The battle for Nigerian Idol top spot begins as the top 30 battle it out

The third season of the ever popular music reality show, Nigerian Idol is up to a promising start as the show enters the top thirty stage. This stage will see ten contestants battle it out every week for three weeks and then a wild card show with some of the old contestants given the opportunity to make it into the next stage of the show. Twelve in total will emerge victorious and go on to the core elimination stage of the show.

Fan favourite and Afrobeat Legend Femi Kuti is unavoidably absent as he is on tour outside the country but he is ably represented by Naeto-C who in his first appearance on the show played the bad guy by drilling the contestants. He however mentioned that it was only to gear them to step up their game in the competition.

The Head of Events and Sponsorship, Etisalat Nigeria, Modupe Thanni said that she was impressed with the level of talent that the competition had to offer, stating that the competition will be even stiffer than the previous editions. She also added that Etisalat as a proud supporter of the aspirations of youths is supporting the competition in an even bigger way this season.

The first ten of the top thirty saw return contestant Obinna Michael AKA Mr. Byno making it to the top thirty stage of the competition. Speaking on his progress, he said, “Making it to this stage is not a small feat, there were many talented contestants but it is my hope this year that I would progress past this point in this season”. Contestants performed songs of their choice by foreign artistes in a bid to show their skills before the Judges.

Afrobeat legend and Nigerian Idol Judge, Femi Kuti, was unavoidably absent from the show but was ably represented by Naeto-C as well as his fellow Judges, Yimka Davies and Jeffry Daniels. Speaking on the performances, Jeffry Daniel advised the contestants to focus more on their vocal skills and less on their showmanship as the show was about finding the best singer.

This season is bigger and better as winner will go home with N20 million worth of prizes, including N7.5 million in cash, a brand new SUV, and a recording contract with a record label. The first runner–up will receive the sum of N1.5 million and a saloon car which will be presented by Etisalat. The show airs on STV, NTA network and AIT.