Bio
Ed Jordan is a South African actor, presenter, musician and radio DJ best known for being a DJ on Kaya FM , for hosting the reality series The Wedding Show (2003) and for being a judge on the first season of the reality competition Popstars, in 2002.
He hosted the M-Net game show Deal or No Deal from 2007-2008.
Born in Johannesburg and schooled at St. Johns Prep in Jo'burg and then at Bishops High School in Cape Town (matriculating in 1986), Ed went on to complete an Honours Degree in Drama at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), graduating in 1990.
Television
Jordan made his television debut in 1990 in SABC's music video show Fast Forward, which aired live on Friday nights. He was in his final year at university that year.
He co-presented (with Themba Ndaba) M-Net's magazine programme Big City from 1999-2000, which pitted musical talent from South Africa's three largest cities - Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town - against each other.
In the late nineties he went on to appear in M-Net's weekly sports show Super Saturday, where he played piano and sang satirical songs about sporting events.
In 2002 he was the "music judge" in the reality talent show show Popstars, on SABC3. Seven months were spent traveling South Africa and putting together the group "101", whose debut CD went gold.
In 2003 he co-hosted the reality show The Wedding Show with Chi-Chi Letswalo, appearing in 28 episodes. The program celebrated South Africa's diverse cultures, documenting weddings across the board from Hindu, Muslim and Chinese-Christian, to Ndebele, Venda and Zulu Traditional.
From 2005-2007 he was a DJ for Kaya FM on their Breakfast Team, co-hosting the show "Live and Switched On" alongside Pat Cash.
In 2007 he hosted the first season of the M-Net game show Deal or No Deal, based on the international format. He presented the second season in 2008.
Ed Jordan hosting Deal Or Deal NoHe is the co-host (with
Elana Afrika) of the M-Net reality makeover television series I Wanna Be, since May 2009.
Music1991 saw the release of his first single, Dream, which went straight to No 1. on the South African music charts.
Ed has supported many international acts that have come to perform in South Africa, including Crowded House, Bryan Ferry, Hootie and the Blowfish and Ronan Keating.
His second studio album, Hear Me Howling, was released in 1996, which won him the South African Music Award (SAMA) for Best Adult Contemporary Album. It featured the hit Always.
His third CD, Crazy, featured the hits Crazy, Your Man, To Have and to Hold and Where Did I Go Wrong.
When 94.7 Highveld Stereo launched as a new station in 1995, Ed produced their new jingle package with fellow songwriter Lionel Bastos.
He went on to work with
Jeremy Mansfield, writing and producing music sketches for The Rude Awakening Breakfast Show. He produced two comedy albums for Mansfield and performed sell-out shows with him.
Ed has worked with artist William Kentridge, writing and producing the score for the award-winning film Monument (1990), as well as producing the music for the internationally-acclaimed play Woyzech on the Highveld, which has toured all over the world.
He's also worked with South African director Darryl Roodt, acting in, writing and performing the theme song for his film To The Death (1993).
During the 90's, Ed wrote and played keyboards for many South African acts, including Wendy Oldfield, TK, The Rasta Rebels and Mango Groove.
Following the success of The Wedding Show on SABC3 in 2003, Ed released his 4th solo album, For Always, a collection of classic wedding song covers and originals.
Together with Alan Glass, Ed wrote, recorded and produced Beautiful Creatures in 2004, a CD aimed at children of all ages and parents alike, featuring prominent South African musicians in the country including Mauritz Lotz and R&B singer Tsakani "TK" Mhinga.
It was so successful they recorded the CD in Afrikaans (Dierbare Diere), featuring top Afrikaans musicians
Kurt Darren, Ronell Erasmus and Frank Opperman.
More Beautiful Creatures was released in 2005.
2005 also saw the release of African Christmas, a full-length CD featuring Christmas carols and songs (including Ed's original) in an African style.
In the same year he released Super Saturday, The Album, a collection of songs by Ed and Super Saturday anchor
Neil Andrews. The CD features the song Share Our Rainbow, which features TK on lead vocals. This was her last professional recording before her death from a drug overdose in 2006.
In 2006, Ed recorded two more albums for children, Even More Beautiful Creatures and Beautiful Creatures of the Sea. He also saw the international release of the African Christmas album.
He released the single Two Strangers on 2 March, 2007 - a duet featuring young diva Marician.
His 5th studio album, Tonight, was released in October 2007.
Over the years, Ed has written, recorded and/or produced music for a number of major television commercials including Sunsilk, Pick 'n Pay, Smarties and Kellogs.
Ed specialises in writing and producing corporate music for big and small South African companies, combining Western and African styles resulting in an easily accessible corporate song or anthem.
He marries this with a motivational talk on The Power of Song, and an interactive team building session where he teaches the song to the staff of the company. He has done this successfully for clients such as South African Breweries, NEDCOR, ABSA, K.P.M.G., Microsoft and the Springbok rugby team.
Ed has performed all over the world from London to Hong Kong, touring Taiwan and Southern Africa. One of his highlights was performing in front of a crowd of 35,000 people for Nelson Mandela and Prince Charles, for the Princes Trust Concert in Johannesburg.
OtherSince completing drama school at Wits in 1990, Ed has acted in a number of feature films, including The Power of One (1992) and Shogun Khumalo Is Dying! (2006).
In 1991 he performed in his first stage production, A Slice of Saturday Night, for Pieter Torien.
In 1999 he co-wrote the musical Love, Crime and Johannesburg with Malcolm Purkey and the cast, enjoying a successful run at the Market Theatre.
Ed is often booked as an M.C. or Facilitator for corporate events.
He was appointed as an Ambassador for the Tapologo Aids Hospice in Rustenburg in 2007.
Ed is a member of Country Club Johannesburg and enjoys golf and fly fishing.
He got married in 2000.