FOLOWERS of the Nigerian Idol were serenaded to the best of excitement, fun, glamour and entertainment truly worthy of a finale, as the13-week long music TV reality show came to an end.
Held at Dreams Studio on Bamako Road, Ojodu, Lagos, the event saw Yeka Onka becoming the first Nigerian music Idol sponsored by Etisalat. Onka beat Naomi Mac to the first position after she poled the highest number of votes.
Onka carted away a cash prize of N7.5 million and a Sony BMG recording contract worth N5 million. She also won a Galaxy Tab and a Blackberry phone from Etisalat, a car and a trip to South Africa besides, a number of other mouthwatering gifts.
The show began with Anis and Misi welcoming everybody. Thereafter, Anis introduced the three judges — Jeffrey Daniel, Yinka Davies and Audu Maikori. This was followed by introduction of the top 13 participants.
They came on stage, with the Top 11 appearing first, while the top finalists Yeka and Naomi came behind to a deafening ovation.
Thereafter, the 13 of them performed a song titled; I have a feeling, by the group, Black Eyed Peas.
It was a performance laced with energetic dance moves and they got a huge applause from the audience.
Anis came back to introduce the R & B crooner, Banky W. He thrilled the audience with a rendition of one of his songs, Strong thing. The first and only West African Idol, Timi Dakolo, also performed his song, Heaven please.
Onka, reveling on her victory, said, she had tough time qualifying from the regional auditions, as the competition was very keen, but she was determined to be heard, as she went from her base in Aba to Enugu and Calabar where she was rejected and finally Lagos where she was selected.
She said her emergence as winner of Nigerian Idol was even harder, as the show had a lot of highly-talented and intelligent people, who made the show not only interesting, but also tough.
According to Steven Evans, Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat, the sponsorship of Nigerian Idol is a show of the company’s commitment to providing support for the youth in realising their potentials.
He said, “every individual should be given the needed support to realise his or her potential. As you may well be aware, a lot of youths participated in the show with the opportunity to showcase their talents. And we have no doubt that many of those who participated even though were not even lucky to be among those shortlisted for the Idol house experience, but have taken learning that will last them a lifetime.”
He added, “we believe the youth occupy a special place in the life of any society that crave for genuine development. This category of people is endowed with enormous talents, as evidence in the Nigerian Idol, which provided our youth with the opportunity to display the abundant talents inherent in them.”
“The reality show had provided TV viewers with enormous entertainment, which kept us glued to our TV sets in the duration it was aired across the country.”
