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How Robots For Christ won Nigeria’s Got Talent show

”We don’t know what to do with our N10 million prize money’

Top 10 acts perform together
Top 10 acts perform together

The just concluded Season II of Africa’s No 1 talent hunt show, Nigeria’s Got Talent, which had Robots for Christ, the winners of the N10 million prize money, has proved that talents are made in Benin, the Edo state capital.

The reasons are not far-fetched. The two-man dance group are products of the academy that produced  Amarachi, the nine year old girl that won the maiden edition of the competition, proudly sponsored by one of Nigeria’s telecommunication giants, Airtel, in conjunction with Guinness, last year.

The pair was crowned the winners before a large audience on Saturday, February 8, 2014 at the Dream Studios, Ikeja, Lagos, after impressive performances, beating nine other contestants.

HOW THE WINNERS EMERGED

Amarachi Uyanne dancing
Amarachi Uyanne dancing

The 10 contestants who made it to the final gave remarkable and electrifying performances, but at the end, singer-instrumentalist, Daniel John Azuka (A-Strings), young drummer, David Adekoya and Robots For Christ, made the final top three. The young drummer, small but extremely mighty, was the cynosure of all eyes at the grand finale. He was tipped by many to win considering his amazing performances, especially when he picked the drumsticks, from the audition stage to final. To some people, the impression was that Master David was going to be another Amarachi. He was so determined that it was very obvious that he was in the competition to win, but his hope of becoming the biggest African talent to be discovered in Nigeria was dashed when Robots for Christ were announced as the winner. Suddenly, his morale was down, forlorn for not winning. Even when we tried to speak with him, his guardian (mother) spoke on his behalf, saying, “He’ll be fine. Thank you.” He’s not going home empty handed; the organizers rewarded him and the first runner-up, Daniel John Azuka (A-Strings), with a sum of N100, 000 each.

AMARACHI’S SPECTACULAR PERFORMANCES

Going by her explosive performances on the night, Amarachi, the winner of the maiden edition of Nigeria’s Got Talent is undisputedly gifted. She really proved that she deserved the title of being the first talent to come from Africa. The little girl thrilled with some of her songs, which has the hit song, Dance, and electrifying choreography.

…AS BASH THE COMEDIAN CONTROLS THE STAGE

With Bash the Comedian on stage, it was never a dull moment. The comedian didn’t disappoint, as he did jokes that made them forget that the event started late. The fact that the creative comedian controlled the crowd made the organizers to bring him on stage for the second time, and he had the crowd rolling as he made fun of the audience, particularly the Gunners fans, whose club, Arsenal  just lost 5-1 to Liverpool. Apparently some members of the audience were not happy with the comedian’s jokes about some tribes, especially Calabar.

Yibo Koko, Kate Henshaw, Rotimi Pedro and Dan Foster
Yibo Koko, Kate Henshaw, Rotimi Pedro and Dan Foster

WHAT THE SPONSOR SAYS…

It is a fantastic show with unique entertainment; I am very delighted to see the winners emerge. It is truly amazing to see them. We are committed to doing this, bringing out the best music talent in people, especially the youth. This is the second edition, the first was fantastic, and we’re working to ensure that the third will be better than this.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAY….

Dan Foster

This edition is fantastic, but next session is going to be better. Expect world auditions. My experience with the contestants is like a teacher, because sometimes, you have to tell them no, you don’t have it. By doing this, you have given them the opportunity to work harder and give out impressive performances, so that they can move to the next level.  I like the performances from E-FLex, even though he didn’t win. I like the performances. I also like the performances of some of the African dancers. There was a little girl I like her performance so much, she tried to sing Whitney Houston’s song. She was great, but she didn’t make it to the final. Everyone in the top 10 I love. I love their performances, very lovely.

‘We dedicate our victory to God, the academy’-ROBOTS FOR CHRIST

Robots for Christ
Robots for Christ

They are friends, met at Benson Idahosa University, where they developed the concept called Robots for Christ. And for two years, they nurtured it, and with determination, went into the competition.

Today, they are the winners of the Season II of Nigeria’s Got Talent. They spoke with ENCOMIUM Weekly on their winning strategy…

How does it feel?

It feels happy to be the winners. Words are not enough to express how we’re feeling right now. We don’t know what to say, I don’t know how to express myself. All we’ll say is, God, we’re grateful, because it’s like a dream. Still can’t believe it.

Why did you choose Robots for Christ?

We decided to choose the name because our concept of dance is robots style. It is something very unique; it is not common, not like the general hip-hop/choreography dance steps we have around. So, we decided to use it to spread the gospel. It is something people don’t really expect Nigerians to do. That is why we decided to do something different.

Robots for Christ with Amarchi Uyanne
Robots for Christ with Amarchi Uyanne

Did you teach yourself?

Yes, but we were able to develop it at the academy in Benin. The same academy that made Amarachi.

What are your plans for the prize money?

That’s private. Honestly, we don’t know for now. May be later.

But what’s the sharing formular?

50/50.

What’s the next step?

To continue doing what we know how to do best. To improve on what we’re doing, and we believe we can achieve that in the academy. We’ll stay in the academy till the end of our career, because they’ve always been with us when we were nobody.

If not robots, who do you think would have won?

We had tough competitors. All the contestants were good, especially at the semi-final stage. Although, we won, we believe everybody is a winner. We can’t mention a particular name, everybody was a winner and we wish them well in their career.

Who did you dedicate this to?

First, to God, our parents and of course the academy that trained us to be what we are today.

 – RASHEED ABUBAKAR

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Written by Encomium

A media, tech and events company.

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