Tuesday, February 20, 2007

IDOLS WEST AFRICA

Hey Everyone,
How was your weekend? Hope y’all had fun!
What did I do? Hmmm…slept, hung out, went to see a movie, got my hair ‘did’…That’s basically it! Not that exciting right really…
So I’m going to London tomorrow…just for a couple of days though. Jeeez, I miss real holidays. You know those 3-month holidays! The type u get in uni…I miss that soooo much! I’ll take my laptop with me and try my very best to blog.
Idols West Africa started on Sunday! That show is sooo funny. Did anyone get a chance to watch it. Anyway, I’ll fill you in on the 411 below. ENJOY.

Idols West Africa is a brand new reality show. Basically, American Idol for Nigeria, Ghana and the other West African nations.
The judges are Dan Foster (Cool FM Presenter), Abrewa Nana (Ghanian Musiciain) and Fela Kuti protégé Dede Mabiaku. To read more about the judges, go HERE
The presenter of the show is Mike Majic. A young Nigerian radio DJ.
Auditions were held in Lagos, Abuja, Calabar and Accra and thousands of people turned up for their chance to be a STAR~



Anyways, here are some pictures from the West African Idol auditions


Here are pics of some the contestants who have gone through to the next round

Axie Okwuosa - Somto Akunyili

Riel Uzamere


Check out some video promos of the auditions – TOO FUNNY
Lagos
Calabar
Abuja
Accra

Check out some full auditions:

The Good
Casiana
Confidence
Nana

The Bad
Cylas – LMAO!
Vanessa - I'm Speechless

The ummm…Special!
Tony
Juliano

To follow all the West African Idol magic – Stay locked to their website - HERE
You can also catch all the latest Idol episodes on MNet's Channel 37
The show is good so far - Dede is like the 'Simon Cowell', Nana is like the Paula (although she makes much more sense than Paula), Dan is sooo like the 'Randy Jackson' of the show. I expected him to be harsh but he's very nice to the contestants.

Anyway, please let us know what u think! Would you audition for a show like Idols West Africa? Do you think these reality shows are good for Nigeria, Ghana etc.. or a waste of valuable resources? Let us know!

Ciao

44 comments:

Pretty makes the day go faster said...

Very Cool. Went to HS with Somto. Hope to catch this show.

Nilla said...

Can't I ever be first on this blog?....lol

2nd is good enough, I'm going to read :-)

Nilla said...

Thanx for the idol links...will check them out.

Anonymous said...

Im 4th yippeeeeee , okay lemme go read

Anonymous said...

Thanks a lot!

Tony had me rolling, LMAO.

Anonymous said...

LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!

jak said...

Boy, would I love to watch this... just got addicted to the American version this season...

Anonymous said...

Lmao. I went to High school with someone on this show but she can sing sha...so will see how far she goes.
This should be fun to watch...Pls Bella is the show going to be streaming online like they did with Big Brother Nigeria? I would love to watch this show.
Keep me posted Bella and thx for the gist...lol.

Anonymous said...

I am proud to tears. Nigeria is making big waves in entertainment, fashion, and enterpreneurship. When will politics and the other sectors of the economy catch up?

Anonymous said...

Bella delivers once again. Thanks a lot...very entertaining.

Unknown said...

thank u so much for the links
enjoy ur week

Blessed Child said...

Thanx so much for this Bella.Very interesting.Man!!Some of these people can sing!!Mike,the host,was 2 years my senior in Sec.School.Keep up the good work girl.

Little Miss Media said...

thankssss for the hook up.im missin naij
=(
and the music....i just added the site to my favourites...

Anonymous said...

LOL.. LOL.. wow wow wow... I am soooo tripping right now. I am a HUGE fan of Am. Idol and to see Idol WA is VERY COOL!! wow okay. This is a very good thing. There is so much talent out there without the means or exposure. I wld def watch if I was able to. Thanks for the info Bella.

But come o, where are the top picks going to perform? I mean when the voting starts? I sure hope its in Lagos, so if it gets featured on Am. Idol, we will get shots of gidi, including the obligatory 1004 flats shot. hmm... wait, thats right, 1G4 doesnt exist no more... damn shame

Icy PR said...

Hmm Bell don did it again lol! YOU always bring it babz.. Rawk on! I'm going to go and watch the vids

Anonymous said...

heeey, see me see WA IDOL oh. it srily cool 2 see it sha, i luv d auditions specially d funny 1s. bt then its gd 2 see gd talents 2. thnks bella for d info oh, u neva dissapoint. mo sa e o, lol. so i guess i'l start lookin out for them videos and all now, so its WA IDOL now baby. its goin ddooowwnn, yeeaahh!!!

Unknown said...

bella ur blog is just amazing.
i was laughing so hard i almost cried when Tony was singing, esp when the judge behind went 'ah ah'.

Bee said...

LMAO....TOOOOOO FUNNY!. I love it already. Girl u'r the best :-)

Anonymous said...

Dude/Judge on the far right hand talks to damn much. Its like "Shut up so we can hear folks sing..."

Anyways, this is great...Bella remember when we talked about Idols Nigeria...well here we have it...

I am so proud of my people.

Jennifer A. said...

I trust them...see the way they started with "the biggest show on the PLANETTTT right here in LAGOS..." LOLLLLL....Africans and superlatives! They make my day! (that was good, thanks for the entertainment info...didn't even know the show was on down there...)

lolll...the videos were HILARIOUS...(abeg lemme go and read my book, I can't contest!)

In my head and around me said...

My girl was in this competition. I think she has an awesome voice but she did not make it. It's really tough to be a star "init"?

Meanwhile, EVERYONE is tuning in to watch this show. Was in a few places on sunday and everyone was talking about it.

jak said...

I'm not really liking Dede Mabiaku on this show... he is overdoing his shakara and it will get cold too quickly

Icy PR said...

Bella u're the shiznit lol I mean damn gurl lol.. err sup with host wanna be simon.. not feeling it a lol too meloframatic I mean ki lo de!

Dammie said...

Ohhh American Idol is on nowwwww.

This should be very entertaining, can't wait to see it.

XxSafe journey my dearestxX

Pretty makes the day go faster said...

Have a great trip!

Anonymous said...

fantastic concept and i'm proud of my Africa but dang that 'simon cowell' dude is annoying as hell.. he just loves to hear himself talk and drags on conversations for no reason... he's not mean, sarcastic, funny... i'm drawing a serious blank with him!!! the american sounding dude rocks and abrewa nana i've loved from ghana times... abrewa nana.. men tu miiii!!!chale the babe has improved oh! and her brofoun di e.. no ez(lol... ghana terms.. just showing off)

Miss Az`ure said...

Usher Raymond (Tony) dancing brother....hahahahahahahohohohohohhehehehehehe...OMgoodness. My sides hurt...
Ok, Bros Dede needs a chill pill...Be original, there can only be one Simon Cowell.
And that Madam Ghana...'U need some Weerk'... is a hater ooo!! How about the Nana babe has a beautiful voice and she dint vote for her...Chei...Beef is bad, cos homegirl is foine.

Anonymous said...

I went to High school with some of these contestants. Wish them goodluck. I cant stand Nana- her accent is annoying!

Anonymous said...

Emm please excuse me for what I am abt to say o...but I just found out that Lara from Kush entered for this show and I am sorry but why would they let her? I thought the whole concept of "idols" was to showcase nobodies with talent??Why must Naija always have some sort of K leg? She has had the opportunity of stardom why not give way for those who haven't??

Naija Vixen said...

cool pics...nd the "bad" vids were funny...safe journey to our town oh;-)

The Life of a Stranger called me said...

thanks for informing the likes of me that would want to watch but is unbale to. Ive checked them out and they are tooooooooooo funy.

Anonymous said...

dede needs to put a lid on it! Other than that the good, the bad and the horrible just like the original idol shows...but dede needs to stop acting like a simon cowell wannabe tx 4 posting

Aramide said...

sh*t men u beat me to this hehe anyways i wdnt hav covered it as well..with the pics....im back anyways hehe xx

Aramide said...

Somto was in my set in qc actually :o)

iROCKORiGiNALiTY said...

What about those who dont live in Nigeria what are we suppouse to do? Oh dang! Were missing out big time, I really wanna watch this show..

Miss Opeke said...

This is the link to Vanessa's video, under [The Bad] category...just in case some of you were unable to view it.

~*~Thanks so much Bella...I have save it in my favorites.~*~

Anonymous said...

LMAO.. this is too funny.. thanks bella for posting the links:)

Anonymous said...

Horrible.

Many singers out there already so whats the point of this?

david said...

na wa o. So na the ummm special be all that nonsense singing? I thot i was going to be blasted away by some wonder voices. A friend of mine would have swept them away singing in the shower! As for the bad.... God dey, my neighbours cat can do better. lol

Anonymous said...

Pretty back-dated but I just took the time to listen to these video clips that with some of 'em almost sending me off my chair in laughter. If not for Bella, as at now, I definitely wouldn't have any idea this is going on. Keep the clips coming.I'll love to see one of Lara. I can't open the ones on the actual Idol site.

Anonymous said...

can someone please tell me why jarry is not amongst the top 10? Does ones looks have anything to do with talent? is that why is not amongst the top 10 candidates...... cos man THAT GUY CAN SING!!!!!!!!!!! Bella please say or do something.

Anonymous said...

really and truely, d show is not dat bad, at least sum pple there can sing better than d ones we in yankee are watching presently. they are all so boring.. its not bad sha.

Anonymous said...

"Dan rounds off the comments stating that West African performers do well internationally because, “African rhythms and African traditions are deep; they are passionately connected and West African singers express this in unique ways.” - quote from one of the judges from the Idol Website.

Yet I observe that ALL the contestants were singing songs in English. I think something is terribly skewed here...aren't there beautiful African songs that can showcase a singer's talent???. And every single contestant on the website cited NOT one African Artist as their "Favourite Artistes" - Sad really. Some really good potential though, and I think it is ripe for Africa to have a show like this, with the immense artistic talents that abound...hopefully this will transcend Africa to an international audience. I find all the judges generally boorish. Dede (Simon wannabe) is particularly annoying. Hope they can find better judges or at least replace Dede if nothing else as the other 2 are passable I guess. All in all, I think it's a good start. Bella, thanks for the links.

Anonymous said...

Honestly Temitayo is not doing it at all, even though I liked Gloria Estefan song she did, but her voice is not up to scratch she likes screaming and not raising her voice like a singer ooh! Africa please lets vote for the right reasons, Jodie is supposed to be in this not Temitayo my goodness! Someone told me that she will continue to get most votes because she's from Lagos and this West African Idols is happening there I am beginning to believe it even the way her supporters like screaming her name, Unbelievable!!!