Again, history was recorded on Saturday, February 8, when Nigeria’s Got Talent Season 2, a talent hunt show organised by Rapid Blue Format, literally screeched to a halt inside the magnificent Dream Studios in Omole, Ikeja, Lagos State, thereby ending several weeks of gruelling but entertaining activities by the contestants, most especially the 10 enchanting performers that waltzed their way to the grand finale.
Although the event, which had generated a lot of buzz, kicked-off several hours behind schedule, whatever anger that might have built up in the minds of the audience soon melt when the host, Andre Blaze, a dashing young man, brought on Bash, one of the fast-rising stand-up comedians in Nigeria.
No doubt, the organisers had not made a wrong choice by engaging Bash to inject comic relief, at different times, into the show. Typical of a social commentator, as he glided almost seamlessly from one rib-cracking joke to another, he kept the audience on the edge of their seats. It was really a memorable interlude that added colour and panache to the show. And even the judges, Yibo Koko, Kate Henshaw and Dan Foster, could be seen laughing their hearts out in total agreement with his ingenuity and great comic sense.
The CEO of Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Segun Ogunsanya, in his brief speech, set the tone of the day, when he said, “I am very excited. It is an occasion to showcase our affinity with Nigerian youths and share our passion for developing talents. We must commend the owner of the property, organisers of this event, Optima Media Group; we appreciate the opportunity to partner you. It has been a fantastic event. Every time I watch it on TV, excitement runs through my blood. I can assure you that what you are going to see this evening will be an entertainment show you have never attended. Last year, we discovered the talent in Amarachi Uyanne who is here with us tonight. Tonight, we are going to discover another talent, and that is what we do at Airtel. Whether it is football, entertainment, music or whatever your talent is, we help you to develop it.”
In his speech, the Chairman/ CEO of Optima Media Group, Rotimi Pedro, briefly took the gathering on a memory lane about the difficult tasks of hunting for hidden talents across the country, which climaxed on Saturday evening. According to him, “We go and try to find where Nigeria’s most talented person is. We bring them out and put them on stage, hoping that they can pick up their careers from there….We had about 6,000 registrants this year as opposed to about 4,000 that we had last year… we had about 60,000 followers on Twitter. We covered eight cities this year, including Abuja, Benin, Lagos, Calabar, Port-Harcourt, Asaba, Enugu and Ibadan. It is such a tedious job going round the country with a crew of about 30 or 40 searching for talents. It is fun; it is exciting. I am hoping it will go beyond what it is now. It is becoming a household must-watch show in Nigeria.”
Thereafter, the studio became very charged as the 10 finalists were called out on the stage. Dressed in Airtel- branded tops, they rendered the National Anthem as well as Onyeka Onwenu’s evergreen song, One Love, in style. It was, to put it mildly, a spectacle! They dazzled the audience with their group performance, which elicited a loud applause.
But beneath the veneer of their confident postures, each of the contestants, who were later clad in bespoke and avant-garde dresses, must have been praying silently to win the coveted N10m prize money.
Having watched them in action for the past 12 weeks, their appearance on that night evoked some emotions, even in the minds of the enthusiastic judges. For instance, when Blaze asked Kate Henshaw to capture the mood of the night in words, she said, “I feel like my children are growing up and leaving home. I will miss them all.” In his view, Yibo Koko said, “The acts had become more serious and most enthusiastic to watch them.” And Dan Foster simply submitted that “I don’t know who is going to win this.”
As if to cudgel the collective memory of the audience, the ‘magical’ performances of the finalists that fetched them the slots in the grand finale were screened, a moment that was also greeted with roaring reactions.
While Amarachi Uyanne, winner of Nigeria’s Got Talent Season 1, excited the audience with her impressive performance, a dance troupe thrilled the audience to Salsa and traditional dance. But the icing on the cake seemed to be the mesmerizing show by a young magician on the night.
When the elimination segment, where the lucky contestants inched towards their destinies, was announced, there was palpable tension in the air. In the first set involving Laff Doctor( 19-year-old Maduka Daniel Chukwudi); D Flex (Kolawole Oyindamola Emmanuel, a trained contortionist); Elevatorz ( a six-man group) and David( Aduragbemi Adekoya David, a drummer), providence paved the way for David into the top three list. And you could almost cut the tension in the hall with a knife. In the second stage of elimination, involving Robot for Christ( a two-man dance group made up of Efe Nosa and Etinosa Ewere); Korede Sax( Akorede Odukale, a 13-year-old) and The Praise Puppets( a mother and her five children), Robbot for Christ had cause to thank their stars also for keeping them in the race; and in the last batch, Daniel John Azuka( a trained instrumentalist who plays the violin) danced his way to the top three.
So, the stage was set for David, Robbot for Christ and Daniel Azuka. But the question on the lips of the excited audience was: Who will win? If it was that easy to determine, everybody would have had their way. But it was not so on that beautiful evening of drama, laughter and emotion.
With the top three contestants standing tall before the audience who watched with bathed breath, there was a general feeling of anxiety to see who would wear the coveted cap. But the gripping denouement of the hot contest was soon revealed when Robots for Christ was announced the winner of the second season of the show! As expected, the duo broke into tears of joy, almost short of words to capture their mood.
Some moments after, the latest entrants into the millionaire club, in an interview with newsmen, said, “ We feel very, very happy and excited. Words are not enough to express our joy at the moment. It was very shocking.” When asked to disclose the sharing formula, they said, “It is private. We will continue to do what we love and improve on our skills, and we will still stay with the academy that produced us.”
Did they see themselves emerging the winner? The response, again, was instructive, as they said, “We had tough competitors and each was good, right from the semi-final till this stage. We were hoping and praying for that. Our stage name is an inspiration from our school, Benson Idahosa University, a Christian school.”
In an interview with newsmen, Yibo Koko spoke on the outcome of the show. According to him, “Robot for Christ showed dexterity from the start of the competition.”
Although Robot for Christ stole the show, the remaining contestants, according to the organisers, would be rewarded with N100, 000 each.
