Youngsters add family touch to Las Vegas radio programming

Program director Cat Thomas cues his talent with a pointed index finger. One-time "Fame" star Billy Hufsey will now get the grilling of his life from KYDZ-AM, 1140 on-air personality Robbie Q. and his sidekick, Jillie.

"Mr. Hufsey, you were a big star in show business at an early age," Q. says. "What was it like breaking into the business and how did it get you started?"

OK, so it's not exactly a grilling. But Robbie Q. is 10 and Jillie is 8. They're students at Goolsby Elementary School and also Thomas' children. (Their last name is Quaintance.)

Spike Radio For Men, another original program heard only in Las Vegas, had occupied 1140 until 2009, when CBS Radio President Dan Mason had the idea to replace it with a station for and by kids. Thomas was placed in charge.

"It wasn't so much a corporate decision as an idea he had that we all really liked," Thomas said earlier. "There's really not a lot of things that parents can listen to with their kids in the car and not have to hit the button because of content."

Thomas doesn't like the word "experiment," but says the concept is "something we'd like to expand throughout our other CBS stations if it does really well."

KYDZ runs 24/7 with all prerecorded segments. They're taped every couple of weeks -- some in studio, some at locations including malls and backstage at kid-centric concerts. That's how Robbie Q. and Jillie got to interview teen singing sensation Justin Bieber last month.

"He kissed me on the cheek," Jillie reported. "I was really happy." (For any classmate who doesn't believe her, Jillie regularly refers them to YouTube, where a video provides enviable documentation.)

For the Quaintance siblings -- the station's only regular voices other than A.J. Fleuridas, 14 -- microphones came shortly after pacifiers.

"Our dad would show us around and tell us about what all this stuff would do," Robbie said.

Although Jillie wants to "dance, sing and act" when she grows up, Robbie acknowledged that radio is a possibility.

"But I don't know," he said. "I have a lot of opportunities."

The Quaintances receive no paycheck -- only a bump in their allowances that Thomas refuses to reveal.

"No comment," he said, explaining that he never discusses salaries in any form.

Twelve minutes after today's interview begins, Thomas swirls his "wrap it up" finger. Among the things we have learned about Billy Hufsey: He runs a Las Vegas-based acting school; he loves singing, acting and dancing "all equally"; and Robbie and Jillie's mom had "a big crush" on him during "Fame's" heyday.

Robbie claims he and his sister wrote the questions themselves -- with some editing from Dad and Mom. But Jillie is having none of this sham.

"I was kind of thinking of questions, but I didn't write them down," she says, "and then I forgot today that I was doing this."

Clearly, Jillie is the loose cannon in this radio duo. In fact, with Hufsey still in the studio, she admits that she has never viewed a single episode of "Fame."

"But I want to," she says.

Contact reporter Corey Levitan at clevitan@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0456.