May 1, 2007

Idols West Africa - Jodie Exits!

The greatest shocker so far awaited viewers of Idols West Africa this week as 23 year old Jodie Odiete received the least votes and thus her exit. Believed by many to be the strongest contender for the West African Idols title, Jodie really had a lot going for her. She had the strongest and most dynamic female voice in the top 10, and she could take her songs to limits others couldn't. From her performance in the top 24 to her very last performance, she has always captivated the audience. She was the first contestant to bring the judges (and the audience) to a standing ovation and she did this during two consecutive performances. (the only other person to do this is Timi). It's safe to say she had no rival in the top 10 in terms of voice quality and dynamism and it's really sad that she has to go.

This week, she performed Angelique Kidjo's song "Adouma", a typical Angelique Kidjo upbeat song. Her performance was great from beginning to end. She threw in a couple of extras which included some sustained high and low pitches, an interlude during which she performed some vibrant dancing and a short call and response session. She was able to combine both dancing and singing without compromising one for the other. Her performance was "Wow" and her vocals were great. Unfortunately, the ecstatic crowd apparently couldn't make their votes count and Jodie had to go. Her words when she heard the result of the votes were "It's over now, it's over now, I feel like I can make it, the storm is over now" which she delivered through Kirk Franklin's song "It's over now". I know it's not over for her, and I know with all certainty, we shall be hearing more from her very soon.

This week, the performers had to sing around the theme "Home grown African tracks". Top performances for me were Jodie and Omawumi. Omawumi performed Onyeka Onwenu's "Ekwe". She came on stage dressed the part of a native Igbo maid and started off her performance with some Igbo greetings. The energy of her performance matched the feel of the song and it was little wonder the crowd was screaming when she ended. Unlike previous weeks, she made good connection with the audience. However, she went off key a couple of times and her only savior was her good come-back abilities. She needs to really work on her key change imperfections.

I was not too impressed by Timi and Eric's performances this week. Timi sang "Oruka" by Sunny Nneji and he started off well, but apparently not used to Yoruba songs, he got some pronunciations wrong and messed up totally by going off beat. He was able to recover after some time and managed to end well. This he did by stylishly introducing his own lines towards the end of the song and thereafter synchronizing with the soundtrack. Eric who performed "Olomi" by Tosin Martyns did an average job with the song. There was not much strength and vigour in his performance. In addition, he did not connect with the audience the way the song demanded. However, he pulled his usual stunt of modulating before the final chorus and this geared up his performance a little.

Temitayo performed "Agolo" by Angelique Kidjo and she came in elegantly dressed sporting an "African" hairstyle. Her performance was OK but she focused too much on dancing and shaking and didn't use her voice to it's full potential. She exhibited a good attitude and put some energy into her dance steps, which was good for the song. Overall delivery was average. Jerilyn also performed an Angelique Kidjo song - "Wombolombo" which she delivered in an average kind of way. Her confidence level was way below average, and she didn't put enough energy into the song. She didn't use her voice well, she's capable of doing better. There were no tricks, no dynamics, she sang like she was waiting for the song to end.

There was a guest in the house in person of Asa, a Nigerian singing sensation who recently won the award for "Best New Artist" at the RFI France and Hip-Hop World Awards. She had this to say about the competition "I never knew we had people who could be packaged internationally, it’s been wonderful, they have been very original." Her favorite performer in the top 6 was Jodie whom she described as being wonderful.

I appeal to West Africans to use the power of their votes wisely. Remember that whoever wins this competition will be presented to the world as the best we have to offer. Please remember this and vote wisely. In my opinion, Jodie is way better than most of the other contestants, and shouldn't have been out. You can vote online at the Idols West Africa website available here, and in case you missed out on the performances, you can also download the clips or watch online here. Right now we are down from 6 performers to 5. Sunday will be another day.

This post might have been written with some bias. Kindly pardon me, Jodie was my favorite performer! I had to wait a day before writing, so the dissapointment could wear off.


26 comments:

Admin UD said...

Oh! dear, i can't beliueve she's really gone. This is soooo SAD!

pamela said...

I really dont watch W.I. after being very upset at what I was hearing in the top 24(?) after all that dramatic screening. Wrong keys from start to finish, screeching, inexplicable survivals week after week... Tell me seriously do you think the cream of Nigerian artistes shaking the continent and carting interantional awards en-masse would make W.I. screenings? If not then what is a pop star? What is the criteria for finding one? Its a fundamental issue that must be sorted out to get a stronger show though I give the organizers kudos for being bold enough to undertake such a huge effort. Jodie by far is the best thing they had and this is coming from someone who watched her just twice. Thank heavens I stopped watching. I for vex craze. I did catch a bit of the last performance though.
What does ASA mean by saying, "I never knew we had people who could be packaged internationally"... I love her but girl dont say things like that when you a prime example of a brilliant home grown package.

Anonymous said...

Great review. Though i don't quite agree that Temitayo had a good performance, but i guess it's all a matter of opinion. The exit of Jodie was shocking to say the least and it has really dampened my enthusiasm for Idols West Africa. I guess we'll all have to take our voting more seriously before we are saddled with Jerrilyn or Temitayo as our Idol. God forbid bad thing.

Unknown said...

@Ugo, you can imagine! Too too sad.
@Pam, perhaps I should have stopped watching too... then I would not have been so affected by Jodie's exit. Don't mind Asa, she's kind of self conscious and not used to public glare. That probably influenced her comments.
@LawyerChap, hey, thanks for visiting my site! For Temitayo, I meant her performance (dancing) was good but not the singing. Her voice performance was way below class.

aloted said...

Omo, i am so so pained about Jodie's exit..wat was that all about?? Men...wat is Africa doing???? I don tire for Africa o. I am so upset I can't talk too much. Had to rant about Jodie's exit on my blog.

Anonymous said...

i was shocked to hear the news of Jodie's exit.I didnt expect her to win, but i didnt expect the likes of jerilyn,eric and co to beat her.why didnt africa vote for her?i hope Timi is not voted off too...im so sad by this news.

Unknown said...

@Aloted and @Linda, I feel you o. I wonder what happened myself.
Just saw this comment on Nairaland:

"Last season on American Idol, Chris Daughtry was exceptional and his performances where undoubtedly the best in each round but he was surprisingly voted out and didn't make round of 3.
He went to release a self titled album and has more sales than both Taylor Hicks (winner of American Idol 5) debut and Katherine McPhee -the runner up.
Jodie has got talent, hope she realises her dream."

I hope Jodie releases her own album.

Anonymous said...

hey Tayo, its UCHE...remember me??? anyways, i feel ur pain, my freind here almost died when she heard Jodie left too,she's not going to be watching the show anymore. anyways cheer up guys.

ExcitedJade said...

hi, tayo..please teach me how to do the line crossing too oh.. am serious jare.... just saw Linda's blog now, and am jealoxing it...lol

Dolly said...

First time on your blog... Tayo please me too is jealousing(lol) the line crossing on linda's blog(abeg teach me)

I don't watch W.I.... Nice blog

marshal said...

i kind of have a feeling jodie will be brought back on the show one way or the other as is done in other reality shows like the barchelor, joe millionaire to add excitement to the whole thing. if however shes not brought back, i take solace in the fact that among the top 10, she has the best chance of making a successful musical career. watch out for jodie folks!

Unknown said...

@Uche, Hey! Of course I remember you. Thanks for visiting again. lol@ your friend. Yes, it was that bad o. I don't know how I drove home after hearing the news. Thank God say I no jam anybody.
@exitedjade & dolly, let me have your email addresses or you can contact me by clicking here. I'll show you how to do it. Thanks for visiting anyway.
@marshal ... r you serious? I hope it happens o, for real! I'll be so glad. Oh here I go again. I realy hope it happens. For the competition's sake and for West Africa's sake.

Writefreak said...

Honestly, i think it's said that Jodie, whom i think is the best on the show did not get enough votes to stay on. I mean, come on, what are Africans thinking? I already said on my own blog that i am not watching again but maybe i have a change of mind now. I agree that Temitayo concentrated more on dancing that singing, Omawumi also did well but what was Timi thinking choosing a song that sounded that he didn't really know it. Anyway, i can't say may the best man win anymore, West African Idols is getting too unpredictable!

Anonymous said...

Tayo I've missed reading your blog! My work load has driven me far from blog world. But Jodie!

This is the part where I go "sob, sob!!"....when I fall in love with them, they leave....sob, sob!!

I better leave my next WI champ unknown or else...you know what's coming don't you.

Ciao

Unknown said...

@Writefreak, thanks for your comment. I also don't feel like watching the show again. It's getting ridiculous.
@truth, good to see you again. Na so we see am o! Jodie is gone. Too sad. Everything is now Jaga Jaga!

ExcitedJade said...

os jare paddy mi... wasup... update please.

onydchic said...

Hey there! Thanks for stopping by! You have a nice blog by the way, so putting you in my links! a change from the other Nigerians one I see!

Unknown said...

@ExcitedJade, don't worry, I'll update soon. I still dey cry for Jodie!!!
@onydchic, thanks for visiting, and thanks for putting me in your links.

Omodudu said...

Is this show this popular on Nija?

Unknown said...

Omodudu, you'll be surprised. It's quite popular.

Anonymous said...

Well, I rewatched the Top 6 show after Jodie exited and confirmed what my misgiving. Jodie's great and all that but definitely didnt have the best performance of the night.In fact i havent enjoyed her since the Top 8, the Tina Turner rendition was awful and the her song on sunday wasnt good at all. I thought she was better than Jerrilyn and Temtitayo sha, but definitely Eric and Omawunmi had the best performance so of the night for me and so I voted accordingly. Timi was terrible but has an okay voice...but men do I want him as my WAI......nahnahnah!

The judges suck, Dede dey manageable small!

I'm not a Jodie fan, so I will definitely be watching next week, unless Jerrilyn survives again, then I'll just quit!!!!

Anonymous said...

I was shocked Jodie left, but if you had to check the official website, you will see that as good as she was, she did not quite develop the necessary fan base. She did not have many posts to her blogs, besides last week after she left, and her main forum was quiet. For the last 3 weeks, and including her Tina Turner performance which was not good at all, she was not quite as good as she had been in the first few weeks. That being said, I was looking forward to an exciting final with Timi and her.

Anonymous said...

With Jodie out, other contestants should be disqualified. As far as i am concerned the show has lost its essence. I mean, what is the need for a contest when there are no challenges

Chukky Eboka said...

this only goes to show you that the fans are merciless. dont ever take your audience for granted. i mean come on. lets face facts jodies adouma performance was way off. she has a great voice. fine. we've established that. but her rendering of a song in a dialect that no one understood and not doing it properly or convincingly enough was just plain careless. she took her audience for granted, sang only the chorus of a song tht she didnt understand and hoped her past performance would see her thru.
wrong move.
jodie was arguably the best and it scares me that shes goon. but i was really rooting for omawumi. she's got the total package and i'm still hoping she wins. who wants to buy a cd full of timis croon?

Unknown said...

@anon, LOL. Jerrilyn didn't survive! So don't quit
@anon2, I agree with you. Jodie didn't connect too well with fans. She should have done more.
@anon3, LOL. I feel you. But then, that's why i believe it's not good to place all the destiny into the hands of the voters. The judges at least should have some say.
@chukky, true talk. However, Omawumi needs to work on her dynamics, she goes off key once in a while. But nothing that can't be worked on.

Eugenia said...

jodie is good, i wonder why she was voted out. i hope you guys know what you are doing.
let me warn you people, i am going to be very angry if anyone vote Timi out. i am not going to take it at all because it obvious you guys are not voting for the right people.
Timi is outstanding, everybody knows that.