Nigerian Idol top8: a big night for 3 contestants,but will it save them?

Another night, and another fantastic episode of the smash reality television show, Nigerian Idol. After the rather painful departure of Joe Emmal and Amara, eight contestants are now left on the show, and they are bent on demonstrating to Nigeria that they have what it takes to be named the next Nigerian Idol.

This week the theme was centred on songs from the greatest groups of all time, from The Temptations to the Pussycat Dolls. The contestants were on fire on Sunday night and with guest judge, first lady of rap Sasha P sitting on the panel, it was truly an amazing night. Sasha told the audience, “I'm waiting to be wowed by everybody...I'm rooting for every one of them and I'm waiting to be entertained.”

 

The show began with the top eight belting out a song that personifies the disco era—‘We are Family’ by Sister Sledge, before Danny Angus tried his hand at the monster classic from the 60s, ‘My Girl’ by The Temptations. For the night, Danny shed the glasses and hit the notes but he got a mixed reaction from the judges. While Jeffrey said to him, “You pitched yourself low so you weren't able to do what you do,” Yinka Davies disagreed. “I'm your girl anytime,” she said.

Abasiakan got one of the strongest reviews of the night when he tried on Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes’ classic, 'If You Don’t Know Me by Now'. Sasha told him, “You seemed to enjoy your performance and I connected with it.” Femi Kuti was equally effusive, telling him, “You have range and your tuning is perfect.”

The song choices left the doo-wop era and took a quick fast-forward into the modern era, with Kome choosing a song from the nineties; ‘All My Life’ by KC & Jojo. She did not fare well with the judges, and Sasha tried to bolster her spirits by telling her, “I could see that you were nervous, that is an amazing song.” Jeffrey told her that while it was her most solid performance yet, there was still a lot of work to be done.

JayFeel chose a fairly safe song from the early 2000’s—Backstreet Boys’ ‘Larger than Life’—and was all over the stage thanks to some slick dance moves. Femi told him, “You consistently choose songs that you can handle...I can easily say you are the best performer of the show.” Sasha was more forthcoming telling him bluntly, “You definitely need to work on your vocal abilities, but I would buy a ticket to your show.”

Sefeeyat chose the poignant ballad by N'Sync, titled ‘This I Promise You’. Jeffrey told her, “I'm not familiar with this song but you made me like it. You keep getting better.” However there was some dissent from Femi Kuti on the panel as he tried to get a sense of why she missed some critical notes. “You need to focus on your confidence,” he advised. “I sense a lot of hesitance.”

Debbie Rise chose a British group Westlife, and sang their smash hit ‘Soledad’. She got high praise from Sasha P who told her, “I loved your performance and I felt the emotion. But you need to take extra care of your voice.” Jeffrey was also full of praise as well, saying, “We're watching you grow, you are a work in progress and the work is taking shape.”

Moses sang ‘She Will be Loved’ by Maroon 5 and had the crowd roaring with approval. After a rough night the week before, he staged a comeback and both the in-studio audience and the judges were duly impressed. Sasha P told him, “For the first time this evening, I have no ‘but’.” And Jeffrey gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up for his performance, saying, “You take us on a journey every time you sing!”

Efezino was the last singer of the night, taking on the most recent song with the Pussycat Dolls’, ‘I Hate This Part Right Here’. It was another mixed reaction from the judges as Femi told her that she could have made a better choice of song and that her voice was still “young”. On the other hand Jeffrey Daniel said to her, “You made a profound statement...tonight's performance just upped your game.” And finally Sasha P said to her, “You could do with more control. I see you doing more alternative music.”

Another night down, another two eliminations peeking on the horizon for the eight idol hopefuls left in the show. Did they do enough for Nigeria to keep your favourite in for another round?
Watch Nigerian Idol on Saturday on NTA at 3:00pm, Sound City and ONTV at 7:00pm, Silverbird at 7:30pm, Superscreen at 6:30pm, TVC at 9:30pm, and in the UK, The Africa Channel at 9:00pm, to watch the results show. Then, catch all-new performances on Sunday on NTA at 3:30pm, Sound City and ONTV at 7:00pm, Silverbird at 8:00 pm, TVC at 8:30 pm, Superscreen at 9:30pm and in the UK, The Africa Channel at 9:00pm.

The power to decide the fate of one of the contestant lies your hands Nigeria, so vote by texting the number of your favourite contestant to 33680, from any network. You can also vote for a contestant by dialling his/her number of any using an Etisalat line.


The top prize for this season is worth a superb $100,000, in which the lucky winner will get: 7.5 million naira in cash, a recording contract also worth 7.5 million naira, and a brand new SUV. Runner-ups will not be left out as they will be given prizes to the tune of 10 million naira.

Visit www.nigerianidol.com for compelling back story videos, juicy behind the scene news, and get a taste of what is coming. For the latest information, Like the Nigerian Idol Facebook page www.facebook.com/NigIdol, and follow Nigeria Idol on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NigerianIdol, and you could be eligible to win some fantastic prizes, including the opportunity to be live in the studio for a recording.

Nigerian Idol is the biggest music show across Africa and is brought to you by Etisalat, in association with Pepsi and supported by Beat FM.