WEST AFRICAN Idols update!

Hi Guys....Twas a busy weekend for me... I really feel like going back to bed, but of course I can't....yada yada yada....Just wanted to blog about the West African Idols show last night....

It was down to six idols last week, as per Mercy was voted out after the previous show.. Idols took a different turn yesterday as can be seen from the picture below...

If you're wondering, the Idols did African songs yesterday so the show took a sharp turn....anyway, it's called West African Idols isn't it? It was basically a night that made me rember Angelique Kidjo a whole lot.... you'll see why!

Eric was first this week with ‘Olo mi’ by Tosin Martins, Temitayo followed with ‘Agolo’ by Angelique Kidjo, Omawumi then sang ‘Ekwe’ by Onyeka Onwenu, Jerrilyn was next with ‘Wombolombo’ by Angelique Kidjo, Timi then sang ‘Oruka’ by Sunny Neji and Jodie ended the show with ‘Adouma’ by Angelique Kidjo....

My take...

Sooo much Angelique Kidjo!!!! There's nothing wrong with that anyway...although I would have preferred that everyone did a different artiste.... don't blame me... Variety is the spice of life as they say!

Oh Okay! Well, Eric started the show on a nice note and gave an overall okay perfomance... I've seen him do better so I'm not going to say more than that...the judges to me did not critique properly as Dede and Nana got it wrong... I think Dan was spot on this week with Eric when he said he lost it somewhere in the middle, but the thing is, he says it all the time to Eric so it did not have much weight, with him getting it actually right with his critique for Eric this time...I do not think he was the worst by any standard though...

Temitayo I felt did not give such a good perfomance.... as Dede said, she gets so carried away with her perfomance that she forgets vocal quality... he was sooo right! She was out of breath a lot of the time and that didn't do her good... The perfomance was very energetic though and I don't think we should say good bye this week...

Omawunwi was a killer last night! I enjoyed her perfomance the most....She gave it her all and then some!!! This perfomance reminded me of why she was in WA Idols in the first place..... she chose a very suitable song for her voice and she rocked the song for real....I mean, she brought down the house...her outfit, make-up, everything just worked for her yesterday for real...

Jerrilyn Jerrilyn Jerrilyn, I know I soumd like a broken record each week, but I can't help it, I'm just keeping it real here....First, the positive... she looked good! She is truly a beautiful person and I like her accent - I'm sure she'll get a lot of gigs to do after Idols is over if she can up her confidence...Now for the music.....? That I didn't like... her perfomance was just too Karaoke for me.... she was too bland yesterday...

Timi gave the song 'Oruka' a new twist, and to me, it was like something he did on the spur of the moment... It lacked his usual energy although, but it wan't altogether a poor perfomance... he tried sha....it was above average.

Jodie as usual gave a lot of energy to her song and her perfomance and she really knows how to strike a balance between singing and perfoming... good, good, good.....

The eviction starts at 7pm, let's see who doesn't make it! I wish 'em all good luck!!!

My three year old wonder....

Today, I've decided to blog about one of the loves of my life, my own flesh and blood, my bundle of pride and joy, my cutie, my little girl.....my very own miss thing! (some call her AA) She truly lifts my spirit when I'm down, I can talk to her about anything wheher or not she understands exactly what I'm saying- it's like teraphy, she is like my best friend cos she's always there for me!

Looking back at the day she was born - October 7 2003- I remember the huge relief I felt after she popped out! Phew! I mean she literally flew out after I gave my hardest push- the Doctors named her Paratrooper! I wondered whether I could raise a kid without help - then my hubby was in the U.S for his MBA and he only came to visit us that christmas/Newyear after which he returned... now that's another story for another day...

I remember changing messy diapers, breast-feeding (oh I loved it - honest, it's such an experience in bonding) waking up at night just 'cos she was on baby jet-lag, teething, her learning to sit, crawl, stand, walk, run, CHASE!
I remember her crying for no reason and me being like really mad cos I was soooo tired...
I remeber checking in on her in between naps cos I was scared she hadn't moved...
I remember the first time I saw her smiling in her sleep, my mum said she was having a good dream ;-) I remember the first time she said Mummy- I was in awe and made her say it again and again, I remember when hubby came back from school finally in 2005 (second time of his seeing her physically) and she wouldn't sleep all night, I read her eyes and she was like mum who's this man and WHY IS HE SHARING OUR BED? But blood is thicker than water as they say and in less than one week, she understood the meaning of one of the words I'd taught her- DADDY.

I remember the first time she went to school, I cried cos I felt a part of me was growing up and I was scared she wouldn't cope...but she showed me she could..Now she's 3 and a half and learning new things everyday, taking form just as God intended.. I know the job is far from finished, but I can proudly say that with the help of our Father, so far, so good! Everything's turning out well! She's grown from the baby who was so little, so frail to a little woman....

some eye candy for real below...

@ 2 months with my mum..

taken 2 weeks ago..she's the one on the far left.....
What's she reading?





I'm teaching her to love books like me, so I read to her a whole lot! She's trying a little experiment here, she took these last 3 pixs of her book herself using my phone!

A lil kiss for my gal..... Yeah, that's us... taken in her room some night about a month ago!

Enjoy!

The faces of the President and Vice-President elect...

Umaru Musa Yar'Adua (born 1951 in Katsina) is the President-elect of Nigeria. He has served as governor of Katsina State in northern Nigeria since May 29, 1999. He won the Nigerian general election of 2007 on April 21 and is due to be sworn in on May 29. He is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) and is married to Turai Umaru Yar’adua.

Yar'Adua was born into an aristocratic Katsina family; his father, a former minister for Lagos during the First Republic, was also the Mutawallen of Katsina.
He started his education at Rafukka Primary School in 1958, and moved to Dutsinma Boarding Primary School in 1962. He attended Government College, Keffi, from 1965 until 1969, and received his Higher School Certificate from Barewa College in 1971.
Yar'Adua attended Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria twice, once from 1972 to 1975, and once from 1978 to 1980. He left the first time with a B.Sc Education/Chemistry and the second time having gained an M.Sc Degree in Analytical Chemistry

During the second republic, he was a member of the leftist People's Redemption Party, while his father was briefly the National Vice chairman of the National Party of Nigeria. He contested the governorship election of Katsina state under the banner of the Social Democratic Party, but lost to Saidu Barda, an ally of President Ibrahim Babangida. In 1999, he ran for the same position and won.

On December 16–17, 2006, Yar'Adua was chosen as the presidential candidate of the ruling PDP for the April 2007 election, receiving 3,024 votes from party delegates; his closest rival, Rochas Okorocha, received only 372 votes. Yar'Adua's success in the primary was attributed to the support of incumbent President Olusegun Obasanjo; at the time of his nomination he was an obscure figure on the national stage, and has been described as a "puppet" of Obasanjo who could not have won the nomination under fair circumstances. Shortly after winning the nomination, Yar'Adua chose Goodluck Jonathan, governor of Bayelsa State, as his vice-presidential candidate.
Another view of the support he received from President Obasanjo is that he is one of few serving governors with a spotless record, devoid of any suspicions or charges of corruption.

He also belongs to the People's Democratic Movement (PDM) - a powerful political block founded by his late brother, Shehu Musa Yar'Adua.
Yar'Adua, who suffers from a kidney condition, challenged his critics to a game of squash in an endeavor to end speculations about his health. On March 6, 2007 he was flown to Germany for medical reasons, further fomenting rumors about his health. His spokesperson said this was due to stress and quoted Yar'Adua as saying he was fine and would soon be back to campaigning. Another report, which was rejected by Yar'Adua's spokesperson, claims that Yar'Adua collapsed after suffering a possible heart attack.

In the presidential election, held on April 21, 2007, Yar'Adua won with 70% of the vote (24.6 million votes), according to official results released on April 23. The election was highly controversial; it was strongly criticized by observers, and the two primary opposition candidates, Muhammadu Buhari and Atiku Abubakar, rejected the results, considering it rigged in Yar'Adua's favor.

Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (b. 1957) is a Nigerian politician who has been governor of Bayelsa State since 9 December 2005. He is also the Vice President Elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP).
Jonathan replaced Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who was impeached by the Bayelsa State Assembly after being charged with money laundering in the United Kingdom. He was previously the deputy governor of the State. Recently, his wife was indicted by the Nation's anti-crime agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), for money laundering related offences. In December 2006, Jonathan was selected as vice presidential running mate to Umaru Yar'Adua for the ruling PDP presidential ticket in the elections planned for April 2007. On April 20, shortly before the election, a militant attack in Bayelsa State occurred that was described by police as an assassination attempt against Jonathan.
He holds a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) Honours in Zoology with a Second class (HONS) Upper division, an M.Sc. in Hydrobiology/Fisheries biology and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Zoology from University of Port Harcourt respectively

...info courtesy Wikipedia

Idols show 22nd April 2007

Heya, this is such a late Idols update, but you know what they say, better late than never eh? Let me give you the rundown of yesterdays' show....

Yesterday, we had some oldies from the contestants...Mercy was first with ‘Part Time Lover’ by Stevie Wonder, Omawumi followed with ‘The Rhythm of the Night’ by Gloria Estefan, Timi was next with ‘Stuck on You’ by Lionel Richie, Jerrilyn with ‘All By Myself’ by Celine Dion was next in line, Eric then wowed us with ‘Killing me softly’ originally by Roberta Flack, and most recently by the Fugees, Jodie performed Tina Turners hit ‘What’s Love Got to Do With It’ and finally Temitayo closed the show with Irene Cara’s ‘What a Feeling’ (remember FLASHDANCE anyone?)

Anyway, they all generally did well... My opinion may or may not come to pass, but hey! I think Jerrilyn is the one to say Goodbye tonight.... It's always a close call for her and Mercy, and you never know what the voters are thinking.... I am sure she has the benefit of being the only one from outside Nigeria so all the Africans in the diaspora who watch may just be rallying their votes solely for her... this is what I think though... it's either her or Mercy, but I admit Mercy did quite well compared to other Sundays this time...

For Omawumi, I feel it's now all about her perfomance, you lose yourself in her perfomance so much that you may forget to listen to the voice and for me, yesterday was not so spectaculare for her, voice-wise if I may use that word...Temitayo also upped her game from last week and everything generally went well for her, and Jodie did not surprise me with her good perfomance... Eric with his good voice generally chose a song that's well suited to his voice and the judges complained about it, but well, I guess everyone has to do what works for them... I mean, better a song that's easy for you to deliver than a hard song that you fail to deliver on abI??? Anyhow, that's the way I see it...

Now to Timi.... That guy pulled all the stops.... he finished the song, I mean he wowed everyone present so much that Nana even had tears in her eyes... i gave him a standing ovation from home... That boy is the shizzle for hizzle ma fizzle....now, that's me tryna be funky!!!


The results are going to be out in another 20 mins so lemme rush home for the live show.... Who do you think is off tonight Who's not gonna be in the Top 6???
Take care guys!!!

`moni.

P.s,
Tomorrow, I'll try and find the time to blog about our new president, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'Adua..... God bless you guys!!!

Update on Atiku Abubakar

Nigeria's Supreme Court has ruled that Atiku Abubakar is eligible to contest the Presidential Elections.. read more here

That's it for today... I'm out!

Elections brouhaha

On to other issues, in the making of the very first handover of power from a civillain government to another civillian government in the history of Nigeria, the gubernatorial and state houses of assembly elections were held this past Saturday. Some results are out, but most are not. A run down of the results are as follows:

State Governor-Elect Party
Abia Theodore Ahamefula Orji PPA
Akwa Ibom Godswill Akpabio PDP
Bayelsa Timipre Sylva PDP
Borno Ali Sheriff ANPP
Delta Emmanuel Uduaghan PDP
Ebonyi Martin Elechi PDP
Edo Osarhemen Osunbor PDP
Ekiti Segun Oni PDP
Gombe Danjuma Goje PDP
Jigawa Sule Lamido PDP
Kaduna Namadi Sambo PDP
Katsina Mohammed Shema PDP
Kogi Idris Ibrahim PDP
Kwara Bukola Saraki PDP
Lagos Babatunde Fashola AC
Nasarawa Aliu Akwe Doma PDP
Niger Babangida Aliyu PDP
Ogun Gbenga Daniel PDP
Ondo Segun Agagu PDP
Osun Olagunsoye Oyinlola PDP
Oyo Adebayo Alao - Akala PDP
Rivers Celestine Omehia PDP
Sokoto Magatakarda Wammako PDP
Yobe Mamman Ali PDP

Contrary to what INEC said as can be viewed here, piece meal results are the order of the day.
Looks that PDP has won most of the states as expected..... For states like Kano, there is so much furor and the results are yet to be announced. For Imo and Enugu States, the results were cancelled due to massive rigging.. hear them... alleged irregularities (yeah right!) In Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola(SAN), won the gubernatorial seat in a landslide defeat. As announced, Mr. Fashola polled 828,484 votes against the PDP candidate Musiliu Obanikoro who polled 389,088 votes. AC also won 27 House of Assembly seats.

In Rivers State, Celestine Omehia polled 1,85,217 out of the 2,038,726 votes cast. There was a lot of violence in the State with the burning down of police stations and the killing of policemen and civillians.
On to the Federal news and the real reason for the last public holiday, judgement is expected today for Atiku Abubakar's appeal to the Supreme Court today against INEC's (read OBJ's)decision to exclude him from the presidential race. His allegations? Corruption. Anyway, lets hear what the Supreme Court has to say.

I'll be back with more updates- hopefully!
Ciao!
`moni

Busy Monday

Hi people, its been a long moment since I posted anything up.... I really wasn't at my blogger-best last week, my duties doubled at the office and I really have a lot on my plate at the moment... maybe I should just delete my blog already!!!! Hmmmmn... not just yet!!!

So there was another Idols show yesterday, but let me back up for a bit... Last week, I'm sure y'all know that Joan was voted off... I thought she had a lot in her but well, it's the votes that count so there! I wish her all the best.....

Yesterday, we saw perfomances from Omawumi (‘Cry’ by Faith Hill), Jodie (‘These Words’ by Natasha Beddingfield), Eric (‘Walking Away’ by Craig David), Mercy (‘If I Ain’t Got You’ by Alicia Keys), Jerrilyn (‘Work it Out’ by Beyonce), Temitayo (‘I Turn To You’ by Christina Aguilera), Timi (‘Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me’ by Elton John) and Uche (‘Lonely No More’ by Rob Thomas)

My take on last nite's show

Overall, the Top 8 did Okay.... Omawumi sang a nice song and she did ok although there were moments where she didn't quite hit the high notes... I expect to see her next week though... Jodie was excellent as usual, I mean - she took the song apart and I loved her delivery. Eric swayed the srowd with his charm and good looks.... he also sang well... Mercy has upped her game and she sang better, but her facial experessions are such a distraction... for me, the thing she lacks the most is attitude... there's no telling if she'll stay or go though. Next up, Jerrilyn. Now, she sang a Beyonce number and dressed to type for the song... she also shook her booty so much!!! Anyway, I'm sorry to say that her perfomance didn't quite work;-) for me.... Temitayo sang a very difficult Christina Aguilera number and she did not impress me too much... I thought her overall perfomance was a bit flat and I did not feel the perfomance at all. Timi sang an Elton classic and brought it home... The guy was smoking fo sho! Last bu not least, Uche. He tried way too hard o! In my thinking, Uche has a smokey voice which has limited his music genre... not that the voice is bad, but it's special and he hould not be doing pop songs like that... I think he should stick to ballads and soul... my 2 cents o!

Here's a pix of the Top 8 for the record!

I'll be back with other issues later today, promise!

ciao!

`moni

Idols and other stories....

OK Peeps.... So Omodele Fatoki got dropped from the Idols game...Se says she saw it coming here...You may read more about the results show here... Now it's one down, nine more standing....She did well during her stay in idols...I wish her all the best in lifes' endeavours... She's only 19 and I think the only way she can get is better!!!

I saw this meme at Uzo's and decided to indulge myself cos it's been a whyl...


1. Yourself: Me
2. Your partner: Ace
3. Your hair: Nappy
4. Your mother: Awesome
5. Your father: Drama
6. Your favourite item: Nothing
7. Your dream last night: None
8. Your favourite drink: Malt
9. Your dream car: None
10. The room you are in: Office
11. Your ex: Awhoo?
12. Your fear: Fear
13. What you want to be in 10 years: Happy
14. Who you hung out with last night: Family
15. What you're not: Perfect
16. Muffins: Tasty
17: One of your wish list items: Baby
18: Time: Evening
19. The last thing you did: Work
20. What you are wearing: Clothes
21. Your favourite weather: Rain
22. Your favourite book: None
23. The last thing you ate: Dodo
24. Your life: Evolving
25. Your mood: Stable
26. Your best friend: Unsure
27. What you're thinking about right now: Home
28. Your car: Neat
29. What you are doing at the moment: Typing
30. Your summer: Here
31. Your relationship status: Married
32. What is on your TV: Dunno
33. What is the weather like: Cloudy
34. When was the last time you laughed: Today


That's all folks... Try this meme, it's fun!

`moni

Idols WA!

OK Fellas!! How was your weekend? HAPPY APRIL!!!!!!! The Top 10 of Idols West Africa performed yesterday..... The show was generally OK. It started of a bit slow, but picked off from about the middle of the show.
First a pix of the Top 10!


We heard songs from Temitayo, Mercy, Jerrylin, Joan, Omodele, Uche, Timi, Jodie, Eric and Omawumi, in that order. The songs they sang are as follows:

‘River Deep, Mountain High’ by Tina Turner (Temitayo)
‘I Have Nothing’ by Whitney Houston (Mercy)
‘Unbreak My Heart’ by Toni Braxton (Jerrilyn)
‘Save The Best for the Last’ by Vanessa Williams (Joan)
‘Here and Now’ by Luther Vandross (Omodele)
‘Used to Love You’ by John Legend (Uche)
‘Dance With My Father’ by Luther Vandross (Timi)
‘Natural Woman’ by Aretha Franklin (Jodie)
‘End of the Road’ by Boyz II Men (Eric)
‘Dance With Somebody’ by Whitney Houston (Omawumi)

My take:

I was generally impressed by Uche, Timi, Jodie, Eric and Omawumi. Suprisingly, they were the last 5 to perform. Uche impressed me because he gave a nice upbeat perfomance and I was one of those who did not believe in him from the very first. Well, lets' just say he made me believe in him. For Timi and Omawumi, I expected what i got from them and was not so surprised they did well... Good job! As for Eric, I know this guy has the looks and he can sing but I felt he knew what he was there for and he took his perfomance up a notch.... as for Jodie... That girl is dynamite! She can do her thing and do it well!

Now for the first half of the group Temitayo, Mercy, Jerrylin, Joan and Omodele - I would not say that they did not do well, but I think they could do better. Joan for one could easily be the last (wo)man standing but i felt she did not sing her heart out... the judges also told her the same. I hope she remains to prove her onions... Temitayo as usul gave a good perfomance Tina style, but as we all know, that kinda perfomance can take away your breath! Omodele sand in this nice husky voice; she didn'tr stsrt off too well, but picked up later and was generally ok, Jerrilyn was ok as well and Mercy had this look on her face like she was concentrating too much on getting her voice and forgetting to give a good perfomance! I think she doesn't carry herself too well, shes abt 6 ft 3 and she doesn't have the carriage i would have liked to see.

Overall, I would say whoever their clothiers are need to do better cos they were all similarly dressed, i.e same general style of strappy sandals and dresses and the make-up is like an attempt to make the gals all look the same... dem dey try sha o!

Tonight, there'll be news as per who's out... I'll be back with the results tomorrow then... meanwhile, i wish the Top 10 all the best of luck... Vote, vote, vote ppl! Ciao!

`moni