Last Saturday, our 14 MTN Y’ello Star finalists took us back to the old days as they performed their highlife and folk songs. They displayed their vocal strength and performance abilities, paying their respects to the greats like Sir Victor Uwaifo, Sir Shina Peters and Onyeka Onwenu.
They laid it all on the stage, determined to avoid relegation, and sang their hearts out. The host, Hilda Bacci, reminded viewers that the judges would score each contestant over 10. They will divide the total score by three to get the contestant’s ranking. At the end of the night, five of the least-rated finalists will be put up for relegation.
Visually impaired finalist, Jesse Drumz started up the show with his rendition of ‘Time Na Money’ by Mike Okri. At the end of his performance, Banky W, one of three judges on the show expressed delight at his improvement saying he was “starting to come into his own”. The judges rated his performance a six.
He was followed by David Garland, who wowed the judges with his brilliant performance of ‘Afro-juju’ by Sir Shina Peters. His choice of outfit, music, dance steps and overall dazzling performance got him a 9.3 rating. Only Dotti and Freeborn had such high ratings throughout the show.
Dotti scored the highest for the night with his performance of Orlando Julius’ ‘Ololufe’. Freeborn, on the other hand, tied with David, scoring a 9.3. She brought her experience singing soul music to merge perfectly with Ik Dairo’s ‘Taxi Driver’.
Isaac had what the judges rated one of the better performances of the night. He scored an 8.3 with his performance of Onyeka Onwenu’s ‘Greatest Love’. Another judge, Olisa Adibua said his performance proved he knows exactly why he is on the show, saying, ‘you did it well’. FayFay Diamond also performed a song by the great songstress. She earned herself a 7.3 rating for her soulful performance of ‘One Love’.
The resident twins of the show, Oiza and Meyi, alongside Gideon and Caesar all received a 6.7 rating from the judges after their performances. Oiza and Meyi transported us back to the bathroom they became popular from by creating a dramatic performance of Lagbaja’s ‘Nothing For You’. While Gideon and Caesar both performed ‘Joromi’ by Victor Uwaifo and ‘Hear Mama, Hear Papa’ by Mike Okri respectively.
Storm and Dave Willz also came out of the episode safe from fear of relegation as they each got a 7.7 rating. Storm performed an energetic performance of Timi Dakolo’s ‘Iyawo Mi’ in his bedazzled agbada. While Dave Willz brought the drama to the stage performing ‘Baby Jowo’ by Dr Victor Olaiya.
Uzezi and Melody were one of the least rated finalists with their 5.7 scores. Uzezi’s guitar-playing as she performed ‘Owuro Lojo’ by Beautiful Nubia did her a disservice. And Melody’s performance of Flavour’s ‘Mama’ left the judges disappointed. Omawumi, one of the judges of the show, told Melody that she felt he could do more, adding, ‘I don’t think you chose a song that will show that vocal dexterity’.
Rael scored the lowest for the highlife performances as her rendition of Onyeka Onwenu’s “You and I” didn’t impress the judges enough to get her a score better than 4.3.
The show ended with cumulative scores from the past two episodes, creating a list of the bottom five up for possible relegation. Hilda Baci and Tobi Bakre reminded Storm, Rael, Uzezi, Dave Willz, and Melody who made it into that list that they have a chance to save themselves with their Sunday performances.
Voting began on Sunday evening. The hosts will announce the excluded contestant at the next gala, which airs every weekend on stations across the country. The excluded contestants will lose their right to perform at the live shows but will remain in the Y’ello Hub to continue their musical education delivered by acclaimed faculty members.
