The past few weeks have been a happy blur for Good Hope FM's The Music Lab weekend DJ Acquisto, as he was announced a winner of the Presenter Search on 3 during the final episode that aired on Friday, 29 May.
We caught up with Acquisto to find out what this means for his career going forward...
1. Congrats! How does it feel to have won? Acquisto: It feels incredible. I'm on top of the world - it's an absolute dream come true!
2. The final episode was gruelling - tell us about the presenter search process. Acquisto: The process was hard! After I left Hectic Nine-9 I moved into a production position at a production company and decided to forgo the work to again pursue my TV dream, so for over three months we were put through our paces with some incredibly talented people and with no guarantee of work at the end - scary stuff. Not to mention the stress of each challenge, twist and elimination!
3. Indeed. Tell us your personal highlight and lowlight of the TV presenter search... Acquisto: My lowlight was watching as my friends slowly started to leave the show. It must have been incredibly hard for them! My highlight had to have been Zanzibar. I will always have fond memories of diving in the coral reefs, swimming at night, laughing with friends, exploring culture and of course, winning a prestigious presenter search.
4. If the cards hadn't played in your favour, who were you personally rooting for, to win? Acquisto: From the start I had extremely high hopes for Sanda and Zoë. Sanda is going places for sure and I really bonded with him, and Zoë shares many of my morals and beliefs. We spoke on numerous occasions about God and why we want to use this platform for good.
5. How do you balance the differences between radio and TV presenting? Acquisto: In many ways, my radio shows on Good Hope FM inform my TV experience. Hectic Nine-9 trained me for TV and radio keeps me up to date on what's happening and allows me to constantly engage with the people who so regularly support me on my journey. No other 24-year-old can say they have two radio shows and have been on three TV shows thus far! Jumping between the two is hard and takes a unique set of skills. More directly to the question, being on TV makes being on radio much easier but yes, the mediums are very different and need to be respected as such.
6. Looking forward, what does this win mean for your career? Acquisto: I am a go-getter and entrepreneur. I always knew that moving on from Hectic Nine-9 I needed to grow my brand up and engage with a more mature audience, whether that be in talk journalism or in something like this dream in a brand new show on SABC3, working alongside some of the best in the business. So you will see me become a man in TV and start up a few projects; take the big leagues by storm. Watch this space!
Acquisto will join Afternoon Express with former Good Hope FM presenter, Jeannie D and celebrity media personality, Bonang Matheba - both of whom were judges on Presenter Search on 3. Another sign he's doing well? Acquisto recently appointed urban espresso as his PR agency, to handle the publicity and sponsorship opportunities for his brand. For more, follow Acquisto's Twitter stream.
