MS Features: Power98 DJ Joanna Francois, who cried after learning she’d become NDP’s first female announcer in years

For years, radio DJ Joanna Francois has spent her career speaking into a microphone, keeping listeners company through their commutes and daily routines.

This National Day, however, her voice will travel much further.

When the National Day Parade (NDP) 2026 begins at the National Stadium, Joanna will welcome thousands of spectators before guiding them through some of the evening’s most memorable moments.

In doing so, she also becomes the first woman to join the NDP announcer line-up in some time.

Never even dared to dream of becoming an NDP announcer

When she found out she had been selected, the radio DJ couldn’t hold back her emotions. It’s a role she never expected to hold.

“I cried,” Joanna told MS News with a laugh. “I was very taken aback that it was me.”

Unlike performers who grow up hoping to one day take the National Day stage, Joanna admitted becoming an NDP announcer wasn’t even on her radar.

But this was not because she didn’t love the parade.

“Actually, I didn’t even dare to dream that I would ever be the NDP announcer,” she told MS News. “So it was not even in my set of goals.”

That made receiving the call all the more surreal. She described it as “crazy, and I’m here for it”.