FROM her audition in Benin City, up
till the point she made it to Lagos
for the show proper, no one
would have tipped 8-year old
dancer Amarachi Uyanne for
Nigeria’s Got Talent show top
prize. With strong contenders
such as Rapper Chuka, DJ Nath,
the Expendables, Dr. Bariyu,
Impulse (an acapella group from
Port Harcourt), dancer
extraordinaire, Boniface Ukeme
and Toke in the finals, the
primary-five pupil from Igbodo,
Delta State was never in the big
picture.
Following her impressive run in the
competition, Amarachi emerged
from a cast of 10 finalists, which
was later reduced to six, and
then four. Through votes from
viewers, the list was finally
trimmed down to three, with the
little dancer included. As they
stood on stage, waiting for the
final verdict from the judges, the
palpable tension that had built up
finally gave way to a rapturous
ovation, dancing and celebration
when the show host, Andre Blaize
announced Amarachi the winner.
With this achievement, the Delta
State native has become the
youngest non-inheritor millionaire
in Nigeria, having broken the
previous record set by Solomon
Ebuka Nwanke Ubani, who became
a millionaire at age 20.
An elated Amarachi, who had a
brief chat with the media shortly
after receiving her cheque,
promised to use part of the
money to support orphans, as
well as pursue her long dream of
becoming a medical doctor.
“I’m shocked because I didn’t see
this happening to me. I am
grateful to God for giving me the
passion and the energy and for
also blessing me with a gift that
has made me known to the world.
I’m also deeply grateful to Airtel
and Rapid Blue Format because
without them, I would not be
here. I want to help orphans with
the money, and also for the
education of my two siblings as
well as mine,” the young dancer
said.
The grand finale at the OMG
Studio, Ikeja, was loaded with
energy and entertainment,
featuring performances and
special appearances by some of
Nigeria’s entertainers such as
rapper Skales, Niyola and Dammy
Krane, while poet Sage spiced the
evening with spoken word.
The fight for the big prize began
with the 10 finalists nervously
waiting to hear who would make
it to the top three. Amarachi,
Godwin and Jess & Ogeh were
announced as the three vying to
take home the grand prize. Jess &
Ogeh gave yet another
spectacular ballet performance,
but Godwin Ogechukwu’s
mastery of the violin provided
some stiff competition. Amarchi
displayed incredible talent and
danced her way to victory,
triumphing over ballet dancers
Jess & Ogeh and violinist Godwin
Ogechukwu. With her unique
blend of cheeky dance moves and
enthusiastic energy, the crowd
had no option than sing her
praises.
In his remarks, the Chief Executive
Officer and Managing Director,
Airtel Nigeria, Rajan Swaroop
assured that Airtel Nigeria was
committed to creating platforms
that would help to discover and
nurture talented Nigerians to
stardom, just as he expressed
satisfaction over the
organisation of the NGT.
www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=107570:nigerias-got-talent-fleet-footed-amarachi-becomes-nigerias-youngest-millionaire-&catid=74:arts&Itemid=683

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