Idols results... and Top 10!

The results for the Idols Group four were announced in the show yesterday... Joan Ekpai made it to the Top 10 alongside Temitayo George... We therefore had a Top 8 after that announcement, i.e the best 2 from group 1, 2, 3 and 4.

There was a twist however, and it turned out the rest of the Top 24 were also in the studio. The judges had been given the mandate to chose any 2 from the 18 people left and they ran their way through all the groups from 4,3,2 and 1. At the end, Omodele Fatoki from group 4 and Uche Ume from group 1 were chosen by the judges to complete the Top 10.

Fellas, here's the final 10! Let's wish them luck in their pursuit of the title 1st West African Idol..

Cheers,

`moni

Idols Group 4! My opinion...

Okay... So this is my breakdown of perfomances from the last group of six...overall, this group rocked!!! I mean, I was tired of bad perfomances from groups 2 and 3 and wasn't looking forward to anything spectacular from this group, but they blew me away! I mean, they were that good! Baaaack to the topic but first of all, a pix of the group!.....

The first performance was by 27 year old Tony Ighofose from Delta State... He sang More than words by Extreme.. His perfomance was lovely as he was so composed and he acted like he was used to being on the stage.. His voice quality was excellent as well... The judges all gave him a thumbs up and he was a good start to the evening... My vote: I liked him!

The second in line was 19 year old Ogun State indigene- Omodele Fatoki. She sang Love is all around made popular by Wet Wet Wet (The song is not their song..) She had a good perfomance as per she danced her way around the stage but I did not enjoy her version of the song. She did not do it for me as per voice quality. The judges told her she did well, but overall for me, I don't think her perfomance qualifies her to go through to the next round.

The third perfomance was by my very own Sokari Briggs. 27 years old, from Rivers State. I say my own 'cos we are from the same villa if you know what I mean... Hmmn, now my sister did not do very well.... She sang You're still the one by Shania Twain. My take is: she did not hit the notes as she should have though her perfomance was ok. If looks could win the Idols thingy, I'd say she has a very good shot at winning, but Alas! her rendition of the song was not very good and the judges told her as much...Dan commented on her looking great, Nana said she was better from the last round and dede told her not to be shy.. I don't think she deserves to get through to the next round...

Next, we had 21 year old James Brendan from Akwa Ibom. He sang Show me the meaning by the Back Street Boys. His voice and perfomance were above average but I knew he did not give it his all.. I watched his first audition where he sang Reuber Studdards' I need an Angel. I knew he had star quality then and was looking forward to watching him yesterday. He had this laid back approach to his perfomance and it was like he didn't give it his all. The judges told him so too but I think it will be a tough one for him.. I would like to see him go through to the next round.

The fifth perfomance was by 27 year old Joan Ekpai from Cross Rivers State. In the pre-perfomance interview - if I may use the word- she had this r factor going on.... she kept slurring in her speech and I was like, 'this girls R is going to do damage to her singing o!' She sang Show Me Heaven by Maria Mckee. Her perfomance was THE BOMB!!! This girl NAILED the song men! I don't know how to describe it, but I was speechless while I watched her perfomance. She was gracious during her perfomance and her voice! I felt it was Maria Mckee herself singing....I no fit talk abeg.. The judges said the same thing. Nana asked her if she was coming from Heaven, Dan Foster said he closed his eyes during her perfomance and saw Mariah, Whitney and Celine rolled into one and Dede said Na wah for you... I think she was the best of the Night! In fact... I have voted for her already.

The Last perfomance was by 25 year old Temitayo George from Ogun State. She sang Searching my soul by Vonda Shepherd (Theme song for Ally McBeal) She was Okay... She sang and performed okay, but you know how hard it is when a wonderful perfomance is just before yours... It's a bit hard to impress then.... Anyway, Temitayo tried.. she gave a pretty good perfomance but I can't say for sure if she'll get in to the next round.. Remember, popularity also counts and I figure she's a tad popular cos her mum owns and runs the very popular Little Saints Orphanage in Lagos... just a 'lil bit of trivia...

The results for this group will be announced today, so guys please let me know what you think! I'll hit you back with the results tomorrow.. Stay blessed y'all!

`moni

Its the weekend fellas!

Hey! Its the weekend! Not to much to blog about, I'm just happy the working part of the week is over!

I may blog about the book I just bought 26a Diana Evans by sometime next week....you may read an extract here (Oh my God, It's the first Chapter!)

See the cover page below..

It promises to be an interesting read!

Anyway, I had such a stressful week at work, so this weekend I'm going to totally chill out! and enjoy my music.

Here's a sample of my playlist:

Kiss from a rose- Seal

Sunday Morning - Maroon Five

The miseducation of Lauryn Hill- Lauryn Hill

Daffodil lament- The Cranberries

Thank you- Alanis Morisette

Your Song- Elton John

Kiss me- six pence none the richer

Run away - The Corrs

And lastly, I just wanted you guys to check this cool site out! Hit me back! I'm OUT for the weekend.....Stay safe y'all!

`moni

Moments to glow...

There are times when you feel so good that nothing is gonna get you down.. on those days, it's not about the money (or lack of money) in your bank account, it's not about your looks, the car you drive, you job or even your future.. all you care about is the fact that you feel good NOW. A wise man once said, "Every once in a while life hands you a moment so precious, so overwhelming, that you almost glow" Yesterday, I had one of such moments... it was a long moment and it still makes me glow...

You see, I have only one Sister TD, the one I put up this birthday post for.... Now before yesterday, only my elder brother A knew about my blog, but he doesn't know it's name i.e. nyemoni or even the blog. My sis didn't even know of it's existence... Anyway yesterday, we got to sending mails back and forth and I happened to tell her I put up a blog entry on her birthday and she was wished well by my blogfam. Her response was:

Hey Imbra (means my sister in Kalabari)
U did not tell me what the responses were. Haba. How u dey sha.. I finally braided my hair again this weekend and look a bit cheerful and not miserable and like a begger. I have not retouched my hair too. The under growth nah die and u know they discourage us from using relaxer on our hair when we are pregnant here. So its all good. No wahala the date is (insert date here) so we are looking on to God.
Love ya and love to (insert my daughter's name here).
TD

I decided to humor her. In response, I sent her the link from that day's post as well as the responses to the link as can be seen here.. 4 minutes later, she responded with this:
Oh Lord this is might sweet of you and I'm in Awe. I bless God for givin you a Sis like you and I pray we are like this to death. I will cherish this for Life. God bless you. U make me 6 feet tall and more beautiful than I am.
God bless you. I am taking my drugs and I know my Child will Rock in Jesus name and for Jesus Love TD

Whoa! I felt so good to have made her feel good like this... I responded in like manner:
jeez....Whoa.. oh my! now I'm blushing! like really! LMAO! No wahala... so you have seen my blog? Interesting or no?
I'm glad I was able to make you feel good! It makes me feel good as well...And yeah LeRoy will ROCK You in Jesus' name!
Love,
`moni

It felt so good to make her happy cos I know she's been lonely and the pregnancy blues aint helping... it was really a moment that made me glow... Thanks to y'all who put up posts for my sis, may God bless you guys. I thank God for my sis, I know we're not perfect, but I wouldn't replace her with another -even if I could.

P.S
LeRoy is gotten from Archie® I used to read them comics a lot when I was pregnant and my sister and I were together a lot-(Hubby was getting his MBA in the U.S for the most part of my 9 months and even after delivery) Anyway, LeRoy is Veronica's cousin in Archie® and my sis decided to name my unborn LeRoy...male or female. Now she's pregnant so I call her baby LeRoy, i.e until she puts to birth..

`moni

Idols West Africa Group 3: Perfomances and Results

So the Group 3 perfomances were on Sunday 18th March and the results were announced Yesterday, 19th March... Here are my views:

The first performer Ama is an 18 year old Ghanaian... she sang Strong Enough by Cher... My take: Easy on the eyes, weak perfomance. She did not do justice to the song at all... The judges told her as much, and I was not surprised to see that she did not make top 10.

The second was Confidence Rufai, from Lagos State, Nigeria. She sang Thank you by Dido.

My take: Not a nicer perfomance. She was overly confident, and from my years of watching other reality TV shows, I know the public mostly favours the not-so-in-your-face people who no doubt can sing or low-key people in the case of Big Brother. Its all a sympathy vote thing sometimes.... Think Lindiwe of Project fame, Cherise from Big Brother Africa, Anke from the South African Idol of 2003, Carrie Underwood of American Idols, the list is endless. Back to Confidence. The perfomance was an ordeal of someone singing in Falsetto. I thought her appearance could have been better too..she wore a dress that reminded me too much of a bridesmaids' garb... The judges liked her perfomance by the way, but the voting public did not help her... she did not make top 10.

The third perfomance was by the Tallest person in the Top 24- Mercy John, a Deta State gal who performed Nothing Compares To You by Sinead O’Connor. My take: I did not like the perfomance o! She had this facial expression which I could not stand, besides, she's so tall, and she did not have a good carriage... she was bending forwards most of the time like her chest was hurting her and I felt she would havelooked better standing upright. The judges told her 'Nothing compares to you' and she basically had good reviews from them... The voting public put her through to the top 10.

The fourth perfomance was by a 27 year old Ghanaian by the name Ernest Darkwa. He sang Amazed by Lonestar... I must admit I have no recollection of having heard the song, but his perfomance blew me away. His was truly the first perfomance I enjoyed. The judges gave him good reviews, but the voting public were not kind to him... he was placed third in his group...

The fifth person to sing was 26 year old Michael from Ibadan, Nigeria. He sang Madonna 's Take a Bow. Now, what can I say? His looked Eewwww, he had dyed his hear gold and it looked like the dye was going to run off his head and onto his face at any second. He truly looked awful! As for the song, he truly murdered it.... He over ad-libbed the song to the point that it did not sound anything like Madonna's classic and his own rendition was on the whole wack. As Nana would say, "it didn't quite work for me".... Bad reviews from the judges + lack of votes from the public = End of the road for him.

I'd like to use this phrase for the last performer: The best was saved for last. Jodie.. Delta State born Jodie sang Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman by Bryan Adams. For me, she NAILED it! She performed well and her voice was wonderful... It was truly the best for the evening, the judges gave her a loud ovation as did the audience, I thought she deserved to make top 10 and she did! She was rated the highest in her group!

Overall, I thought this group was ok, they did not hit me as much as group 1, but they were far better than group 2 to me. You may read more about the show here

Here's a Pix of the 2 who just made top 10

That's it... you have it... the fourth group is next and the show is aired on Sunday 25th..I'll be back with my review, but before then, I'll put one or two posts up!

arrivederci.....

`moni

Open letter to my big Sis TD!

Dearest TD,

Happy birthday! Today, you turn a day older... I wish you all the hapiness your heart can hold...I know it's hard in far away Canada with no family, all on your own; especially as the time draws nigh for you to have your baby.. We love you and don't you worry about your hubby cos I'm taking care of him until you move back! (Ah! the money I have spent on cooking soup and stew for him alone!- Kai!)

Being your only sister, you know I love you very much! Please remember to take all your vitamins and your Iron tablets, and always put your feet up! (I remember those were your very words when I was pregnant - hard pill to sawallow you say?) You know I always want what's best for you ;-)

Anyway as I was saying...I wish you all the best my dear... in about 3 months' you'll become a Mama by His grace so enjoy your last "sane" birthday alone... (fast forward to next years' Birthday... You would be in 9ja catering to your man and a less than 1 year old baby and probably doing the cleaning up after your guests have left..)

Here's a lil e-cake for you...

Enjoy your day girl! I love you!

Your lil' sis (as you always say),

'moni

oddities...

Hi peeps!
So yesterday, there was a 'lil twist to the idols tale... it pretty much went down tupsy turvy... I knew there was going to be a lot of sentimental reasons anyway, but I never knew it would turn out quite the way it did. Anyway, It's all good!

Eric and Jerrilyn made it to the Top 10... Here's a pix of the duo



Jarry, David and Oluwadolapo were the bottom 3... I mean, what were the voters thinking? You may read more about the whole shebang here
Oge says she doesn't know why the reults turned out the way they did here and Oluwadolapo says she dissapointed her fans somewhere here (can't find the exact page!)
Anyway, congrats to Eric and Jerrylin would you believeit!

On another note, got these in my mail and decided to share.... Enjoy!

A mother passing by her daughter's bedroom was astonished to see the bed was nicely made and everything was picked up. Then she saw an envelope propped up prominently on the centre of the bed. It was addressed, "Mom"
With the worst premonition, she opened the envelope and read the letter with trembling hands:

Dear Mom,

It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing you.I had to elope with my new boyfriend because I wanted to avoid a scene with Dad and you.
I've been finding real passion with John and he is so nice-even with all his piercing, tattoos, beard, and his motorcycle clothes. But it's not only the passion mom, I'm pregnant and John said that we will be very happy.He already owns a trailer in the woods and has a stack of firewood for the whole winter. He wants to have many more children with me and that's now one of my dreams too.
John taught me that marijuana doesn't really hurt anyone and we'll be growing it for us and trading it with his friends for all the cocaine and ecstasy we want.

In the meantime, we'll pray that science will find a cure for AIDS so John can get better; he sure deserves it!!
Don't worry Mom, I'm 15 years old now and I know how to take care of myself. Some day I'm sure we'll be back to visit so you can get to know your grandchildren.

Your daughter,
Judith

PS: Mom, none of the above is true. I'm over at the neighbour's house. I just wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than my report card that's in my desk centre drawer.

I love you! Call when it is safe for me to come home.

(Nyemoni says:LMAO!! I loved this!)

Here's another ...

heard in the cabin
You're cute when you're drunk
--Says he
No, you're cute when I'm drunk!
--She retorts


Take care fellas!

~moni

...another Idols update!

Hi everyone, what's poppin? The second group of the Idols performed yesterday and I'm here with my take on how the show went down.. Mind you, this is all my opinion so please - no judgement o!

The first performer was Eric from the Abuja auditions. He is originally from Delta State and he has the looks of an idol, definitely has a voice but his performance - Using someone's words- didn't quite do it for me. He sang 'Angels' by Robbie Williams. I have seen one or two people performing in the Idols WA who I think will give him a run for his money. I think he's good, but not quite the idol. I am not willing to place a bet on whether or not he would make the next round.

The second performance was by Oluwadolapo from Oyo State. She's popularly known as duracell bunny by her fellow contestants 'cos they say she has a lotta energy. She has strange looks, and she's what I call 'beautiful in a different way'... She sang 'I Swear' by All 4 One. Her performance I'm sorry to say, was bad. She was hoarse and really had no voice control.. I think it was the nerves cos I saw her do better in her Auditions. I am quite willing to bet that this is the end of the road for her.

Oge's was the third performance. She's this sassy chick from Delta State and she was easy on the eyes, and generally gave a nice performance. She sang 'Crush' by Jennifer Paige, which I thought was a mistake 'cos I think quite a lot of the voters do not know the song and as a result would not be able to gauge how well or how poorly she interpreted the song...For me though, she did quite well as that song is not an easy one to interprete. As for making the top 10, I really cannot tell 100% for this group cos there will be a lot of sentimental reasons for the voters to vote. I would give her a chance though.

The best performance last night for me was by a young man by the name Jarry. He hails from Liberia and currently resides in Ghana. He had such a sweet, sweet voice and his performance was just Awesome! He sang 'Foolish Games' by Jewel and he did justice to the song as far as I am concerned.. I guarantee he has a spot in the top 10.

Next, we had David from Rivers State who sang 'Change the World' by Eric Clapton. His performance was Ok, and I think he has the ability in him to give more... He sang in a happy-go-lucky kind of way and I felt he took things too much for granted. It's 50-50 for me whether or not he would go beyond this stage, but I would vote him on account of the fact that I think he has a lotta potential.

The last performance was by dynamite Jerrilyn from Liberia. Her story is a unique one of war, family displacement and finding her mother after years of her mum searching for her. She sang the popular hit 'Don't Wanna Miss A Thing' by Aerosmith. She really has a voice but I did not particularly feel her... I think in this round, there'll be a lot of sentimental voting so I'm going to step aside and watch how the voting swings... One thing for sure though... I'll be back with the results tomorrow.

On a general note, I'll say this group performed O.k. but if you take last weeks' group of 6 into consideration.... that's a whole different thing 'cos that group set a standard that is yet to be beaten..

You can read more about the auditions and cast your vote for your fave contestant(s) here!
You may watch clips of yesterdays' show here!

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On another note... Our brothers and neighbours Ghana are celebrating 50 years of independence! Wow, I really did not know they are this old! Good going guys! Akwaaba!

Miscellaneous....

So I was not far from right yesterday.... My top 2 made it to the finals.. read my post of 5/03/07... I'm quite happy that the voters did a great job. I only wish Ibitoru Green would join em later! Anyway, more jist to come later!

oops.... you can read about yesterdays show here

Idols West Africa Group 1 perfomances... My Take

Hallo Guys! Happy Monday! So yesterday, the first group of Idols performed. As we know, the 24 finalists were grouped into 4 sets with 6 people performing every Sunday for 4 weeks beginning yesterday.. Here's how it went down:

1. Ibitoru Green - 'Like A Prayer' by Madonna: This girl is something else.... She worked the stage man! Her voice was wonderful and her all white appearance was catchy! She performed a very good rendition of the song but I really can't tell if she'll make Top 10...I hope so though cos I'd like to see more of her.

2. Uche Ume - 'Angel of Mine' by Monica: His performance reminded me a lot of one of those Bishop T.D Jakes' songs where he sorta runs a commentary in the background (think his version of the storm is over)... Anyway, he gave a pretty good performance...

3. Ekanem Esu - 'How Do I Live' by LeAnn Rimes: Okay, nice voice but I am sorry to say I don't think she'll make Top 10... There's quite a lot of competition! Plus, I distinctly remember her singing, 'How do hI hever, hever survhive.....' maybe it was all in my ears, but I swear the H Factor was present and it didn't do her any good!

4. Omawunmi Megbele - 'That Don't Impress Me Much' by Shania Twain: Now this girl was summmmmin! She was smoking for real and she had such an attitude! Girlfriend was hoooooot! Everyone in my house was screaming after she finished her performance.. I am positive that she'll make top 10 if the voters know what they're doing...You go girl!

5. Timi Dakolo - 'Must Have Been Love' by Roxette: When I heard his song, I went, 'Why did you pick that song???' But during and after his performance, I saw that he was the MAN! He nailed the song with his own version... I think he'll go far in the competition and I hope he does a Luther while he's at it!

6. Lara George - 'Its All Coming Back' by Celine Dion: No playa hatin' but I felt she didn't have the X-Factor... Her performance to me was ok, but to be fair, maybe I expected a lot more from her as per she's already been in the industry...I bet that would contribute positively towards her being in the top 10 though...

If you wanna watch the songs, Just go here!

Random Word

Yesterday, I slept off solving cross-word puzzles and woke up with the word Paraphernalia on my mind this morning. Problem was, I couldn't spell it.. How many times does this happen, I mean you know a word, know its meaning, you see it it books and just glide past the word but then you later realize you never could spell the word without a lot of thought?

That's all fellaz... Hit me back with your feedback! I'm out...

~moni

It's March '07!

Naija has new currency! You can see samples here and a sharper sample of the New 1 Naira coin below for those of you fellas who live abroad:



Hmm, I hope we don't mess these up by abusing the Naira as most Nigerians do!

HAPPY WEEKEND & HAPPY MARCH FOLKS!!! Gotta go... see ya next week!


Mood Music
River -Robert Downey Jnr.
Rise and fall- Craig David and Sting
I don't wanna miss a thing- Aerosmith
Iris- Goo goo Dolls
Daysleeper- REM


~moni