Bad belle people plenty for here o!.

Timi don win, ee don win. God bless the bobo give am better promotion. Follow am rejoice, no bad-mouth am. Na you be God wey go make am succeed or fail, ehn, Chukky?, answer me??

u people should always know that who ever i support wins, Timi deserves it in a million ways, but i think omawumi should be compensated well, i really felt for her that nite, she was overconfident, well its ended,

@ tng
i hope you ain't refering to Mustay cos he doesn't fan-hate!

HE DOES

@All,
people, people, can we all just get along? Yeah, Timi won and we're happy for him. Many congratulations to him. Truly he deserved to win it. That rich silky voice is just to die for. But that's all he's got going for him. Nothing else. For now at least. But who is to say that with the considerable resources available to an artiste signed on to Sony-BMG, Timi won’t turn into the next Tuface?

However, I maintain that Omawumi would have been the better Idol. Please note: I didn’t say she was the better singer, or the better performer. I said she would have been the better Idol. She is an artiste who is completely out of the box whereas Timi is pigeon-holed to ballads by this great voice of his. Trust me if it had come down to a choice by Sony-BMG, they would have picked Omawumi. I know Thabs has rolled out a litany of reasons why Timi would be the better idol from a marketing perspective, but I work in advertising and I can tell you that I can slap Omawumi onto a CD sleeve and people will buy the CD without having heard her sing a note. With Timi, they’d have to have heard of him to even look at the CD twice. Sex sells, especially with some talent involved and Omawumi has generous helpings of both.

And those last songs. They should have been made to sing the same song, like was done with American Idol where Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis both had to perform “This is my now” but I guess the producers wanted to spare someone that embarrassment. Picture this in your mind’s eye: Omawumi singing Timi’s “I love you”. You know she’d do a damn good job of it. But try and picture Timi doing Omawumi’s “You Got Me” and you’ll realize why Timi’s victory will leave a sour aftertaste for a long time to come.

But hey, he’s won it. Let’s give it up for King Timi. We wish him every success in his career as west Africa’s first Idol. Congrats Timi.

Hmmmm, LawyerChap, I was beginning to think you wouldn't show up. I agree with most of the points you made but I need to bring some other things to your notice. The Idols competition has been about brief impressions, and not what you really know how to do. There are people in the top 24 (Jarry, Ibitoru, Lara, David) and even in the top 10 (Jodie, Joan) who have better voices than Omawumi (and even Timi). In addition, some of those people will definitely sell albums more than any of them had they been the idol, and if it was SONY/BMG's choice, they would have chosen them over both Timi and Omawumi. But then what would be the use of the Idols show?
I believe the results were determined by consistency and who made the first impressions (as we know first impressions last longest - that's why Jodie won't be forgotten in a hurry). If Omawumi had started getting standing ovations earlier, she would probably have been the idol, but she had to wait until about 3 weeks to the finals before she started doing really well (remember she used to go off-key a lot during earlier performances). Note, Timi also did not get standing ovations from the start, he only started in the Top 8 but he did this earlier than Omawumi and he kept at it, and that helped him.

Sentiments also came into the voting process. I've heard views from lots of people and majority see Timi as a humble guy who would keep his sanity and not go wayward, however for Omawumi, people think it would have been a different story. If she had won, nobody would have recognized her in 6 months. She would have gone totally out of hand and we might soon be hearing scandalous stories. I believe that's why Dede warned her not to get carried away and gave them the advice he did when he was giving them his final words. (Omawumi did not even listen here, she was laughing and gisting with Mike Majik all through.)

Anyway, there are many schools of thought about the whole process. Timi does have flaws, but he won due to consistency and I'm glad he did because he deserved it the most.

One more thing, abeg Timi will be a lot better than TuFace. Tu What Come on, we can do better than that!

People sabi sing oh.

Some interesting thoughts there Lawyerchap, however, one thing, Timi won before he sang his final song.  The results were not based on his final song as results were already in.  That result as you know was not even close, as it was  63% to Timi.  I agree just looking at the cd cover, Omawumis face would sell more cd's, however, I know I don't buy a cd, without listening to a few songs, so face is unimportant.  Secondly,  the main reason I think Timi won, is he connected emotionally to the audience, for various reasons, one being that voice which for me affects me deeply.  and secondly, his sensitivity and humility won a lot of people over.   The difference with Omawumi is, .  she definitely impressed the audience the last few weeks, but did she connect?!

Been thinking about whether Omawumi would have done "I love you" as well as Timi and my honest, honest opinion, is a resounding NO. It goes back to that emotional connection thing, Timi's fans really LOVE him, It was easy for the fans there to sing back at him "I love you.". (because they meant it) When he sang to the crowd and the tv audience "I love you" they believed it. Timi has always thanked and been grateful for his fans. Every blog he ever wrote on the main board, he showed his humility and gratitude to his fans. They are devoted to him. They are affected by him for many reasons, the voice for one and something about him just makes you want to root for him. That song with that ad libbing he threw in to the judges, to the crowd, thanking everyone, was incredible.

One thing, this year and only one other time, (I think) on American Idol, they got the same song. On South African Idols and we have had 3, they always have diffeent songs for them to sing on the finals.

Emotional connection, exactly. That's one thing i forgot to add. Timi has always had it in him to connect with the audience. He practically "acts" the song and you feel like he's singing it to you. Omawumi, No! Omawumi does not appeal to people's emotions the way Timi does. Her strengths lie more in fast songs which allow her to move her body and dance up and down. She probably should have stuck to that. Another that didn't work for me was her attempts at doing every genre possible even when it wasn't in her to do those genres.

Come to think of it, Omawumi's single was actually quite technical than Timi's and she probably sang it better, but it's not just about the singing. It's about delivery and connection. After the show, I could vividly remember the words and melody of Timi's song while I couldn't even remember Omawumi's. It's just the ability to connect to the audience. Plain simple.

Well

Dont even Bring Christian into this deal

Timi has compromised his Christianity!!!

Tuface can't be compared;he's just too ORIGINAL!
@9ja4eva- He DOESN'T!

@ chukky 76. You dey vex oh!! Ok make i rewind evrything<<<<<<<<<< And the winner of the west African idol season 1 issss OMAWUMMI!!!! (are u satisfied now).

Laughing

@ Lawyerchap

I disagree with you that Omawumi woulda been a better idol. Internationally(Yeah) but West-Africans will buy more than 80% of the album and Omawumi's stuff ain't what they want.

kaydee:

@ Lawyerchap

I disagree with you that Omawumi woulda been a better idol. Internationally(Yeah) but West-Africans will buy more than 80% of the album and Omawumi's stuff ain't what they want.

@Kaydee
What is Omawumi's stuff? We all conclude that Omawumi's genre-hopping displays of versatility undermined her ability to define her sound throughout the competition. Yet we now presume to know what her "stuff" is? Here is an immensely talented artiste with a clearly demonstrated ability to perform music from any genre yet we know for a fact that west africans don't want her "stuff"? Kaydee, whats up? There's a whole department of over-compensated executives at Sony-BMG whose sole purpose in life is to study the demographics of a target market and determine what kind of music they will probably buy. Then there's a whole raft of songwriters who will churn out these songs and leave them to Omawumi to do. The point of this explanation is to show that if Omawumi had become the Idol, she would have been able to put out exactly what the target demographic wanted. It was the basis of her strategy to show that she was comfortable in any genre of music and so would have been able to work with whatever material she would be given. But no, being a continent of simpletons we misinterpreted that as an identity crisis. We have absolutely no idea what Omawumi’s “stuff” is. For her, her “stuff” would be anything we wanted it to be. But suffice to say that those who would have decided on what the market wanted would have found a truly capable performer in Omawumi.

Icon:


Come to think of it, Omawumi's single was actually quite technical than Timi's and she probably sang it better.

Thought i was the only one who noticed. There really was no basis for comparison between both songs. Why timi's seemed to resonate better with the audience? See reference to "continent of simpletons" above. It's why some people are stuck on Nollywood movies yet can't appreciate the profound plot twists in a hollywood blockbuster. And lets not go the ridiculous route of patriotism, because quality should be objective, not subjective.

thabs:

Been thinking about whether Omawumi would have done "I love you" as well as Timi and my honest, honest opinion, is a resounding NO.

@Thabs,
I notice you used the word "honest" twice. If you keep saying that to yourself long enough, you might actually believe it someday. But note that i didnt say she would have performed it better than Timi. I said she would have done a damn good job of it. But now you mention it, emotional connection aside, Omawumi's version of Timi's "I Love You" if recorded on a CD will most likely sound better than Timi. Just my opinion.

omawumi is a concieted, arrogant jackass who needs a reality check. WE MAKE YOU GREAT b****h. I'm glad Timi won

@
lawyerchap
please do you have paris hiltons album.Face or your beauty wont sell your CD the stuff its made of will.Take SEAL for an example.

myro:

omawumi is a concieted, arrogant jackass who needs a reality check. WE MAKE YOU GREAT b****h. I'm glad Timi won

That was uncalled for. It's way out of line.

lawyerchap:

Here is an immensely talented artiste with a clearly demonstrated ability to perform music from any genre yet we know for a fact that west africans don't want her "stuff"?

Lawyerchap, I disagree with you again here. She has no "clearly demonstrated ability to perform from any genre". She bit off more than she could chew a couple of times. There are some songs you shouldn't attempt to do "Live" or without backup singers. An example is "I can't live without you baby" by MJB. Another one was the Bob Marley Song. The third one is Christina's "Ain't no other man". She didn't demonstrate any ability here. The delivery was poor. She went off key during the rap in the Bob Marley song. Christina's song was too fast for her and she was barely audible. MJB's song, no comments. For me, these were wrong choices and if she selected them just so she could prove her versatility, then she made a mistake. If she were to record those songs in the studio, it would probably have sounded better. If I were a producer picking based on song choices, those choices would automatically have put me off. The impression she intended wasn't created.
Timi's song choices were mostly good choices which brought out the best in his voice. That's what the competition was all about. Not choosing songs and trying to force yourself to sing them. It's all about making brief impressions. Of course there were people who could sing lots better than the two of them , so it's not so much about the singing. It's about what impression you can create within a short time. That's one thing Timi knew how to do, and Omawumi couldn't do as well as Timi.

Nobody is disagreeing with the fact that if you had never heard of either of them, Omawumi's cd cover would appeal to a buyer more.  I think I mentioned before, cannot go back and read 20 pages of this thread, but the whole genius of Idols is exactly that it gives someone who would never normally have made it into the industry because of not having great looks a chance. i.e. Ruben Studdard, Clay Aiken, Fantasia, Taylor Hicks,  Taylor tried for years to get a record deal, but with his gray hair he looked 10 years older.   Do you know Kelly Clarkson stood outside a record label many years ago and would not leave till they let her sing, and until Idols she could not get signed to a record deal. .  One of the reasons people love Kelly, besides her voice, is her girl next door persona.   Clay Aiken, before his make over was really an awkward nerd, he admits it himself.  That is part of the appeal they have for the audience.  People identify with them because they are ordinary and even an underdog.  Jordin Sparks is beautiful, but she is not threatening to young girls because she is a little overweight.  Carrie Underwood is beautiful but the story they painted of her was a country girl, never left her little hometown and is now appearing on stage.  Truth was she had entered contests before, but you will generally notice there is a story around every winner and those that come somewhere near the top.  Chris Daughtry, was portrayed as the rocker guy, but married to someone whose children he adopted, so was this nice nonthreatening good guy and a great husband.  Ruben was the harmless overweight  velvet teddy bear.  Clay, was  the guy who was originally a nerd, no one would have given him time of day,  but turned into a hearthrob for young girls and older ladies who actually had a crush on him or those that wanted to take care of him and protect him.    Timi is the humble guy,  seems a  tough childhood,  not particularly good looking,   but with raw talent who some people, also wanted him to get a "break" and  who ordinarily would not have been taken notice of by the "record labels.   The people record executives  sign are generally the marketable georgeous package.  The record industry what with downloading is in huge trouble. That is why Idols has been so successful worldwide, the public get the chance to vote and choose their Idol, someone who for whatever reason, connects with them. There have been countless articles  done on why Idols make people so passionate about their Idols.   You root for them, you vote for them, you then want to prove to yourself and  others right that they did or did not win, so you buy their cd's, vote for them on polls, support them however you can.  It creates a certain loyalty and devotion.  Carrie, Kelly, Chris are three of the biggest cd sellers for their label in the last few years.

I do think the main reason why Omawumi was not going to win, she was in the bottom 3 many times.   There was one week, where all three judges predicted she would leave.  She had her fans, sure, but towards the end she picked up other fans (who were previous contestants fans).  Those, that she then picked up,  therefore liked her, but were not passionate fans.  Timi was never in the bottom three, so he had a larger core dedicated fanbase.  In Jordin's case (this years American Idol winner) this worked for her, because she ultimately picked up Melinda's fans (she was a front runner for many weeks and had a large fanbase and she picked up Lakisha's fanbase) who once they were voted out, their fans transferred their votes to her.   Besides which, Jordin was never in the bottom three.  Not to say, you can't win and be in the bottom three, the year Fantasia won, she was actually in the bottom three one week. But, as I say, she was up against Timi, who  I actually think and could be wrong, that Timi was the lead vote getter most weeks.  He probably also benefitted by picking up Eric's voters.   

There has never or will ever be an Idol, Actor, Actress, Singer or entertainer,  who everyone agrees on.  Not possible.  That is why you have fan wars going on all the time.  Britney Spears fans hated Christina Aguilera, because many years ago they were considered rivals.  There are many Britney Spears hate sites,  where their entire mission is to run every thing she does or say down.  There are a lot of artists that have the same thing "hate sites" and well as fan sites.    It seems ludicrous to spend hours watching everything an artist you claim to hate, and then spend hours running them down, but that is what they do. 

To sum up Omawumi may well still  be very successful, she may even be more successful than Timi.  Time will tell.  Daughtry from last year has sold 5 times the cd's Taylor Hicks has from his album.  It is getting radio play non stop and that in turn creates sales.   Clay Aiken was the runner up and has outsold Ruben on all three cds they have both released.    However, Carrie and Kelly as winners have way outsold their runner-ups.  It all depends on the cd they make, whether your fan base supports you,  and sometimes,  you just need a good song, which gets played on radio which helps you to pick up new fans and  to make you a success. 

@ Lawyerchap.

Just to sum up, I did not need to say "honestly" twice to convince myself, I was convinced from the minute Timi opened his mouth to sing.     I have been blown away by Timi from the beginning and have  never denied being an ardent  Timi supporter.   For me, he was the very best.  I love his performance style, I love his voice, he stirs something inside of me. He connects with me.   


I have watched every Idols show 6 in America, three in South Africa and two UK pop Idols  and really  enjoy the shows, but I have only ever supported, become a fan of  and posted about two people.  One being Timi.

If we all agreed on everything and had the exact same taste, how boring life would be.!!

yes pls

Wow, Thabs, that was quite breath-taking. You do know your Idols history. Have never followed American Idols myself. I think most of your points are valid. Why is it that it's after the show is over that this thread starts getting interesting? Anyway, I've really enjoyed all our contributions so far and I like the fact we're doing it without hating on anyone. Cheers.

KAYDEE i'mactually aware that jodie had a better voice than omawunmi, or rather a clearer and more powerful voice, but that doesnt necessarily translate to better so don't tell me i don't.and please u've known me long enough (as the internet goes) to say i was deceived by omawunmi's sexuality.
like i said the average nigerians are in love with mediocrity and wouldnt know good music if it came down and sang a lullaby.
lawyerchap mirrored my impressions perfectly.
we are a continent of simpletons who decide to interpret versatility as a minus . and now we claim to know her stuff?

and ladebiXL have you actually listened to paris hiltons album? please remove  your sentiments for hating her as a spoiled rich kid, that album is a pretty good album. the only down side is we all know she would have the strenght in her voice to perform live but don't kid yourself, i have the album and it a damn good effort for any artiste, how much more a spoiled rich kid.

i'm not hating on timi. i just kow and i said it before and lawyerchap concurred

OMAWUNMI WOULD HAVE MADE A BETTER IDOL.

@myzo did omawumi ever dump ya?

@kaydee. I totally agree with you. Her cd will only sell in west Africa particularly Nigeria. Plus you cant get tired of listening to soulful music. Omawummi is obviously not the soulful type. (i'd confortably say timi's voice fits right there in the soulful category).

Yes ke!

Can someone give me the link to the pictures of the contestants or a video of the competition where possible?

@ mazia

To  see performances go to west africa idols (say google) and then link on to west africa idols, once opened,  then link on the top of the page near the right  to "video gallery" or "image gallery" to see pictures, or search www.youtube.com, then type in west africa idols and you will see some of the performances.

Icon:

Lawyerchap, I disagree with you again here. She has no "clearly demonstrated ability to perform from any genre". She bit off more than she could chew a couple of times. There are some songs you shouldn't attempt to do "Live" or without backup singers. An example is "I can't live without you baby" by MJB. Another one was the Bob Marley Song. The third one is Christina's "Ain't no other man". She didn't demonstrate any ability here. The delivery was poor. She went off key during the rap in the Bob Marley song. Christina's song was too fast for her and she was barely audible. If she were to record those songs in the studio, it would probably have sounded better. If I were a producer picking based on song choices, those choices would automatically have put me off. The impression she intended wasn't created.

@Icon
Finally you've given me a post i can be disappointed in. How can you say "She has no clearly demonstrated ability to perform music from any genre"? You begin by saying this, and then go on to acknowledge that if she were to record those songs in the studio they would sound better? Duh! Was she ever going to just sing on stage, slap the songs on a cd and proceed to market? Of course she was always going to record her songs in a studio, (where, as Thabs informed us, anyone can sound good.) Have you watched Christina Aguilera's unplugged performance of that song? It is not much better than Omawumi's. Also, did you see Beyonce and Jennifer Hudson's performance during the last Grammy awards? They both went off-key albeit for fractions of a note, but they went off nonetheless. I concede that Omawumi went off-key on the rap in the Bob Marley number, but I'm sure we can excuse a "greenhorn" like Omawumi for reaching for excellence and going a bit off key. And i just listened to the Christina Aguilera song again. Icon, she nailed that song like a professional carpenter. The mistake we're all making is holding a live performance up against a studio performance that has had the benefit of Pro Tools, and i think that's unfair. As for you could barely hear her on that song, something had to have been wrong with the sound at your end. I heard her very well indeed. The beat did threaten to get ahead of her vocals at a point but she caught up nicely. By the way, we know who the champion is at going off-beat, and he happened to still win Idols, so big-deal.
Producers are not looking at song choices, because everyone knows that (internationally at least) they will more often than not supply the material the artiste works with. They are looking at quality of voice, marketability, etc. Listening to a performer on stage, a producer instinctively knows how she will sound in a studio, so whatever flaws may emerge in the live performance are of little consequence.
As for not creating the impression intended, except you meant that in reference to yourself, you're just plain wrong.

hype:

@kaydee. I totally agree with you. Her cd will only sell in west Africa particularly Nigeria. Plus you can't get tired of listening to soulful music. Omawummi is obviously not the soulful type. (i'd confortably say timi's voice fits right there in the soulful category).

@Hype
Is that what Kaydee said? Kaydee meant that Timi's album would be more successful in West Africa than Omawumi's "stuff". I wonder on what side that puts you now? Personally, i think Omawumi is more international in outlook and we could have stunned the world with her. Timi wll be more successful locally and perhaps in the sub-region. Why? Say it with me: We're a Continent of simpletons.

ladebiXL:

@
lawyerchap
please do you have paris hiltons album.Face or your beauty wont sell your CD the stuff its made of will.Take SEAL for an example.

@ladebiXL
Incidentally, i do. And i bought it because i liked the cover art and because i wanted to see what the spoiled rich girl would do with music. I was pleasantly surprised by the album. If you are open minded, lighthearted and actually like to have fun, you will love the album.
There are alot of dance and pop gems on this album perfect for a day at the beach or a party. Get rid of your pre-conceived notions and give her a chance. Buy the album now that you know she's not just a pretty face.

oma is my girl , anyday anytime