It may not be the first time that a swinging South African woman has swopped spouses, but it's almost certainly the first time that the experience will happen live on air, as Jacaranda 94.2 breakfast show co-host Michelle Constant swops households this week with a Pretoria listener.
The ensuing special programming will be broadcast from Wednesday, 30 March 2005 as 'MichSwitch'.
Constant's alter-ego will be copy-typist Mariska Rabie, mother of 3-year old Martin, who only learned Tuesday morning that she had been selected to participate in the Adventure this week. While Constant will cope with waking up the household, Rabie will be DJ'ing with Martin Bester in an Outside Broadcast coming from the Rabie family driveway.
Constant can expect to have her hands full on Wednesday morning as Rabie's dawn routine includes getting dressed in the dark; trying to dress Martin (described as trying to dress a tornado); remembering to feed the cannibal fish who, if neglected, feast off each other; and waking her husband (normally with a cold hand under the sheets...).
The MichSwitch initiative scores high on two crucial indices, says station marketing manager Niki Ragoadi. "Primarily, it's compelling listening for our audience and bound to be very amusing. Secondly, it's a very concrete way for programming to understand how the station fits into its environment and to have first hand access into how the average listener experiences Jacaranda 94.2 in their daily lifestyle."
Whether Mariska Rabie can be called an average listener is another question altogether. Rabie describes her son as "a little Jim Carrey in the making. He might just play along, but I cannot guarantee it" and her pets as "strange animals... normal-looking to most outsiders, but they do not behave they way standard domesticated animals should." Rabie's cat insists on a morning dose of catnip ("legal cat dagga") otherwise the "feisty" feline who has killed a plant and destroyed several pieces of furniture, is liable to hunt bloodied prey which is then presented on the master bed.
But Constant's troubles will not be over once she delivers little Martin to school. She will have to report to work, at Beeld's Pretoria bureau, as Rabie's stand-in copy typist.
