In July 2021, Kingdom Kroseide won the 6th edition of Nigerian Idol, taking home N30m and a brand new SUV, all-expense-paid trips to Dubai and Seychelles and a recording contract. It was the beginning of a journey to musical stardom. The 24-year old was made a youth ambassador by the Bayelsa state government and has transitioned from obscurity to growing his music.
Obi Asika, one of the show’s judges, described Nigerian Idol as Africa’s most significant music platform. Being on it provides the exposure needed in the industry.
“First, this is the biggest discovery platform in Africa. Season 6 had over 100 million votes. There are over 54 countries watching you. All kinds of people are watching you, discovering your talent. On the other hand, it is great for the industry to see new talents coming through.”
Nigeria seems to have an unending pool of musical talent; discovering them and putting them on a stage where the world would notice them remains the challenge. It is not uncommon to see young musical enthusiasts and up-and-coming acts posting snippets of their songs in the comment section of popular artistes hoping to get noticed.
Nigerian Idol has provided unrivalled opportunities to budding singers to find their niche, grow in their craft and soar. Unlike other music talent shows where the emphasis is on producing the next afrobeat superstar, there is a system that allows the singer to find their strength and help them nurture it.
Winning Nigerian Idol is a lifetime opportunity that has skyrocketed the music potential of obscure singers into stardom. Some of them have been able to turn the opportunity into lifelong careers.
Entry into the show is free as applicants go through auditions. Those who impress the judges are given golden tickets to enter the main competition. They go through a series of competitions against other contestants during the theatre weeks until a winner emerges.
Onyekachi Elizabeth Gilbert, known by her stage name, Yeka Onka, won the maiden edition of the show in 2011, taking home N7.5 million, a recording deal and a trip to South Africa. Since she won the show, she went on to form a girl band, G-Factor. She has released a couple of singles and has shared the stage with Yinka Davies, Timi Dakolo, Les Nubian, etc. She has grown from an unknown singer to one with a musical career.
Mercy Chinwo is unarguably the biggest star out of Nigerian Idol. Since she won the show in 2012, she has launched a career as a gospel artiste and an actor. Three years after she won the show, she released her first single titled ‘Testimony’ and ‘Igwe’ a year later before signing for EeZee Conceptz.
She has released two albums, The Cross My Gaze in 2018 and Satisfied in 2020. Chinwo has won several awards, including the Best Gospel Artiste at the CLIMAX Awards 2018. In 2019, she won Africa Gospel New Artiste of the Year, Africa Gospel Female Artiste of the Year and Africa Gospel Song of the Year at Africa Gospel Awards Festival. In 2020, Mercy Chinwo emerged as the Gospel Artiste of the year at the AFRIMMA Awards.
Chinwo is one of the biggest gospel artiste stars in Nigeria, but before Nigerian Idol, she was an unknown 22-year old trying to navigate the music terrain.
When Nigerian idol returned in 2021 after a five-year hiatus, there was immediate acceptance by both viewers, music enthusiasts and up and coming singers, and this showed both in the thousands of applicants submitted and the following it got on television and social media.
Season seven of the show has received even more interest and is expected to surpass season 6 in viewership. Many see it as an excellent opportunity to be recognised for their art and break into the highly competitive music market.
As Asika puts it, “Some people fall away because they weren’t prepared or they couldn’t deliver their performances when it counts; they get nervous or afraid. There are thousands of reasons why people fall out, and one of them is managing pressure; it is a key element to being successful. I think it is sometimes beyond being a great singer; some people think that they can really sing, but when they come out on stage, they see that they really can’t.”
“All talents coming out of Nigerian Idol aren’t necessarily going to be stars. There is a transition from reality shows to becoming talents; it is not a guarantee. That is why over the years, we don’t have guaranteed people becoming stars. The winner now has to work with people who can guide them and give them the tools to be successful. That is one of the reasons I am on the show. My company is already looking after Kingdom who won the last edition. And they are taking him through that process of artiste development.”
