Has AM Pluzz morning show on Pluzz FM arrived?

This week I would like to talk about the morning show on Pluzz FM known as AM Pluzz, the showbiz morning show. It is thus far the only morning show in Accra dedicated to entertainment, arts and culture.

One of the things I said when this show started was the fact that paucity of show business news could be a big challenge to its smooth running. I am sure the producers would agree that getting showbiz content everyday for five days in a week has not been easy.

However, in spite of that challenge the show has trudged on from when it started until now that it seems to have been accepted by the industry players as one that would have the time to throw up all the issues concerning the industry on daily basis. You may disagree with some of the views of the panel, but you will be happy that such issues have found a voice.

For a show of this magnitude you need a strong hand in the production side to make it work and I think the one aspect of the show that, in my view, has kept it as strong as it has been is production. The producer Mr. Massive or Nii Ashley has been very immense and thanks to his production guidance the show generates enough content and talking points even after it has aired.

I have always admired his ability to get the right material for the host and how he cues the host, but if there was a particular time that I respected Mr. Massive it has to be when they started the VGMA countdown this year. The production of the first one I listened to was not tight, I made a mental note to listen to the next one and I wasn’t disappointed.

I don’t know where and how he learned his trade, but he knows it very well. If there is any commendation to be given to AM Pluzz, it is in my arrogant view that half of that should go to Mr. Massive for his immense contribution in the area of production.

The host of the show is Samuel Baah of Flex Newspaper, who until he started the morning show was the host of Flex on Pluzz, a similar show held on Sundays. He had been a pundit on Doctor Cann’s show on Happy FM, among others.

Sammy Flex, as he is popularly known, loves the showbiz industry and everything it stands for. He eats, drinks and plays with anything that looks or appear to be connected to showbiz. It wasn’t surprising therefore when he started Flex on Pluzz and the continued with this one.

If there was any surprise it was the bravado with which he and his team on the one hand and the station’s minders Nana Otu-Gyandoh and Kwame Djokoto on the other approached this morning showbiz knowing the sacrifice that would be needed to make it succeed.

As much as his confidence was huge I felt from the beginning that he would give the host’s chair to someone else as he executive produced and also acted as panelist. 

I felt so because it was my belief then that his strength was in other areas: organizing, empowering, encouraging, punditry and being the figure everyone in the team looked up to than in hosting a show like the morning show for entertainment.

However, there are only a few things in this world that are stronger than Sammy’s confidence and there are only a few that would talk him out of something he so desires to do. So it was that we ended up with Sammy Flex as the host of AM Pluzz on Pluzz 89.9FM.

Have I changed my mind? No. I still think that there is more he could do to improve on his questioning style and his appreciation of the answers he gets from his guests and panel. Am I impressed by him? Absolutely. I have seen tremendous improvement of his ability and style over time from what I felt at the beginning.

It is not, in my view, as hard not to listen to him as it was from the beginning. His vivacious and light-hearted approach hosting the show and the fun he seems to be having with his guests in the studio all add to make it interesting to tune in to AM Pluzz every weekday morning.

The AM Pluzz show has perhaps the biggest collection of pundits than any other entertainment show. It is so because of the daily nature and the fact that they had to have a big pool to choose from. It has a wide collection of people from different backgrounds in the industry as well.

Ricky Anokye, Sally Frimpong, Mel Kwasi Davies, Bull Dog, Nana Turkson, Mic Yamoah, Arnold Selasie Elavanyo, Johnnie Beresford Hughes, Wei Ye Oteng, Socrates Safo and many others have been or are still part of the team that form the panel for the show.

Let me add before I go off that content wise the show has done extremely well. On daily basis there is enough to talk about. You can talk about the fact that Sammy and team sometimes come across as aiming for controversy in the manner they approach some topics.

However, generally they have done well with the kinds of topics they come up with for discussion (even if it is skewed towards music). The Music Board which analyses music is a no brainer, the rap battles are great and everything else about the show makes it a must listen.

Is the show pulling numbers? It sure does but of course because of the limitation to only showbiz you are likely going to have people only interested in the subject to be listening and so it is only logical that you cannot compare it to other shows that touch on many other subjects. The most important thing is that the industry players listen and take some of the issues seriously.

Can I conclude by commending Otu-Gyandoh and co for accepting to do this show and to Sammy Flex and his team for conceptualizing and to all for standing by the show in spite of the criticisms and challenges from the beginning.

This is where I repeat the question from up there: Has AM Pluzz morning show on Pluzz FM arrived? Yes it has and it is time they changed gear and move this show to the next level of one that many will regret not listening to even for a day.

@TheGHMediaGuru