Radio presenter/DJ and host of the upcoming TV reality show, ‘Icons: Divas Edition’, Benny Blanco says he is ready to face whatever rumours and criticisms that could arise from his most visible job as a presenter in Ghana yet. He comments: “I think I am actually ready, I don’t think there is anything bad out there that can be said that would affect my performance. I know what my lifestyle is like and I don’t think there’s anything that people can say for me to be worried about. The only thing is maybe the fact that I’m going to be surrounded by women and they may be jealous. At the end of the day I’m sure there would be some rumours but we will take them on the chip.”
Benny is exciting about his new job as host of the heavily publicised ‘making the girl group’ reality series by Vodafone. After going through the mill in several rounds of auditions and against some well know competition, the usually unassuming radio presenter says he was quite shocked but very excited when he was finally chosen to host ‘Icons: Diva Edition’. He sees it as an opportunity for many of his listeners to put a face to the personality behind the voice on radio, and for Ghanaians at large to know him more as a person.
“I am definitely excited. This is going to be something new for me and if everything goes according to my plans, it could be something I would be doing for a while. I think it’s going to be a really good show. Most people when they see me walking down the streets either don’t know that I am the Benny Blanco they hear on radio or think I am unapproachable so this would be a way of opening up more to the people.”
According to Benny, he will be a hands-on host. He said he is definitely going to be into the show all hands and feet dived in - from front stage to backstage and everything else and not only interacting with the girls when they come on stage. He adds that, after the shows, he will be there with the girls talking to them, giving them feedbacks and liaising with the judges as well.
Benny believes that one of the distinguishing factors between Icons and some of the other competitions is that at the end of the show, the winning girl group gets a record deal. He was exciting about what that could mean for the girls in terms of their music careers and as a radio presenter, he looks forward to the day when he would proudly play their music on radio. “The record company that is going to be dealing with them would not just do it in terms of managing them but also proactively push forward their career. They will be pushed with utmost force and when their music hit that level I will be more than willing to play their songs on the radio.”
Although Benny has hosted shows on stage, clubs, and on radio, he still gets the initial jitters whenever he appears in front of the crowd and he states that as his biggest fear going into the hosting of Icons. “I think my biggest fear is probably going to be first night nerves; I think once I finish the first night, that would be it. I had a traumatic experience when I was young. I used to sing when I was young and at about age 10, I sang in front of a church of about 400 people. When I had finished, everyone clapped their hands and I was about to put the microphone back on the stand when it fell on floor! I looked up and my father was in the front row and I didn’t know what to do so I ran off the stage and that was it; that was my stage fright done! So I hope nothing like that happens.”
Benny is truly looking forward to beginning this new phase of his growing career as a presenter/host; and he promises to entertain viewers and patrons of the Icons series with what he terms a different kind of flavour of hosting from what people are used to in Ghana. “If people know me on radio, then they know there will be a lot of humour, sarcasm and a lot of answering back to the judges if they mess around with ‘my girls’. I will be there to protect the girls as well as push the buttons of the judges a little.”
