The first season of MTN Y’ello Star is slowly coming to an end, and the game is fiercer than ever. The top six contestants left in the show are not leaving anything to chance as they are giving everything they’ve got on stage. They will gain a lot whether or not they win the show, but everyone wants to be the Y’ello Star.
It’s not only the contestants who are bringing the heat though, but the organisers also changed up the format of the show. Show hosts, Hilda Bacci and Tobi Bakre got their on-stage seats across the judges and made the biggest fuss about it. They were both very excited to be watching the show from the main stage rather than backstage, and they started the show on such a high note.
As always, Freeborn started performances for the night with a powerful rendition of Whitney Houston’s ‘I Will Always Love You.’ Award-winning artistes and Y’ello Star judges, Omawumi and Banky W both praised her for always singing with her heart at every point in the competition. They said their favourite performance by the songbird has been ‘Natural Woman’. Banky told her, ‘It’s an honour to sit here and be blessed by your voice at this stage of your journey’.
Storm continued the thread of brilliance performances Freeborn started by performing a beautiful version of ‘My Distant Lover’ by Marvin Gaye. Malik Yusef told him that he loved watching his performance of James Brown’s ‘I Feel Good’. For the first time in a while, he blew the judges away with his masterful blend of baritone and falsetto.
The super performer on the show, Dotti took things a notch higher with his cover of ‘One Note Samba’ by Antonio Carlos. His biggest fan on the show, Omawumi said it was difficult for her to pick one of his performances as a favourite since they were all close to her heart. Banky W and Malik Yusef also echoed the sentiment while heaping on praise for his performance that night.
Before her performance, Banky reminded Fay Fay Diamond that she’s the best and she should avoid getting in her head. She took the advice in stride as she performed a beautiful version of Marvin Gaye’s ‘All I Need To Get By’. This led to the judges giving her a standing ovation as she proved she was all they needed for the night.
Gideon, aka Gidi Bobo, made the judges proud as he killed his performance of ‘Always Remember Us This Way’. Caesar then rounded the all-round amazing night with Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey’s ‘When You Believe’. His performance made Malik Yusef interject that he believed Caesar had a good chance of winning the whole competition.
During the judges’ chat, they discussed who should get the royalties for a song, the writer or the artiste. They concluded that there’s no one size fit all answer to the question, but a contract should determine such decisions. Banky-W then used the opportunity to talk about the existing structure of music in Nigeria and how royalties don’t exist in the industry.
After soaking up all the knowledge and good music for the night, Tobi and Hilda ended the show by reminding the fans to vote for their favourite contestants. Only Nigerians can decide who will be the MTN Y’ello Star.
Viewers can save their favourite contestants by sending ‘Vote’ alongside their unique numbers to 50061. Voting is only applicable to MTN and 9Mobile users at just N30 per vote. Voting begins on Sunday evening and ends on Wednesday night. Tobi Bakre and Hilda Baci will announce the excluded contestant and the top five at the next gala, which airs every weekend on stations across the country.
