After a fierce struggle by candidates from throughout the country, the Nigerian Idol Season eight (8) judges have chosen the top ten best performing constants.
After a tough discussion and the ultimate verdict of Theatre Week, the live event sponsored by Multi Choice will commence on Sunday, May 28 2023.
During the final day of Theatre Week, the judges chose 10 competitors from a pool of 29 great vocalists who have what it takes to perform live for the audience’s votes.
Although it was an emotional rollercoaster as candidates sought to bring their A-game while performing to clinch their position in the top 10, criticism has dogged the selection of these singers who will appear on the live event.
The top 10 contenders emerged after a hard struggle that began with thousands of aspirants and decreased to hundreds before reaching the final ten.
Blossom, Abraham, Quest, Chisom, Savvy Henry, Constance, Precious Mac, Victory, Ose Daniel, and Goodness are the ten contenders who advanced after the fight.
The public will select who advances to each week of the tournament and ultimately who wins the edition beginning on Sunday.
Fans of the program, however, have expressed worry that one of the judges, Simi, has been oppressing the other judges with her biased judgment.
The eviction of the twins has sparked further controversy, since several fans were certain that they would make it to the top 10.
It was noted that both Obi and Dbanj had identical views on artists who should not be kicked out, but Simi’s decision eclipsed theirs.
This sparked a social media uproar.
Here are some comments gathered from Facebook:
Lovelyne Balogun Momodu, ”I noticed that the people that Simi likes, always tells them I love the way u sing, I just love your voice, they all make it, who else noticed? So the bottom line is na only Simi get final say for all this matter which is not suppose to be.”
John Kennedy Chiagozie, ”Congratulations to them but I must be honest with you, the idea of using the same judges on every season is building nepotism and monopoly.
“Some participants that did so well especially in duet will be sent home while the obviously poor performer will be absorbed for reasons best known to the judges especially Simi. Her ideology of judgement is unprofessional; she allows her emotion to judge rather than her logical acumen.
Sąm Frėdďy, ”I feel like Simi’s judgement on the Nigerian Idol show is VERY biassed sometimes. If you’ve noticed, she seems threatened and intimidated by good singers with potential to be better than her. It’s almost like seeing budding stars scares her for the future. Nigerian Idol is NOTHING to write home about in terms of verdicts from the judges. Most of the time, it feels like they judge based on their EMOTIONS AT THE MOMENT, rather than professional conduct.
”If you’re a lady who sings better than Simi, you are in trouble. If your voice is soft and mild and able to hit high notes like her, she likes you already. And if you’re a good-looking guy, fresh from the oven but unable to sing that good, don’t even bother yourself because Simi will give you a straight pass after eyeing and lusting after you all through your performance.”
Apeks Ugee, ”I Wasn’t happy. Iyanu was better than most of the top 10 there. I think Simi needs to clear her view well on the selection process.”
Lovelyne Balogun Momodu, ”Mina (one of the twins) deserves to be in top 10, even obi and Dbanj said it but because Simi did not agree,he was sent home.
“His performance was top notch; it’s still painful that beautiful talents that were supposed to be in the show were sent home.”
Chinonye Bacelia Offor, ”Shebi you people complained of Sheyi Shay last year because she was laughing at singers who performed awfully. Now, they’ve given us Margaret Thatcher, AKA madam I’m too hard to impress, AKA Simi. I miss Sheyi Shay, she was better, at least she gave fair judgements.”
Ngozi Joy Michaels, ”Simi is causing more harm on this show .She’s sending professional singers home and choosing her favourite. She doesn’t know we are watching her. Say No to Simi next season. IK please take note.”
Astral Hopelyn, ”Simi is making this season annoying; she is always negative with the best singers and keeps people who should have left.”
Ponfa Mamshal, ”90% of the judges verdict is so terrible & unprofessional. Simi is a No for me this season. Always making me angry. She negatively influenced Obi & Dbanj with the spirit of follow follow on whatever she says whether true or false.”
Abel Moses said, ”From my observation, I think there is a reason why Simi has a stronger voice among the 3 judges.
”First, as a lady, the other two are a bit careful. They don’t want it to look like they are muscling her. Again, she is a professional singer. I think she studied music-related course, so the other two will always respect that, plus the fact that she is a good singer.
”The third aspect is the fact that maybe the organisers may have divided their roles and it seems Simi is stronger when it comes to the actual singing. She must have been given the task of judging the voice. Maybe Obi and Dbanj have minimal roles to play in the aspect of the voice. One takeaway is that the outcome of the entire show will be a verdict on the performance of the judges.”
