Two Nigerian Idol hopefuls, Faith Mac and Dotun have been eliminated from the top 11 stage of the competition after scoring the least votes in the first round of public voting.
During the live show on Sunday, the show’s host, IK Osakioduwa revealed the names of the contestants who made it through to the top nine stage of the competition. To arrive at the top nine, each lucky contestants was given an opportunity to prove their mettle with their song selection.
This week’s performances had surviving contestants perform covers of songs composed by their music idols. The Judges, Seyi Shay, DJ Sose, and Obi Asika, on the other hand watched in the capacity of audience members as the power to save and eliminate contestants had since left their hands.
Performances: Kingdom who revealed that he idolised ‘Teni The entertainer’ handed in a percussion backed rendition of the hit song ‘UyoMeyo’ which was well received by the audience. DJ Sose said that he seemed very comfortable with the song and Seyi Shay noted that the performance was emotive.
Daniel went with a rendition of James Arthur’s ‘Empty Spaces’ which Seyi criticised for lacking verve. Obi Asika was also critical of the song arrangement, but DJ Sose was of the opinion that he did a good job. Faith Jason dressed in all red attire performed a cover of Jon Bellion’s ‘All Time Low’, the same song he performed at the auditions and the judges loved it, even more this time around.
Seyi Shay could not contain her excitement, Beyonce, who disclosed her admiration for the K. Pop band BTS, chose to perform a cover of the track, Dynamite, with assistance from the live band. DJ Sose commended her for showing her playful side, while Obi Asika noted her growth through the stages of the competition.
Emmanuel who had clearly become a fan favourite rendered a soulful cover of Lobrinth’s ‘Beneath your beautiful’ which was lauded by Obi Asika for the palpable emotion. Seyi Shay described the performance as ‘captivating’ while DJ Sose added that he would do better as a live performer and not a recording artiste.
The sixth contestant to be saved was Akunna, the entertainment lawyer. She took on the difficult task of covering Beyonce’s ‘XO’ but her strong voice carried the performance. The voters also appeared to show kindness to Clinton who put his vocals to the test with John Legend’s ‘Tonight’ with some help from the live Band.
Also getting saved by the voting public was Francis who chose to perform Sam Smith’s ‘Writing on the wall’, the theme song for the James Bond’s film ‘Spectre’ which he pulled off brilliantly much to the applause of the Judges. Obi Asika described his voice as a ‘lethal weapon’.