Idols West Africa - Goodbye Joan!

Another week has gone by, another Sunday group of presentations, another mass of SMS & web votes, another Monday set of results and finally, another Idol contestant goes home. This time it was 27 year old Joan Ekpai who got the least votes ... and had to say goodbye to the Idols West Africa competition. She performed Kasey Cisyk's "You light up my life" which she performed with great voice talents, but little to go by way of performance, and the judges didn't waste words in showing their displeasure at that. For Joan, it's been some journey, from the auditions (where she blew the minds of the judges) through all the performances and finally to her last performance in the top 9. Her voice is a unique one and so far, she has displayed the highest pitch out of all the lady contestants. She had this to say during her Exit Interview "I believe the public has the final say. I won’t say they have not made the right choice. Thank you [the public] very much for bringing me this far. Watch out for me". I'll be watching, and I hope to see her soon.

This week, the contestants were made to choose songs in line with the theme "Golden Oldies"... and frantically speaking, their performances were not up to par at all. They all just barely managed to pull it through. It only confirms how "new age" our generation has become. The best performances for me were Uche's "Unforgettable" by Nat King Cole and Jodie's with Aretha Franklin's "Respect". Uche did a Nat King Cole song and for those who know Nat King Cole, you'll realize this is no easy feat. He drove the crowd crazy when he pulled out a red rose during his performance and handed it over to a ecstatic female fan in the audience. Unknown to him though (and ironically), the lady is Temitayo George's sister and she handed the rose to her sister during her performance! For Jodie, it was "As Usual". She's the only performer who has drawn a standing ovation from the judges every time she performs and I can safely say she has no rival in the top 10. She delivered with an expertise I've not seen in the competition.

This time, it seemed Timi had learned his lesson. He kept his notes within range and wasn't screaming toward the end of his song like he usually did. Taking the classic "Ain't no mountain high enough" by Diana Ross, he showcased his performance and stage skills and got the crowd screaming. Omawumi was remarkable too. For the first time, she took a slow song, and for the first time, we heard her voice. Her start-off was wonderful and I was wondering why she had been hiding behind fast songs, but it stopped "werking for me" when she went off key after the modulation. She found her way back soon after though, and this was remarkable - Not many people can do that. Eric, the "Fine Boy" of the group took "Signed, sealed, delivered" by Stevie Wonder and he "delivered". It was further learnt that he had been battling with illness the whole week but despite that, he still performed well. I think that's just great.

Like Omawumi, Temitayo's rendition of "Somewhere over the rainbow" by Judy Garland was her first slow song. Her performance was great though, but her voice is better suited for fast songs and her dynamics were not too smooth. Mercy was a different person this week when she performed "If I can't have you" by Yvonne Elliman. She's got a great voice and she put up a great performance ... although she needs to work on her facial expressions. Jerilyn's rendition of "Don't leave me this way" by Thelma Houston was kind of average but she did better than her performance last week. She started a bit shaky but she ended well.

The judges made me angry throughout the performance as they all gave awkward judgements which I found hard to accept. Dan especially gave some funny judgments while Dede kept on referring to special guest Onyeka Onwenu's expressions while giving his judgments. There was also some open disagreements between the judges.

So now we are left with 8 contestants - 5 girls and 3 guys. The guys seem to be surviving quite well. Next week, the contestants are performing around the "New Age" theme as they select very recent songs. I look forward to Jodie, Uche, Eric, Timi and Omawumi's performances. I predict these guys will be in the top five. The top 9 performances are available on the Idols West Africa website available here, so if you missed out on the performances or you don't stay within DSTV or MNet coverage, you can be updated. See you all next week.