woods & Marty Miller, presenters of Morning Glory said, “We’ve spent half a year of our lives listening to this Nova Noise so thanks Katie for un-wrecking our head! Glad you now have the money to get those Doctor Who Convention tickets you have been dreaming of” NOVA had flagged that the NOVA Noise would be won as part of its ‘Big 5’, five announcements to celebrate its 5th birthday in September. It has since accounced the arrival of rugby pundit Brent Pope and former 2FM head, John Clarke, to its lineup. It is now expected to make two more announcements to conclude its ‘Big 5’.
Radio NOVA broadcast to Dublin city, county and commuter belt, including Wicklow, Kildare and Meath on 100.3FM. The station plays a diet of guitar- based music from the 60s to today including artists like The Killers, Kings of Leon, Coldplay, The Rolling Stones, Guns & Roses and The Police. As of the most recent JNLR ratings, the station had 143,000 listeners.
More information:
Elaine Leonard
T: 086 8367323
E: [email protected]
