“It was a night of glitz, glamour and history as Nigeria’s biggest music reality show came to an extraordinary end with the emergence of the Port Harcourt born Mercy Chinwo as the new Nigerian Idol. On a night that was flavoured with beautiful music, superstars and high fashion, the hit show climaxed with the grandest exit on Nigerian television.
“It has been an amazing journey so far, said Rotimi Pedro, CEO of Optima Media Group, organisers of the hit show. “Season 2 has truly kept its promise of being bigger and better. We have brought together Nigeria’s best young talents and we have transformed them into excellent musicians and performers in their own right, “he added.
The show kicked off with a heart-warming performance by the 10 evicted contestants from the Top 12 as they sang Black Eyed Peas ‘I got a feeling’. The first guest performer of the night was wonder boy Wizkid who set the tone for an electrifying finale with his song ‘Love my baby.’ Being the finale, it was time to take a look at the entire season as a highlight of emotional highs and lows as well as spontaneous moments from previous episodes was shown.
Fans of the show craving for yet another performance from the finalists got more than they bargained for, as Joe Blue and Mercy rendered Bobby Benson’s Taxi Driver in a duet. Theirs was such an exhilarating performance as they interpreted the song as a classic masterpiece. Mercy and Joe Blue definitely looked good together as a duet and a fictitious couple.
The Nigerian Idol season 1 winner Yeka Onka made a return to the show performing her own song ‘follow me’ revealing how far she has taken her music further since emerging winner of the show.
Mr Incredible, MI, added colour to the memorable night and got the audience everyone dancing as he sang ‘African Rapper’ in yet another wonderful performance on the Nigerian Idol stage.
Mercy nicknamed Fabulicious Mercy re-enacted her great performance of Fela’s ‘Zombie’ as she rendered the song again to the delight of the audience and a satisfied set of judges who wished her nothing but the very best as the world is waiting for her.
Joe Blue gave his fans a memorable performance as he re-enacted the awesome performance of Infinity’s ‘olorioko’ from several weeks back. Charly Boy had one final chance to pay homage to His performance also went well with the judges also commending him for a great run on the show and wishing him the very best.
Then the moment everyone was waiting for finally arrived, as it was time to announce the Nigerian Idol. It was a moment of pure ecstasy for Mercy Chinwo when Etisalat Chairman Hakeem Bello-Osagie announced her as the new Nigerian Idol from the results collated from votes of Nigerians. As the new Nigerian Idol, she was presented with keys of her brand new SUV from Etisalat and a cash prize of 7.5 million Naira.
In her first words as the new Nigerian Idol, Mercy thanked God and her family for their support. She thereafter thanked the sponsors of the show for the platform. She also urged Nigerian youths to never give up on their dream.
Mercy Chinwo’s first song as the new Nigerian Idol was the Nigerian Idol winner’s song written by John Ekpai and produced by Kehinde Dacosta Lawrence and Joe Joel titled ‘The Moment’.
The Nigerian Idol season II recorded massive followership on TV and online as the show recorded 26 million hits on the official website. 40,000 followers were recorded on facebook and a transition from 2,000 followers to 6,100 followers in the last week of the show on the Nigerian Idol Twitter account.
With the outstanding success of the second season, fans would eagerly anticipate the third season of Nigeria’s biggest music reality show.
Nigerian Idol is proudly brought to you by Etisalat in association with Pepsi and Sony. It is supported by Kentucky Fried Chicken and Megalectrics (owners of Beat FM, Classic FM and Naija FM).”
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