BIG show of last weekend was the grand finale of Amstel Malta Showtime held at Harbour Point, Victoria Island, Lagos.The event paraded such top Nigerian entertainers as P Square, Wizkid, Ice Prince, Buchi, among others. It also featured a talent contest for up-an-coming acts who competed in performing art categories such as singing, comedy and dance. Contestants in the comedy category comprised Parrot, Moses, and Aderombi Adedayo. The dance segment served, Hilary, Anastasia and Jesse Akinwande, while the singing category had, Baba, Tee K and Sandra Orioha.Compere was, Dare Art-Alade. In his usual manner he set the tone of the event with his own musical performance. To the delight of the audience, he served a thrilling show with his songs E No Mean Say, Ba Ni Kidi to the admiration of all. With his backup dancers, all young ladies, the R&B star had a memorable moment before he introduced what to expect for the night.Promptly contestants filed in for the comedy segment of contest. The contenders were the finalists from preliminary competitions held across the country. According to Art-Alade every contestant was given three minutes to sell his or her art to the audience whose votes retained or eliminated the acts after every round of presentation.Parrot started the comedy category with his jokes which came mostly in pidgin language. He tried obviously to get the audience laughing but could not really achieve the frenzy he craved. His presentation paved way for another new act, Moses. The young man tried cajoling the audience with his jokes with some level of success. Then came Adedayo who distinguished himself with the content of his gybes and the way he served them. He not only rendered his in English language, his comportment on stage, like an established act's, was what marked him outAdedayo won beating Moses and Parrot and was immediately crowned the winner by audience vote. For the victory, he went home with N100,000 shopping voucher, a weekend for two at Five Point by Sheraton, Lagos, and a laptop computer. Moses who came second received shopping voucher of N50,000, while the third, Parrot got a shopping voucher worth N25,000.In the dance category, Hilary who came from Owerri opened the floor with his performance of several dance forms, mostly acrobatic. Next dancer, Anastasia, 25-years also tried to capture the hearts of the audience, but the presentation of the slim young dancer, Jesse Akinwande who was dressed in all red won the audience from his first body movement. That gave him the day. Same worth of prizes as in comedy were given to the trio in dance.Last set to climb the stage were the finalists in the singing category. And Ms Orioha, from Calabar, stole the show. With her guitar, the girl from Canaan City rocked the show and serenaded the audience as she sand beautifully to the lyrics and rhythm of American pop singer, Jordin Sparks in the number, One Step at a Time. Second performer, act, a fashion designer and music student at Musical Society of Nigeria (MUSON), Lagos sang a remix of J Martins' Ada Owerri. Tee K also came on, sang and danced in remarkable manner. But the audience, eventually, gave the top prize to Orioha with Tee K coming second while Baba got the third position.In line with the Amstel Malta Showtime tradition of creating opportunities for winners in every category to perform with an established act. Akinwande who won the dance contest got the opportunity to perform with the group, Dance Na The Mine Thing. And he really proved his worth as a winner as he danced several dance styles with the dance group.Adedayo shared the stage with stand-up comedian Buchi and they both thrilled the audience with loads of jokes.As if the thrills were not enough, Ice Prince took the show to another height with his popular songs Oleku and Super Star which set the hall ecstatic.Wizkid made a surprise appearance on stage. As the group Dance Na The Main Thing were performing a figure wearing face mask emerged amid them. When the mask was removed, it was Wizkid. And the whole hall erupted in yells: 'Wizzy!' 'Wizzy!' His song My Baby, Super Star was well received. And he served it with good sense of stage art. Deep into the performance, he moved into the crowd, combing up fans and refrains as the number went on. But highpoint of the show was the celebration of the 31st birthday of twin star acts, Peter and Paul Okoye (P Square). Being their birthday, the twin brothers climbed the stage and performed their hearts out to a very excited audience. From the moment they dropped their first song, the crowd rose on its feet and all were already singing and dancing to the rhythm. The duo performed with Orioha, winner in the singing category.The award-winning group had their hands full with entertaining lyrics and body movement as they held the crowd spellbound with the stunning performance that reaped cheers, shouts and sweaty dance as the whole hall called and responded to their very popular songs. P Square served both new and old numbers from their repertory.Speaking after the event, brand manager of the Amstel Malta beverage drink, the sponsors of the Amstel Malta Showtime, Mrs. Adedoyin Owotomo, expressed satisfaction at the conclusion of the nationwide auditions and competition. She described the final show as a wonderful experience in all the locations that the train visited. 'But I can say that the Lagos edition was the climax.'Owotomo hinted the reason behind organising the event was to provide opportunity for discovering aspiring superstars and budding talents. 'We used this event as a medium to give aspiring entertainers a platform to display what they have got in terms of natural talents,' she said.Amstel Malta Showtime kicked off in Owerri in August with M.I, Ice Prince and Jesse Jagz of the Chocolate Boiz fame as well as the Na Abani a crooner, Flavour in attendance. It later went to Abuja and Enugu before the grand finale in Lagos.
Click here to read full news..
