Myron Mayne was working at a retail store in Peterborough recently. He was getting daily instructions from his manager when his cellphone rang. He didn’t know what to do. He waited until his break to call back.

“I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ I didn’t even want to finish off the rest of my shift,” he said.

Mayne had been selected over thousands of other entrants as one of the top 20 competitors on the Much VJ Search. The competition is held by MuchMusic every few years to help find new hosts to appear on the station.

Much Music ran the first search in 2006 and the next in 2009. The 2013 search is the third and drew applications from across Canada.

VJ Lauren Toyota is hosting the search tour which includes stops in seven Canadian cities. Joining her on the tour bus are the 20 top contestants, competing in a series of elimination challenges. Those include hosting a morning show and interviewing celebrities.

“This is the first time we decided to take (the search) on the road,” she said.

Scarborough resident Myron Mayne was one of the first to be eliminated from the reality competition when the tour was in Vancouver.

“Throughout this hole VJ process I realized that TV is something I want to pursue,” Mayne said. “I’m planning on perfecting my skills.”

The final stop for the search is Toronto on April 11, when the Top 10 competitors will be revealed.

The winner of the competition will become the new VJ for MuchMusic, working with Lauren Toyota and the other VJs as they prepare the awards show.