[ 2015-04-08 ]

Naa Ashorkor: The mid-morning charm you wish had come sooner
With the right mix of charm, clout and grace, Naa
Ashokor is making amazing accomplishments on radio
given the relatively short amount of time she has
been on the air.

The incisive bubbly host of The Zone on Starr
103.5FM was more known for her roles in Ghanaian
movies and TV shows before joining the EIB-owned
Starr FM in August 2014, but has now become the
goddess of the radio airwaves.

Making the adjustment from TV to radio was
“quite unsettling”, she admitted but Naa found
her feet quicker than one would expect, and she
said she is enjoying every bit of the attention
she is getting, as well as the impact she is
making on radio. “I have been on radio for
several times but only as a guest. Radio is
different from TV.

With TV you direct and present at the same time
but radio is magical: you sit at one place and
speak and the whole world is listening to you and
I get messages from all around the world,
Amsterdam, China etc.,” she said with a spark of
excitement in her eyes.

“Being a radio presenter is a whole new
experience. It’s your show and its magic and one
amazing part is that I control the show and I
don’t get to do that on TV because [with] TV,
someone directs…even the pitch of my voice. Most
of my friends normally ask: ‘How different is TV
from Radio?’ and I tell them Radio is amazing,
it’s all up to you and a great feeling,” she
added.

Naa is trusted with the station’s flagship
mid-morning show which is structured and produced
to relax people so they can be at their most
productive at work. And she is by all indications,
excelling at it as she has won for herself
hundreds of eager and committed listeners.

And her listeners trust her to sway them in
whatever direction she sees fit each day when she
gets behind the console. Asked what her ‘magic
technique’ was, Ghana’s newest compelling
radio mid-morning voice said three things: God;
her team of producers and DJ; and her
determination to keep her listeners
“entertained, inspired and focused” as they go
through the first half of the working day.

“My Producer, Catherine is just perfect, she is
multi-talented; she runs the show, getting guests,
calls, asking the right questions, topics and all.
She is all you can get in a great producer,”
said Naa about the head of her production team
Catherine Sakyi.


The 27-year-old princess of the airwaves always
starts off with Pharell Williams’ Happy track, a
song which according to her “has a magical
effect on a listener who isn’t happy” and
“makes me dance. Gets me in the right mood and
frame of mind” to start the show.

But apart from Pharell’s upbeat tune, Naa is
much in love with her closest “super-duper DJ
Mono!” “I told my DJ that the day he would
call in sick, I would call in sick too,” she
said as she tried to describe the strong bond
between the two of them.


“Mono has been of great help to me: before I
started Radio, I had this perception about DJs
playing for parties, party songs and no cool music
at all but since I started radio, I realised
it’s not just that. MONO is super, he is a great
person, he takes me through all the playlist and
there is not a single day that I have never
enjoyed any of his songs. You should get a DJ who
really knows music, he has been a great support to
me throughout the show.”

Naa Ashokor Adodoaji is aware she is operating in
a competitive space but is focused enough not to
allow the strain of competition to drain her
positive energy and outlook.

“I think the only thing that keeps me going and
doing well in my opinion is the fact that I
don’t really think about my competition. I just
try to do me, and grow me and be the best that I
can be. I don’t really have time to think too
much about what other people are doing among other
things because I don’t listen to them at all.
Because I’m on air at the same time. So they are
not on my mind at all”.

According to her, her utmost priority is improving
on what she has already built.


“I just focus on growing the show, and growing
me on the show. And being the best that I can be.
And that’s what I do. So the competition is not
so much on mind.”

Source - Starrfmonline

... go Back