Project Fame West Africa Review: Great, Great Grand Finale

Wow! Big, big improvements all round. Today's show is truly worthy of a grand finale. All contestants ramped up their games and it was evident in the quiality and depth of performances today. The dramatics were on poont and nothing was superflous. Madam Joke Silva sure had these folks tuned right. Lovely!

Eyo really came out swinging. With a good first performance he set the tone for the hot contest of today and gernerd well-earned accolades from the judges. His perfomance of Fela's Lady was fantastic his footwork was great; almost reminiscent of the Afrobeat legend, his moves especially with the Lady wrist flips a little less so but ok. His vocals on the song was deep and rich and I hope those who have been perenially unimpressed by this guy which unfortunately includes myself will finally give this guy his due respect. It'd be real sad if he goes home empty handed given the effort and his last-minute resurgence.

Viewers in Ghana sure didn't do Kesse much favour by asking him to do that dreary song. He did ok the first time. We didn't really know what he was singing here at least in Nigeria but we enjoyed the verve with which he did it and we all felt well whatever he must have been singing must be really good. And we clapped. Duely. But to sing that song for a grand finale? Damn that was bad and so was the performance. He killed Kevin Little's songTurn me on  though and he's still my favourite to win on the strength of that performance and his overall record of stunning performance all throughout the show. None of the contestant have match his consistency. His closest rival, Chidinma only came to life right about the middle and Tolu faltered right before crossing the finish line.

Chidinma didn't do too well with her vocals on Ekwe. Her lower registers still needs some tweaking as was slightly evident even in her better performance of the night, her cover of Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You.  This diva is sure worth the money to play in the big league.

Tolu probably had the best night of all the contestants, maybe jointly with Eyo. However, it isn't an easy feat to sing while there so many walk ons on stage to distract both you and the watching audience but did just right with John Legend's Ordinary People and yet remained object of the audience's focused attention.For that I'd give him the edge over Eyo. It was like a broadway musical. Near perfect. I  say near because he went off-key once on the song and was overly cautious. He covered less distance on stage which helped him focus on delivering the songs better and his performance of Jailer  was off the hook. Nice crescendo. He could cover that song in album and make a hit of it a second time.

Yetunde had a bad night with Diana King's Shy Guy . Her cover of Sunny Ade's Ori mi ja fun mi was much better though but I suspect the only thing standing between this lady and her going home empty-handed would be the cult-like she's built over the course of the show. I feel Yetunde's still a work in progress. Don't get me wrong; all the contestants are but Yetunde the most so among them. The depth of her potential I dare say is one of the deepest also. Even if she does go home without a prize in this show, I feel she's gonna have a successful career outside the academy.  She's got a rich, deep vocal and she proven she can apply it on the right song in this show. She's also shown that she a fine songwriter with her composition Akingbolahan.

All in all, it's been a wonderful show and we're sure gonna miss it until the start of Season4. Now, that it's all ended, I can safely endorse Ochuko to go home without a prize. He can sing, yep, when he puts his mind to it like he did tonight with Maroon 5's This Love. He is an entertainer and that  he proves with Lagbaja's Konko Below.  And he can write good danceable songs like Get up. He's sure bound to enjoy some success on the Nigerian music scene if he goes a notch higher on all this elements listed here. But as is the case in any competition, there must be winners and loosers and Ochuko looks good for the latter. A lot of people might not agree with my assessment but consistency has been the bane of this guy right from day one. Well, there are no more chances to adjust and here, my friends, is where it all ends.

Good night and God bless.

Project Fame West Africa Review: Time to Get Really Serious

The Third Season of talent reality show - Project Fame West Africa - has finally gotten to the tough stage and it’s quite gratifying to see that mere theatrics and riding on the popularity of songs typically performed by contestants is gradually taking the backstage to real singing talent. From all indication, the competition has become a little more serious than screen tests. 

Prior to this time I have often wondered for how much longer contestants would get away with going murderously off-key, judges making the wrong calls  and joining the audience in applauding atrocious performances and most especially not knowing their music (Lionel Richie didn’t write Three Times A Lady  and I Wanna Know What Love Is isn’t a Mariah Carey song. She only covered it long after the song had been made a hit twice over by the group, Foreign and Lucky Dube, and just about right after like a hundred people had put it in their album).

Tiny little seemingly immaterial errors such as those makes the show appear overly pretentious, the goofing personnel a tad incompetent and pisses off music lovers like myself who just wants to be entertained and see genuine talent and excellence rewarded along the way. 

For all those annoying little hitches I’d say the 7ht Sunday Show of the current went so well it almost covered up for all the shortcomings of the earlier ones. Probably because the pool of contestants is getting tighter the judges could afford to make better assessments. I’d say the presence of TuFace Idibia as a guest judge also had a huge impact. He was objective. He was frank; never minced words when he was unimpressed despite the dancing judges and the howling crowd behind egging on their favourite contestants. The travelling circus had a heavy counterbalance and it came up short. For the first time since the show began I had my two thumbs up.

 

Kesse: The Genuine Article?

Ghana’s Kesse continues to be by far the best performer night after night and deservedly getting the best accolades. His strength lies in his ability to modulate his voice to strike the right emotional and artistic balance. For this reason, rarely ever goes off key and achieves an unusual sync that connect with audiences especially those watching on TV, even though he travels less kilometres around the studio floor than ALL other contestants who seem to take delight in endless wanderings. It is obvious that he keeps his focus first on the songs and from there unravels the rest of his performance. I’d say we’re yet to see the best of this Ghanaian born superstar in the making but let’s keep our fingers crossed and see how he deals with the sudden exit of his compatriot with whom he seems so emotionally attached. I have no doubt in my mind he is going to make it big.

Chidimma: A Diva Comes to Play

 I had previously called this competition for Kesse but since her 5^th Sunday Show performance of I Wanna What Love Is Chidimma has shown she capable of winning this competition. She’s shown she can be a real diva and in another clime her powerful vocals would have had the best songwriters queuing at her doorsteps to make hits of their songs.  Make no mistake Miss Petit means business. With the right song on a perfect night Chidimma would blow Kesse away as she clearly did on today’s elimination show when she performed Boy2Men and Mariah Carey’s One Sweet Day with Kesse and Eyo. I never thought it possible that I’d see a performance I’d genuinely want to compare with the original but there is it- One Sweet Day by Kesse, Uvwede and Chidimma. Great, faultless performance by all three plus outstanding, world class vocal power by Chidimma.

Christian: One with the Rock Star Swagg

 He’s lean. His vocal is mean and his theatrics, meaner. He’s got a rock star’s swagger but don’t be fooled, this guy could sing. Sad to say he’s gone now due to a yet to be fully explained health issue. Christian was easily and consistently one of the better performers in Project Fame West Africa academy this season, especially when singing the soft rock genre where is onstage presence is apt and fitting. I’ve come across a few ladies who have said, “Em... er... he acts someway I don’t like,” but none questions his singing abilities. Hard to see him in an elimination fight but we’d never know for sure now. Still I’d have tipped him for a third place finish.

Eyo: Hmmm...

Well, he good. Not just that good. Good old lady luck and good choice of songs have worked in his favour thus far. It’s hard to see them carry him all the way. I do not see him finishing fourth even with Christian gone. I’d put my money on Tolu and Ochuko upping their games to beat him to that spot as the competition nears the homestretch. Bro, you totally killed that Gerald Lervert song but there aren’t that many R&B oldies that fit that perfectly for anyone. Hold firmly to that day job of yours. The curtains are about to fall on this one.

Tolu: What A Way to Come Crashing!

Before Tuface burst his bubble, Tolu could have gotten away with murder in the academy. He randomly goes off key and no one seems to notice. He carries the audience along better than most and the judges and faculty seem to forget. He is loved by all and for good reason too. He’s got a killer tenor and stretches and bends even rock songs into R&B with it in a way that is distinctly his. Whenever he gets it right, that is which is not always as was the case tonight when he led the trio of Debola, Ochuko and Yetunde on a decidedly less than average performance of Show Me The Meaning (Of Being Lonely).  He went off key again, severally and his handling of the crescendo had the feel of a thousand pins in the ear. Facing elimination, Tolu showed a clear lack of mental strength. He failed to give it a fight and never regained composure sufficiently till the end as the audience cheered him on to encourage him. His being saved by the faculty is obviously due to his record of past performances and a knowledge of what a good he is singer which is not entirely fair Debola who did better than him and Yetunde, who was saved by contestants not on probation, on the night. Kwame was spot in his assessment that Tolu’s spirit seems to have left the competition and needs to do something urgent to bring it back. Personally, I think Tolu need to close his eyes to the studio audience and focus more on his art and he’d do just fine. There are millions more watching at home and they’re the ones deciding. He needs to be able to take a hit still remain on his feet. Criticisms are part of arts. There’s only one way to handle them.  Be strong.

Ochuko: Second Time on the Outs Looking In

The big man’s first time on probation was nerve wracking as it was painful. He did well to escape the first time out. This second time, he did better than well and so-so. He gave the hardest fight of the night and I dare say, if he’d been around, Tuface would have given him two thumbs up. Ochuko is talent and can sing but like Tolu, he needs to wander the stage less, look less to the studio crowd for support and more importantly focus more on the songs he’s singing. If a serenade subject does not help you focus your emotions dispense with it. It’s distractive when you have someone on stage with nothing better to do than just strut around. Believe me, the question on viewers’ minds is usually, “What’s she doing there?”  Yes, there had been times when he didn’t know the lyrics of the song and had barged his way through with pure hubris, bravura and awesome stage presence. The Shina Peters and Lagbaja’s Konkobelow impressions come readily to mind. At this level of the competition, however, hubris will more like keep you on the outs.

Yetunde: Someone Start the Countdown!

Another show favourite, Yetunde, popularly called Omo Ibadan has done well to build a fan base both within and outside the studio. This will surely help her launch an active solo career once she’s out of the academy. This lady’s got a good voice but I wonder she’s chosen to be far more expressive of her stage persona than her singing talent. Already she’s had more trips to probation land than any of the remaining contestants. This should signal to her to change her approach but having struck a seemingly working formula, it’s hard to see her altering course successfully unless she can pull off a truly awesome vocal performance. She’ll most likely crash and burn faster maybe by one week trying to change now.  In any case, she’s doomed if she does and she’s doomed if she doesn’t. It was good while it lasted. We enjoyed every bit of you. Now, somebody start the countdown.

Debola: Veteran of the Elimination Contest Finally Takes a Bow

Given a good night and a good song that fit, she could make angels go green but on a regular night, this lady’s nerves makes more music than her vocal chords which probably accounts for why she’s the most travelled contestant on the probation lane. Her losing out on tonight’s elimination fight should be viewed in the light of not just her performance tonight but in the light of her performance all through the competition so far.  Indeed, she gave the second best performance of the night but overall, the decision to by the faculty to retain Tolu who did worst on the night is the right decision. She did give a gracious exit interview and announced her intention to make an album. She has a listenable song in Colour, the title of her self-written song to start with. She can build from there. Good night and God bless sister.

Is this president really disingenious or genuinely clueless?

Untill recently I'd come to the conclusion that our President Yar'Adua is at worst a fickle minded leader given to being manipulated by power hogs like Andoaka (pardon the spellings). Not untill I read Azubuike Ishekwene's take on the man's possible culpability in the Ekiti debacle did I really consider whether the man is capable of guile.

Reading the text of Yar'Adua's May 29 anniversary speech however has driven me near the edge confoundment. In it Yar'Adua spoke of his govt's effort at revamping the rail lines by ordering 100 locomotives, from general electric, USA- the first batch of which is expected to start running by the first quater of next year. Never mind the fact that general electric's strength lies in power infrastructures and household goods.

The first question that popped to my mind was on which tracks? Surely our president is well aware that the rail system has been comatose for a while and in need of not a rehabilitation but a total makeover. The Chinese deal which would have seen $8b invested over the course of several years secured by the Obasanjo admin was cancelled by Yar'adua for being overly favourable to the Asians. The plan would have provided for the construction of double gauge rail tracks to replace the existing single guage. And since the cancellation, no alternative plan has been forward. So when he talked of new locomotives - by next year?! On which tracks are they to run? In the govt warehouses?

And speaking of locomotives, why those and and not railcars? We not talking expensive speed trains here. Just simple functional technology that's in use. Anybody who owns anything tokunbo like I do would appreciate the problems with getting spare parts for outdated technology. In the case of trains, you either source them from India or from the manufacturers, if you have a service agreement in place. In either case, it's bound to be expensive.

That Yar'adua would promise a functional rail system by a deadline he should know is impossible suggest one of two things: 1) He disconnected from realities and is clueless abt the infrastructural challenges facing the nation; 2) He knows what those challenges are but would rather than get to work waste precious efforts trying to beguile Nigerians to cover up for his own inactivity. Which do you think it is?

Either way, the answer does not portend well for the country he leads. 2011 cannot be here soon enough. I know some would say it doesn't matter but anything to hang on would be better than nothing at all.


Dare Adodo
NB: CBN Governor, Soludo's tenure effectively ended yesterday, May 29. The president is yet to make a pronouncement. Meanwhile speculations surrounding Sanusi Lamido as successor continues. Doesn't anybody in this govt think the president is taking his tardy ways a little too far?

It Never Ends, Does It? - Tribute to the King of Pop

Goodbye, Mike.

It's begining all over again. His life was a circus toward the end and even in death, we won't leave him alone. Our favourite saga, our passtime. It never ends, does it?

Crazy folks crashing to conclusions, bumbling fools saying hurtful things on the pages of the newspapers. Regular hacks claiming knowledge. Hangers-on with claims to fame by association sprouting nonsense on breakfast tv shows.

''It's drugs!''
''Over medication!''
Even,
"Endangered specie, creature"

(as if he was no longer human!)
'' The bleaching had made him weak'' (can you believe this?)
We just can't let the coroner write the last few pages, can we?

Even if one or all of these or - some other hackneyed reason - were to account for his sudden pass, can we at least for the sake of our own humanity, have respect for the dead?

Certainly, whatever we say now can't hurt him no more. He's beyond our reproach now and thankfully, his legacy is beyond controversy; his impact befitting enough a monument as any grand mousoleum the mind may conceive to erect in his honour.

But what about his children, his aged, long-suffering mother and his siblings? Poor souls!

Aren't these people closer, dearer to him and he to them than we are?

Didn't they hurt when he was alive? Remember his poor mother standing still by her son even through his child molestation trials!

Aren't they hurting right now for the loss of a father, a son, and a brother?



Wouldn't they hurt more now and in future for the things being said right now?

Wouldn't it be better to let them and millions of fans who care about man mourn in peace?

If we were them wouldn't we want the same?

For the sake of ourselves, let's respect the dead.

Goodbye and goodnight Mike.

All That Matters

To Copenhagen with Love


I confess I get a little befuddled by all the hoopla and talk about going green, sustainable energy development blah blah blah…. I can understand being environmentally friendly, avoiding water contamination, putting CFCs out of use, cleaning up spills but when it comes to cutting greenhouse emissions via reduction of global dependence on fossil fuel, I just don’t get it. What are the alternatives really – wind, solar, what? How many wind turbines and how much land do I need to generate enough energy electricity to run a factory? At what cost? And don’t solar and nuclear sources generate toxic wastes with headaches to store? Sustainable my a**.


Most renewable, sustainable, green (choose your preferred adjective) energy sources are at best at experimental stages. Heck for all the three decades of hype and work, no car yet run 100 per cent on electricity except prototypes that run at 40km/hr for 30 minutes and then stop dead. And that’s even at motor shows. And what’s the major component of the batteries they run on? Lead? Really, isn’t that stuff dangerous too?


Let’s assume all the cars in Lagos have gone green and now run on lead. Lead based batteries everywhere and tokunbo (meaning second-hand) ones now available at Ladipo auto parts market dumped in careless heaps same way as other spare parts. Leachates seeping in the subsoil, contaminating the ground water in the parts where public waterworks are dinosaurs and people depend on wells and boreholes for daily living. What sweet sustainable world it will be for our organs?


The only green source of energy that is cheaper and more efficient than fossil fuel is nuclear. And where do we store the waste? Oh well, maybe we just dig up the Sultan of Sokoto’s backyard and put it underground. We’ll check in a million years and see how it doing. And really why not? For all the talk of nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear-free world (Utopia?) France has the highest number of nuclear power plant in the world. Britain plans to build four more. Does it matter any? Paris is the City of Lights – literally – and the London Metro always runs on time. That’s all that matters.


They say we’ll be shooting ourselves in the leg if we disregard climate warnings. I say so? If the Chinese, the Indians and the Americans shoot themselves in the leg to pull their people out of poverty by all means let’s chop ours off. If we that’s our chance to make a decent living, I’ll give my leg. Now do I trust my government to do the necessary to get the job done like the Chinese and the Indians? Nope. I guess I have no toe worth of trust in my government so I’ll keep my leg. And that is all that matters. Survival.


Most of the debates so far at the Copenhagen submit has focused unfairly on curbing carbon emissions cap and trade that allows rich nations to pollute but pay a token and then trade these rights across boundaries. This means developing countries mortgage their right to human physical development which cannot be achieved without industrialization. As someone who lives in one such country, I remain skeptical of the scientific argument put forward to justify this stance. What is known is that human activities where not carefully mitigated impact negatively on the environment. There’s yet to be an agreement that the climate is indeed warming up significantly as a direct result of these activities.


Already we’ve seen the abuse of this system with corruption charges rocking the highest quarters of government in Papua New Guinea which in essence shows that the proposed system isn't fool-proof. But then which system is? Without a proper and established system of control, there’s no guarantee that whatever cap and trade agreement is eventually knocked in Copenhagen will be operable. The rational way to go will be an agreement that guarantees the right of developing nations to industrialize but one that sets strict standard for emissions and safeguards for the environment and individual rights protection. That to me will be the first step toward achieving climate justice.