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CAMPAIGNING schoolboy Harry Kesterton has made a heartfelt plea to Radio Bahrain bosses to bring back popular DJ Krazy Kevin to the early morning "school run" show.
And in a determined bid to show how much support they would receive from listeners he is planning to present them with a petition containing hundreds of signatures.
The eight-year-old has been rallying support all over the kingdom for his cause.
"It is a long journey from Adliya to my school in Saar and Krazy Kevin was lively and kept me entertained and I didn't mind the drive to school. Now I'm just so bored," said Harry, a pupil at St Christopher's School, who is delighted that his petition has elicited such a huge response.
Fellow pupils at St Christopher's school are rallying round to bring the beloved DJ and GulfWeekly columnist back on to the early morning slot.
Krazy Kevin had carved an iconic niche with children and parents with his wacky humour, his ability to mimic in the quirkiest of voices, his peculiar selection of songs and not least, his chirpy yet madcap personality which is now sorely missed by some, if not all, early morning listeners.
Harry's mum, Anne Kesterton, has a 20-minute commute to her children's school every morning and said: "I used to listen to him every morning because my children wanted to listen to him.
Originally, Year 4 student Harry wanted to write a letter in the newspaper asking for Krazy Kevin's return but mother-of-two Anne, a lawyer by profession, suggested he take up a more effective stand and raise a petition.
Harry took his petition, which says "We miss Krazy Kevin and want him back in the morning" to school on Thursday and came home with 160 signatures. Over the weekend he went to the Rugby Club in Saar and gathered the support of even more people, adults included. To date he has 204 signatories.
Iman Malik, nine, agrees that Krazy Kevin is funny and entertaining and got her entire family of five to sign the petition in the hope that a greater number of signatures will prompt Radio Bahrain to sit up and take notice of the listeners' demand.
"Krazy Kevin wakes me up in the morning. I love him," said Kumail Syedain, nine, another ardent fan of Krazy Kevin.
Anne plans to put Harry's petition forward to the authorities at Radio Bahrain today.
"When I heard that Krazy Kevin was being removed from the breakfast show I thought that Radio Bahrain would bring in a Bahraini DJ who will add a different flavour to the show.
"But the show hasn't changed instead it has become very dull and impersonal without the amusing verbal diarrhoea that Krazy Kevin is popular for," Anne added.
DJ Ian Fisher is currently hosting the morning show after many years presenting a mid-morning slot. It is understood Krazy Kev was "moved" to the afternoon as punishment for alleged minor time-keeping misdemeanours and a row over New Year's Day coverage although, on-the-record, management insists "change" is good for the station.
So, while the petition is put forward, most children wait with fingers crossed for their favourite DJ to return to the early morning airwaves.
Your vote
Readers, if you are unable to sign Harry's petition you can register your Krazy Kevin vote by visiting www.gulfweekly.com and answering the question: Should Radio Bahrain bring Krazy Kev back to the Morning Show? We will let the station managers know the result next week.
