MetRadio Show Brings Alumni to the Grammys

Artist Yungbold calls out from the 2026 Grammy red carpet, “Hello Michael, how you doing?” to Michael Roudbari ‘25, MetRadio’s On the Roster (external link)  host, who called in to the virtual media room (external link)  during music’s biggest night.

Roudbari started J-school knowing he wanted a platform to share Canadian artists, local events and shows with an audience.

Then, On the Roster was born in his third year, originally called Unfiltered for the first year. Through his show, he was able to attend Canadian Music Week, now known as Departure, the Juno Awards and other notable events around Toronto.

He rebranded in September to focus the show more on country music and Canadian pop music.

Roudbari wanted to ensure his listeners could not only know about the best events in Toronto, but also connect with the ones that they would like to attend.

“Not everybody's fortunate enough to go to the Grammy Awards, let alone the Juno Awards,” he said. “Being able to bring the fans' questions to the artist and get them their answer is what I wanted to do.”

That was his mission during the virtual media room at the Grammys.

Back in December, he wasn’t able to get approved for in-person media due to limited space; however, he received an email that he wasn’t expecting.

He said, “I had gotten an email saying, ‘virtual Grammy meeting coming up in a few days.’ I didn’t know this was happening.”

After receiving the email, he got to work with his team as it was five days before the big show.

“We researched how many artists got these nominations. Who are the Canadians? We looked at some country awards too,” he said. “Then on the show day, we locked ourselves in my basement at my house, and we put on the TV.”

They had three laptops and an iPad going, plus their iPhones.

While sitting in the virtual media room, waiting for the opportunity, they were also keeping up to speed on the ceremony, so they knew who won what.

Then he was able to ask Yungblood a question (external link)  and see country artist Zach Top come through the room.

The media room didn’t close until 1:30 a.m. due to the time difference between Toronto and Los Angeles.

Roudbari and his team were working the whole night during the show, and when there was downtime in the media room.

“Once we’d gotten the interview clip (with Yungblood), we downloaded it right away, went into Audition, clipped the part we wanted and started building what we wanted,” he explained.

They had microphones and all the equipment to record the actual broadcast, so they could prerecord segments while watching the Grammys in his basement.

“We just did it. Lots of energy drinks, lots of fun, it's something that we're really passionate about.”

Being able to speak with Yungblood, have a conversation before asking a question, meant a lot to Roudbari and will be something he remembers from his first Grammys.

“It was a very fun, cool and unique experience for an alumni, post-grad, not even a year [out] of graduation, where I'm able to be presented with this opportunity.”

To listen to Roudbari’s Grammy Awards recap episode, click on the episode (external link)  from Feb. 12 and start playback at the half-hour mark.