West African Idols: Season 1 (2007)

The judges have been making some inexplicable selections. Some really hot talents are being rejected while some average performers are being let through to the next round based on some really flimsy reasons. But we're sure of one thing though, Nana (the Ghanaian female judge) is definitely not a lesbian as she's been going nuts for the fine naija guys coming to show their stuff. She's judging, not with her eyes and ears, but with a part of her anatomy usually reserved for ,  well, not for judging musical talent. She appears to have beef for the lovely ladies with really powerful voices and keeps voting NO when the performer is female. But even the male judges have slipped at least once in this regard when they were completely overwhelmed by the electrifying presence of Titlayo Adelagun, whom you’ll remember as the main chic in the Freewindz video. She looked absolutely stunning as she did her average rendition of Evanescence’s My Immortal. Apparently, with such beauty whistling in their ears Dan Foster and Dede Mabiaku didn’t quite hear the flaws in her voice or in her delivery. But trust me, she does look threateningly like idol material if we were going by looks alone.
The Abuja auditions showed that more of the country’s singing talent is in the federal capital city. Hordes of great singers were turned away including six footer Somto, Hebrew-named Cyteka and the delightful 18 year old half caste Gina. A shocking selection for me was the 18 year old runt of a guy who’s going to be cannon fodder and comic relief when he gets to the next round. But the fact that he was chosen over some of the folks I’ve mentioned is a travesty indeed.

I watched some of the clips. The show is good no doubt but, why does that Dede guy have to do so much talking. instead of going straight to the topic he beats around the bush so much and usually he is just saying random stuff that doesn't even reinforce what the show is about.

I actually don't know what dede is all about but if i could recall from a few American idols & south african i've watched, I think there's usually one very though and mouthy person among the judges, then one linient one and one in between, i think thats what they are trying to copy, and I think the  guy kind of adds some juice to the prog and I don't think we should be totally pissed off with him, the ghana lady sometimes bases her judgements on very unreasonable and trivial issues, but above all the show is full of so much lafta and am already gettin addicted to it.
I laffed my head off today when I watched a guy dressed like an african babalawao(herbalist) and was just yarning rubbish in the name of singing, u guys needed to have seen it,the guy looked drunk or high and am sure he was maybe high on some weed or something else, he was over aged and he still kept yarning real crap.

@lawyerchap

good post.
I would like to meet nana though. She would surely like me 

@jummai

jummai, i am thinking here that i have met you in person, not quite sure though.
Do you know anybody by the name immanuel? 

True!  he's an attention seeker 

come did u see that babe
the one that did Shania Twain (from this moment)
28 & she still looks so young and beautiful
and you're rite,Nana rejected her. 

I think the most hilarious performance was by Chinwendu Onuorah the six-footer sista who looks so much like a model. Her rendition of Cher's 'Strong Enough' had me in stitches. She does sound quite a lot like Cher and she got my full marks for enthusiasm. But the judges got it right when they said no to her. Let's not get mad at Dede Mabiaku. Though i'm doubtful whether he has the musical credentials to sit on that panel, he does bring a certain something to the show. His presence is mildly threatening and sets the contestants ever so slightly on edge, which i think is a good thing because the Idol will need to be a supremely confident individual. He keeps spouting stuff about 'losing the essence of the value of your voice' which i'm sure sounds extremely knowledgeable to the contestants who only get to hear it once. But for us at home who have to hear it over and over again, after the fifth time it started to look like he was saying it to cover up for a lack of knowledge. Dan Foster is the most unpredictable of the judges, he's given some truly unexpected Yes votes and some shocking NOs. But i guess it all adds to the appeal of the show. Keep watching folks.

hello all,
been watchin d show n most say its quiet hilarious alot of crazy people comin to do der "tin" but as for the judges they didnt try guess because the beta people wer too expensive that is why dede,nana n dan was chosen but am ok wit dan but dede n nana are messed up did u see when they started arguin because of that sick lookin dude she said she was feelin damn!
dede is just an igbo smoker n doesnt know a talent when he sees one because of d type of songs he does infact hes not in anyway supos to tell anyone if hes on a rite note or slipin n he likes to impose his judgement on dan and nana.damn i can shoot d bro when i see him , hate that dude man.
dan is aight n tryin he talks to d contestants in a cool way don't try to discourage them n all that is good n comin from someone that aint naija dede shld bow his head in shame.
as4 nana, emmm shes ghanian so i'll let that go because we all know ghanians don't know wots up n she bera work on her own Diction before correcting others.galfriends got a thick lips one onie trice would like fuckin ho' 

ANY BODY!!  I repeat ANYBODY who coments on  DEDE   has an intense low IQ  .

DEDE is keeping the show  intresting   without him westafrican idol will be so boring.And for music>>>  he is very very good

Jummai not my fault. Just that i heard she was on nairaland too so i thought you were her.
No probs.


@topic

Dede actually makes it interesting with his funny & rude attitude. truly, without him there the program will be super boring

my wife and i have a laugh watching the auditions!!!!!! the ghanian chic,nana,is really so annoying, i can't stand her much, with her thick shiny upper lip.lol, dede is just another jerk.
but seriuosly,what lara from kush doing there?she's bigger than all this, someone should please whisper it into her ear, lol

I thot no f musician from a known gropup or so ever are allowed to be on the show.

Seun why didnt you got for the auditions to perform that your nairaland anthem song, lol that would have been a classic 

I agree with you i think the judges should have gone trough more training on how to select a contestant, not just by watching all other idol shows.

In the first south african idol simon cowell was there to see how they were doing they need preofessionals to assist them on what they are doing right and wrong. Because the true ones that can sing wont make it. luckily it would get to a stage where is is viewers choice then that makes more sense.

What a great idea!  I could have promoted Nairaland by singing that song so awfully.  Next year, we shall see. 

Am going to have to retract my post about Chinwendu Onuorah's rendition of Cher's 'Strong enough' being the most hilarious of the West African idols auditions. Last night i saw some spectacularly bad performances both from the contestants and the judges. There was Emily who delivered a horrific rendition of Avril Lavigne. She sounded like a parrot being sodomized and Nana wasted no time in telling her to give up on her dreams of singing. Though the performance was bad, i also feel that remark was unnecessarily cutting and could cause some serious damage to the young lady's psyche.

then there was six foot five Armstrong who did a song that had the judges cringeing yet he continued lustfully belting out his horrendous tune. When he was mercifully stopped Dede adopted a crying voice and asked him "we quarrel before you come here? you know me before? i know you before? you know my family? i know your family? so why are you punishing us like this? if you destroy my eardrums how will i hear what is happening outside? He rounded off the tongue lashing by remarking that Armstrong's height was the height of his stupidity. Even Dan and Nana visibly flinched when they heard that. As for Armstrong, he left with a promise to the judges that he would destroy as many eardrums as he could with his atrocious singing. That got a good laugh out of the judges and, i imagine, everyone else watching.

Pint sized Kingsley Ogbonna came to do a rendition of Michael Jackson's speechless. I was speechless by the time he was through. and so were the judges. It was unbelievably bad; you have to see this performance to believe it. Then Nana's mean streak came to the fore. She asked him to perform Billie Jean. Nothing prepared me for what came next. Wild gesticulations, garbled lyrics, comical moves, easily the worst performance of Billie Jean that will ever be seen in public.

Another pint sized diction-challenged contender called Kunle came with a serious attitude and a stunning H-Factor. Listen to him. Nana: Can i help you? Kunle: i heard about the Haidols competition and i came to become Mr Haidols. Dede mercilessly mimicked him and stopped just short of saying 'how many times have i told you to stop hemphasizing hon your h you hignorant hidiot?

Broderick and Ayodele came with original compositions that would probably be hits in Ajegunle but were so funny that i rolled off my settee with laughter. Obviously they both got rejected.

Sylvanus Bulechukwu was born in 1969. At 36 he was way out of the age range for the competition, but Dede allowed him sing just for the record. He was stunning in his performance. Stunningly bad. He delivered an original composition titled 'Money Good.' Duh. There are no words to describe that performance. it seemed to be a cross between spoken word, rap and prayer. there was no element of singing in that mix. there was also no iota of talent. Dede called him an Agbaiya and Dan helpfully translated that for us to mean Old Fool.

but the performance of the night for me was by a Jomo-Gbomo kinsman named Godspower Gentle. He did a remix of the popular Hymn "what shall i render?' But his rendition substituted 'render' with the Urhobo pronounciation 'nender.' That for me was the most hilarious performance. Please people, tell me you saw that performance. After the song he tried to flow waffi lingo with Dede who is from Warri by saying things like 'warri no dey carry last.' In this case warri carry last pieces, my guy.

The judges worst performances of the night were the robberies of beautiful Ezita who sang beautifully but was said to be singing nasally by dede., Palmira Mmerife who was stunning and on whom Dan delivered his most shocking NO to date and Tina who sang better than some people who went through to Planet 1. Dan also delivered another shocking No to Annette's superb performance, luckily she was saved by Dede and, unbelievably, Nana.

LOL, i saw the dude that was mimicking micheal jackson, believe me it was the saddest thingy i have seen in a while, and that was cruel of nana asking him to go on ahead and do that! and the guy from warri,what a laugh! what a laugh! i had a hard time sitting still whilst watching the guy sing, lol
in your opinion,which city has produced the worst audition see so far???