Raymond "Ray" Lee Munns (born March 11, 1980) is a former

MTV VJ This is a list of people who have been VJs on MTV, the music video channel in the U.S. and around the world. Originally hired to represent a wide array of musical tastes and personal ethnicities, VJs eventually became famous in their own ri ...

and

Trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

DJ.

MTV

In 2000, Munns beat out 10,000 other hopefuls to win the third annual ''

Wanna Be a VJ ''Wanna Be a VJ'' was a show and contest on MTV in the United States. Contestants were selected from the crowd around MTV's Times Square office, and narrowed down via challenges testing the applicants' music knowledge and personality. Once narro ...

'' contest. During the live show, Munns participated in a series of challenges a VJ would expect to encounter...from introducing videos to interviewing celebrities such as

Method Man Clifford Smith, Jr. (born March 2, 1971), better known by his stage name Method Man, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is known as a member of the East Coast hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He is also half of ...

. At the end of the show, a debate was held between Munns and Shannon Wiseman who was in the lead. In the debate, Munns made a comment about MTV not needing any more

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiratio ...

Dolls. He was referring to the cookie cutter image of a VJ. The live studio audience went wild and Munns was awarded fifty one percent to Wiseman's forty nine percent. Munns started his MTV career as

Carson Daly Carson Jones Daly (born June 22, 1973) is an American television host, radio personality, producer, and television personality. Prior to 2003, Daly was a VJ on MTV's '' Total Request Live'', and a DJ for the Southern California-based radio st ...

's sidekick on '' TRL'' during the 2000 summer beach house. He also did a Wrigley's Big Red spot and appeared on ''

The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn ''The Late Late Show'' is an American late-night television talk and variety comedy show on CBS. It first aired in January 1995, with host Tom Snyder, who was followed by Craig Kilborn, Craig Ferguson, and current host James Corden. The sho ...

''. Within one week of his victory he was imitated by

Chris Kattan Christopher Lee Kattan () (born October 19, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1996 to 2003. He played Doug Butabi in '' A Night at the Roxbury'', Bob on the first four seasons of '' The ...

on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serve ...

'' for having an infectious laugh. Munns second live interview came when Carson Daly had

Shannon Elizabeth Shannon Elizabeth Fadal (born September 7, 1973) is an American actress, conservationist, animal activist, model and poker player. A popular sex symbol and teen idol of the 1990s and 2000s, Elizabeth is best known for her roles in the films '' ...

say hello to him on TRL. After the summer beach house ended, Ray play fought and danced the

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

dance for "Oops I Did It Again" with

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...

on TRL. He was chosen by

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

and

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

to shoot five vignettes for the 2000 MTV VMA, and also started work as executive producer on his first mixed CD "Ray's House" for

Kinetic Records Kinetic Records was a New York City-based record label founded by Steve Lau (founding member of Sire Records act the Ocean Blue), and co-owned with Alyson Shapero. The label launched the careers of artists and DJs such as Paul Oakenfold, BT, Ray ...

. On January 1, 2001, MTV debuted its new show ''TRL Presents: VJ for a Day''. The live daytime program featured contestants battling for Munns' job. Some of the challenges included introducing videos and interacting with celebrities. After winning four times, a contestant would compete with Munns "Head to Head" for his job. After five "Head to Head" matches and hosting VJ for a Day for four months; Munns retained his job and left the show as the “People’s Champion.”

Post MTV

After leaving MTV as a full-time VJ, Munns was named one of

People Magazine ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People'' had the l ...

’s "50 Most Eligible Bachelors".Source People Magazine July 2, 2001 He was featured alongside

Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon (; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among '' Forbes'' most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North Amer ...

George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by George Clooney, numerous accolades, including a British Academy Film Awards, British Academy Film A ...

Ben Affleck Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Volpi Cup. Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS educatio ...

Josh Hartnett Joshua Daniel Hartnett (born July 21, 1978) is an American actor and producer. He first came to attention in 1997 for his role as Michael Fitzgerald in the television crime drama series ''Cracker''. He made his feature film debut in 1998 in the ...

, and

Russell Crowe Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor. He was born in New Zealand, spent ten years of his childhood in Australia, and moved there permanently at age twenty one. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Max ...

. While taking a break from promoting and DJing for his album “Rays House;” he hosted the "Swordfish Movie Special" featuring

Paul Oakenfold Paul Mark Oakenfold (born 30 August 1963), formerly known mononymously as Oakenfold, is an English record producer, remixer and trance DJ. He has provided over 100 remixes for over 100 artists including U2, Moby, Madonna, Britney Spears, Mas ...

and

Africa Bambaataa Lance Taylor (born on April 17, 1957), also known as Afrika Bambaataa (), is an American DJ, rapper, and producer from the South Bronx, New York. He is notable for releasing a series of genre-defining electro tracks in the 1980s that influence ...

. Munns was also brought back as a guest judge on MTV when he was not busy DJing. In 2001, he was a judge at the

Miss Teen USA Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant formerly run, since 1983, by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19. Unlike its sister pageants Miss Universe, which currently broadcasts on Fox and Miss USA, this pageant is webcast on the Mis ...

awards.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Munns, Ray 1980 births American DJs Living people People from St. Charles, Missouri