Fela Palava!!! Afrobeat Legend comes to Life as final 3 Nigerian Idol Contestants do Musical Battle

Joe Blue Performing

It was a night of unending excitement and a walk down memory lane as Nigerian Idol’s final 3 performed Nigerian songs including songs from Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti. As Najite took her final bow on the competition earlier in the week, Mercy, Joe Blue and Stephen were the remaining contenders for the Idol title. Added to the list of the judges for the night was Grammy-nominated artiste, Femi Anikulapo Kuti. Guest performers for the night were Jesse Jags and Black Magic who wowed the audience with individual performances.

Mercy Chinwo performing

“It is true when they say time flies when you are having lots of fun,” Project manager Tiwa Medubi highlighted. “It has been an incredibly hectic few months and suddenly a star will be unveiled, this what we all
have been waiting for from the first day. We wish the remaining contestants all the best, they deserve to win,”she added.

For the very first time on the Nigerian Idol stage, the performances were opened by the Top 3 contestants with a group song; “Water” by Fela Anikulapo Kuti. The last girl standing, Mercy started the contest proper with her rendition of Victor Uwaifo’s ‘Joromi’. It was an exotic display of her vocal dexterity. She later rounded up her performance for the night with a superlative version of Fela’s song, ‘Zombie.’ Guest judge, Femi Kuti was so impressed that he rated her performance a triple A plus, mentioning that she reminded him of his grandmother and Fela’s mother, Funmilayo.

 Next was Stephen Onochie, who entertained the audience with an energetic and choreographed performance of Flavour’s ‘Adanma.’ It was very evident that he brought his dancing shoes with him as he dazzled the audience with acrobatic steps in addition to his husky voice. For the second time that night, he performed another of Fela’s classics ‘Gentleman.’ His performance was given a pass by most of the judges.

To wrap up the first round of performances Joe Blue appeared in top form with his now legendary ‘Joe Pose’ as he teased the audience with the classic ‘Adaure.’ His last performance of the night was an elaborately orchestrated version of Fela’s immensely popular, ‘Palava’ bringing down the house  with his very energetic and innovative performance.

It will be another week of edge-of-the-seat suspense as the Nigerian audience cast their votes for their favourite contestants. The result will be determined on Friday one last person leaves the Nigerian Idol stage forever.
According to www.nigerianidol.com, all episodes of the show can be found
on the site as well as insider scoop and behind-the scenes pictures and footage.
The winner of Nigerian Idol will join an exclusive list of global Idol alumni, blazing musical trails in the international scene. Idol alumni around the world include American Idol’s Jordin Sparks, West African Idol’s Timi Dakolo and Nigerian Idol’s Yeka Onka.

Nigerian Idol is proudly brought to you by Etisalat in association with Pepsi and Sony. It is supported by Air Nigeria, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Megalectrics (owners of Beat FM, Classic FM and Naija FM).