Kodjo Akolor (born 15 June 1981) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

TV/

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

personality and

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

Career

He started as a

in 2005 and after two years became a regular on

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music. The genre features a distinctive record production style, drum machine-backed rhythm ...

themed

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

''The Voice''. In 2008 Akolor became a reporter for ''Vakna med the voice'' a TV and radio show multi-cast on TV-channel Kanal 5 and ''The Voice radio network''. He also hosted the TV-show ''Kodjos värld'' (Kodjos world) on ''The Voice TV'' where he combined humor and music videos. During the 2008 spring, he became the co-host of ''Talang'' (Talent) the Swedish version of the ''

Got Talent ''Got Talent'' is a British talent show TV format conceived and owned by Simon Cowell's SYCOtv company. It has spawned spin-offs in over 69 countries, in what is now referred to as the 'Got Talent' format, similar to that described by Fremantle ...

'' series. The producers originally contacted comedian

Björn Gustafsson Lars Björn Gustafsson (born 19 February 1986) is a Swedish comedian and actor. He is known from TV shows such as ''Parlamentet'' and '' Stockholm Live''. Early and personal life Gustafsson was born in Gothenburg, Sweden. He studied at the C ...

, but his schedule was too busy and recommended his friend Kodjo Akolor. Since 2008, he has also been one of the three regular show hosts on Radio P3's popular morning show ''Morgonpasset''. He is frequently featured on Kanal 5's ''RAW comedy club'' and high-profile comedy show ''

Parlamentet ''Parlamentet'' ( sv, the parliament) is a satirical panel gameshow on TV4, which parodies Swedish political debate. It was first broadcast in 1999 and is currently in its 23rd series. The current presenter is Anders S. Nilsson, who has hosted t ...

''. In the summer of 2010, Akolor was the host and MC at the largest '' Twilight Saga'' fan event in

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

(at the Ericsson Globe Arena) featuring

Taylor Lautner Taylor Daniel Lautner (; born February 11, 1992) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Therianthropy, shapeshifter Jacob Black in ''The Twilight Saga (film series), The Twilight Saga'' film series. Lautner began his acting caree ...

and

Kristen Stewart Kristen Jaymes Stewart (born April 9, 1990) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2012, she has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and a César Award, in addition to nominations for an Acad ...

. Kodjo has also been part of the ''

Musikhjälpen ''Musikhjälpen'' (; "Music Aid") is the Swedish version of the Dutch ''Serious Request'' radio and television campaign. The annual show is an appeal for money which each year helps a certain cause. Three radio/television personalities are locked ...

'' several times. In the spring of 2012, he co-hosted a ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the first ...

'' discussion show on SVT. In 2014, he was voted the Best Male Host of the year at the Swedish Radio Awards. In 2015 he was inducted into the Stockholm Hall of Fame On 26 October 2018, SVT announced that Akolor will host all six shows of

Melodifestivalen 2019 Melodifestivalen 2019 was the 59th edition of the Swedish music competition Melodifestivalen and was held between 2 February 2019 and 9 March 2019. Presenters were Sarah Dawn Finer, Kodjo Akolor, Marika Carlsson and Eric Saade. Edward af Sillé ...

alongside

Eric Saade Eric Khaled Saade (; ar, إريك سعادة, ʾĪrik Saʿāda, ; born 29 October 1990), is a Swedish singer and songwriter. He spent two years with the boy band What's Up!, leaving the band in February 2009 to pursue a solo career. After winn ...

, Marika Carlsson and

Sarah Dawn Finer Sarah Dawn Finer (born 14 September 1981) is a Swedish singer, songwriter and actress. Her father is of English heritage from the United Kingdom, her mother is Jewish from the United States, and she was born and raised in Sweden. As a student, s ...

Personal life

Both of Kodjo Akolor's parents were born in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

and moved to Sweden in the 1970s thanks to his father getting a scholarship to study business. He says his family were the only black family in

Vallentuna Vallentuna is the seat of Vallentuna Municipality in Stockholm County, Sweden, with 33,219 inhabitants in 2018. Vallentuna's cultural landscape is well preserved, and human habitation in the area has been traced back as far as the Stone Age. Arche ...

when he grew up. It was not until

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

that he met others with a similar background. He has a university degree in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

from Södertörns Högskola and lists

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

history as one of his

hobbies A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports, or pursuing oth ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akolor, Kodjo 1981 births Living people Swedish comedians Swedish people of Ghanaian descent Swedish radio personalities Swedish television hosts