Tag: Nigerian Idol

As the race for the grand prize of N7.5 million continues in the Etisalat-sponsored Nigerian Idol Season 4 contest, the situation appears tense, following last week’s result, whereby some of the judges’ preferred contestants such as Evelle and Daniel Buba were rated low by voters.

Indications emerged yesterday, that the remaining 20 candidates from the Top 30 stage have been canvassing for votes vigorously; knowing the next set of three to go into the Top 12 stage will be picked among contestants with the highest public votes.

It was a day of mixed feelings, tension and surprises, last Saturday, as Lisa Omoregebe, Jesse Okonkwo and Elvis Ejiro became the first three contestants to make it to the Top 12.

Safe for the choice of Ejiro, last week’s result left the judges; Dare Art-Alade, Nneka Egbuna and Dede Mabiaku shocked at the audience’s decision to vote out some of the contestants they saw as promising talents.

Reacting on behalf of the judges on the evicted contestants, Nneka as she is fondly called said that the eviction of some of the contestants is the biggest surprise she has witnessed so far on the show. “Frankly speaking, I am very surprised with the result of the votes gathered. I am really shocked seeing some real good contestants leaving the show today because they got few votes. We will do all we can to bring some of them back using our wild card.”

Nneka went on to charge the audience to vote for their favourite talent as this is a critical stage for the contestants.

Following the Saturday’s show, the second set of 10 contestants in the top 30 stage performed on Sunday with obvious zest, having been faced with the reality of eviction. Some of the impressive performances came from Eye-D, Henry Mc-John, Xolani, Victoria and Jahtell as observed by the judges. They however urged the contestants to exercise more enthusiasm and stop “playing safe” with their performance. The other five members of this group include Shola, Nex2, Joy, Dawn and Miss Oge.

The fate of these 10 will be decided this Saturday, after collation of votes. As usual, viewers are expected to dial the number of their favourite contestant on an Etisalat line or send the contestant’s number to 33680 via SMS.

Title sponsor, Etisalat, has within four years of operations, become a major industry player with a growing subscriber base of 15 million in a highly competitive market. For its outstanding performance since it launched its commercial operations, the brand has won the Nigerian telecoms industry’s first ever ‘’Excellent Service and effective Collaboration with the Consumer Affairs Bureau to ensure access to Customer Care Help line’, among other laurels.

•As Dede Mabiaku sings tribute to Fela

THE number of contestants in the ongoing Nigerian Idol reality show is still enormous, and fans followership of the individual contestant has not been pronounced. However, with several side attractions, the event, which is in its Top 30 stage, continues to excite TV viewers.

During one of the shows, memories of the late Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti held sway, as protégé of the Afrobeat precursor and one of the judges on the show, Dede Mabiaku put up a remarkable performance during the recording of the first group of Top 30 contestants.

Dressed in a black t-shirt, that had the image of Fela, and the inscription; ‘United We Stand’, Dede, as he is popularly called said, “Fela influenced who I am today greatly, though he is no more in body, he constantly remains in my heart.”

Few minutes down the line, R’n’B singer, Darey Art-Alade who is also on the judges table alongside German-Nigerian hip hop/soul singer, Nneka Egbuna, lose his cool, infuriated by a contestant for what he considered a woeful performance.

Alade lash out at a contestant after a woeful performance.

Royal George, the contestant from Benin had performed Rihanna’s all-time hits, Diamonds, but aside from having pitch issues, George was said to have also made a mess of the lyrics.

“That was a royal mess,” said a disappointed Alade, “Messy lyrics, pitch issues, you know you didn’t do well,” he added.

It was a nail-biting Top 30 rounds, as contestants battle for a spot in the Top 12 stage.

It has been a hard-won battle to make it to the Top 30 for the Nigerian Idol contestants who have struggled with exhaustion, nerves and against thousands of other hopefuls who also seek a ticket to fame and stardom.

At last Sunday’s session, 10 of the Top 30 contestants selected struggled to impress judges and viewers for a ticket to the next stage.

Performing songs from international artistes such as Rihanna, Pharrell, Tyrese, Justin Timberlake, Jill Scott, Usher Raymond, Sam Sparrow, Labrinth, Emeli Sandé and Avicii, the first group of 10 had four golden tickets recipient from the audition phase.

Unfortunately, only three of the acts in the group were able to impress the judges. When asked to sum up his experience for the day, Alade gave a nod to Evelle, Daniel Buba and Elvis Jay. “Unfortunately, the judges don’t get to decide which contestants has to go on to the next stage, only the votes of viewers at home will determine who goes home or stays back to battle for the coveted Idol crown,” he said.

Hosted by On-Air Personality, Ill Rymz, the show which airs on Saturdays and Sundays on NTA, STV, HIP TV, CRBC Calabar, DRTV Warri, and Startimes Channels is being sponsored by Etisalat and Pepsi.

After drawing the curtails on auditions across five cities, including Benin, Calabar, Port Harcourt, Makurdi and Lagos, organisers of the Nigerian Idol reality show, Optima Media Group, appear set to engage preliminary-stage contestants in a battle for the ultimate prize of N7.5 million cash prize, a Galaxy Tab, a Blackberry, an iPod and a brand new SUV car.

No doubt, as usual, the show is bound to be intriguing, knowing how fascinated the Nigerian youths have become with music reality competition.

But having staged three editions in the past, what new things are the organisers bringing in, as the show enters its fourth season? Most importantly, what lasting legacies will Nigerian Idol leave as real contributors to the Nigerian music industry? How well will they prepare the contestants, so that the reigns of eventual winners will not be short-lived, as it is with their predecessors?

The singing competition, which seeks to discover and turn talented singers to superstars, made its debut in Nigeria in 2010, producing Yeka Onka, Mercy Chinwo and Moses Obi-Adigwe as winners. But unlike champs from other reality shows, none of these burgeoning acts, as gifted as they seem, has been visible in the commercial music market.

Could Rotimi Pedro, CEO of Optima Media Group, be thinking in the line of this obvious trend when he spoke about stepping up the game of the show? As stated by the Optima boss, “The last three seasons have seen Nigerian Idol grow to become the most viewed music reality show, especially among the youths. The fourth season will be a more exciting television experience, as we have raised the standards, in terms of contents, production and overall interactivity with this edition.”

If the claim by Pedro to raise the standard of the fourth edition is anything to go by, then, there should be more forward-looking roles by Etisalat and Pepsi, rather than mere branding of studios as sponsors of the competition.

Only recently, producers of the show unveiled the trio of music genius, Dare Art Alade, Nigerian-born German singer/songwriter, Nneka Egbuna and Afrobeat musician, Dede Mabiaku, as new judges of the show. Could this be a part of the re-packaging that Pedro was talking about? We sincerely pray.

Traditionally, the show lasts five months, featuring tough drills, surprise evictions and grueling rehearsals, resulting in stellar performances. But will the judges be saddled with the additional responsibility of schooling the artistes on how to succeed outside the show?

In the words of Shakeel Akram, Senior Marketing Manager, PepsiCo International, “The Idea of unveiling new set of judges for the show is to continually bring in new twists and turns to make the show more interesting. We believe in the charisma of our new judges and trust that with their wealth of experience in the entertainment scene, the best talent will emerge to add more flavour into the Nigeria music industry.” If this is just the magic expected from the judges, then, the show may be back on the same rollercoaster ride.

Indeed, Pepsi needs to be more inward-looking. The fate of winners of the Nigerian Idol to remain famous after the competition also depends on how well the brand continues to utilise them. It is questionable that while Yeka, Mercy and Moses share a history with the brand, Pepsi has gone ahead to sign popular artistes like Tiwa Savage, Wizkid and Lynxxx as brand ambassadors which, according to Akran, is “in line with Pepsi’s pop culture to inspire other youngsters to live their dreams in the world of entertainment.”

Even Etisalat, co-sponsors of the show, has not fared better in this regard. After losing comic character, Saka, to a rival company, the desire to match its game with top celebrities led the company into picking actress Genevieve Nnaji, which reports say was paid N100 million endorsement fee.

One would have thought that with Etisalat being part sponsor of the reality show, the young Nigerian Idol winners, who are at their disposal, would add more value to the brand at little or no cost at all. This could be so, given how a brand like Globacom uses its brand ambassadors for concerts and other events.

Expectedly, Genevieve and Kae-Kazim, another actor signed on by Etisalat, may not do more than appear in a couple of brand events, TV and radio commercials. It is also noteworthy that Genevieve, for example, is endorsing just one product, the Easyflex, not the entire Etisalat brand.

Whether or not Genevieve got N100 million for that deal as rumoured is not so important. What matters is that, given the actress’ shrewd approach to business, N100 million may not be a far cry from the truth. After all, D’banj had been paid N70 million by Globacom in his ‘heyday’ with the brand.

What better value, other than their faces, will these actors be adding to the brand?

It will be recalled that before bringing these thespians on board, Etisalat had signed on young artistes like Olamide, Ice Prince, Sasha P and Seyi Shay. I think it is not logical that the Nigerian Idol products are not added to the list.

Someone just needs to think!