They are both Nigerians. Check. They are female – of course. Check. They both sing – with national (may be continental) hits to their names. Double-check. They are both part of the new crop of young and talented Nigerians who are creatively breaking all the rules to leave the country with a sweet taste. Triple-check!

But that is where their similarities end.
.............................................................................

Where Goldie (the musician) is heavily-enamoured with mascarrared lashes and Barbie doll looks reminiscent of Lady Gaga, J’odie’s only claim to outrageous outlook is a pretentious, Bohemian-styled dreadlocks. She sounds like a cross between Angelique Kidjo and Des’ree.

From a safe distance, I have admired Goldie’s music since she smashed onto the scene. I am not wowed by her style (trust me, only a few musicians in the world have that effect on me!), but her tenacity and drive were never in doubt, quickly establishing her as one of the most hardworking entertainers this corner of Africa. Even her reality show on television whipped me from my aloofness and made me pay attention. But not for long: my odeshi re-inforced on the premise that it was just another publicity stunt by her managers! A smart one, though. Perhaps, she leveraged on this to represent Nigeria at the last Big Brother Africa.

J’odie, on the reverse side, came to national attention at the only West African Idol show. She and Timi Dakolo were the stand-out singers, but Omawumi proved to be an ace, and is still going places. My dear J’odie was voted out at the only live show I attended. She took it well. And invested her time into the art of making jewellery, and found time to still do her music. Her Zouk-flavoured Kuchi Kuchi (Ooh baby) is loved by all acorss the world.

And that brings me to the reason for this write-up.

I am a music buff (I can say that, right?). My kind of music has never stopped to weird my friends out. Read the list and feel free to go weird: Michael Card, Richard Marx, Strunz & Farah, Ringo Madlingozi, Salif Keita, Youssou N’dour, Jean-Luc Ponty, Fally Ipupa, Des’ree, Julio Iglesias, Marc Anthony and Yanni.

Ehen, now you will understand if my favourite Nigerian musicians are Jeremiah Gyang, Asa and Bez. Of course, that is why I’d pick J’odie over Goldie any day.

While I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Goldie in person, J’odie is a personal friend. We have shared jokes, ideas, and even friends. (Ogecha, say something!) I get protective of my friends.

So, here I was last week, scrolling through a friend’s phone looking for songs to steal, when I saw ‘Kuchi Kuchi’. I hailed my friend for her musical taste and started playing the song. But she hissed, saying: “I don’t like her anymore since she disgraced Nigeria on Big Brother Africa!”

It hit me like a bullet! Did J’odie go to the BBA House at anytime? If she did, which seemed preposterous, what did she do that was so shameful? Then, it hit me: she was talking about Goldie!

Phew. Relief. J’odie is not Goldie. Remove music, and they are at antipodes. As far apart as Casablanca is from The White House!

But…

We should not even judge Goldie (the person) based on her display in BBA. If anything, it helped demystify and humanise her personality and taught me a vital lesson: behind those designer shades and clothes our celebrities often wear in public, we will most certainly find fragile, insecure persons with all the human frailties we so easily display daily.

So which 1 f them is dead?

GOLDIE

Dreal1247: So which 1 f them is dead?

the ugly one amoung the 2......
@ follygab: thanks for the information