Encomium
The day residents of Abesan, Alimosho, got to witness thrilling performances from Nigeria’s future music superstars and legendary performances by its current superstars at the MTN Best of the Streets music competition will undoubtedly go down in the folklore of Alimosho LGA, Lagos.
MTN has played an important role in launching the careers of some of Nigeria’s finest artists over the years through platforms such as Y’ello Star and Project Fame West Africa. The MTN Best of the Streets is another platform introduced by MTN with the goal of identifying, investing in, and developing local talent into world-class musicians. MTN has been a consistent supporter of the music and entertainment industries, and the MTN Best of the Streets competition provides MTN Nigeria with yet another opportunity to contribute to the rise of the Nigerian entertainment industry to global prominence.
The competition, which was designed to provide a platform for emerging music talents in the area to showcase their talent, saw auditions from over 300 participants. Residents of Abesan, Alimosho, gathered at the Abesan Youth Center, Alimosho, as early as 10 a.m. on that sunny Saturday to discover who would take home the winning prize of N1.2 million in the competition’s finals.
The event began at 1 p.m. with over 200 guests in attendance enjoying a variety of games such as Karaoke, Snooker, Jenga Tennis, Basketball, and many more before the audience was invited to witness the top 30 musical talents from Alimosho battle it out to become the ultimate best of the streets.
The top 30 contestants were divided into groups of ten and given one minute to sing. MTN chose to give the audience the power of selecting two contestants from each group of ten who they wanted to advance to the finals using the popular “Waka or Stay” method, while the judges, who are big names in the music industry included, Emmanuella Nnadozie, Head Marketing and Corporate Communications, Mavin Global; Yemisi Falaye, Head Legal & Business Development, The Temple Company; and Kolawole Fashola, Head Business Affairs & Operations, The Temple Company, chose one contestant from each group of ten to progress to the finals.
The action started right away with great performances from the 30 contestants. The performances were so good that it was tough for the audience to choose who would advance to the finals; however, after what seemed like an eternity, we had our 9 finalists.
MTN Nigeria is known for delivering the best, and this was no exception as the audience was treated to an energetic performance by mega hit maker and legendary musician, Dbanj. Koko Master, as he is popularly known among his fans, is famous for his entertaining performances, and the crowd was certainly not disappointed, with people standing on balconies during his performance.
Dbanj invited the 30 contestants to share the stage with him at some point during his performance and then tasked four of them with performing any of his songs for a chance to win N100,000. With a superb performance of ‘Igwe,’ Ayotunde Sobowale won this competition. Dbanj also gave N50,000 to a female fan who jumped on stage to dance with him, and N100,000 to Young Alex, a ten-year-old rapper whom he invited on stage to demonstrate his rapping prowess.
The arrival of beloved Afro-pop artiste Small Doctor sent everyone into a frenzy. The singer took the stage to perform his hit songs, ‘Penalty’, ‘Mosquito Killer’, ‘MyPeople’, ‘Uzobu’ among others. Following his performance, the competition’s nine finalists took the stage for the final battle. They performed for another minute, after which the judges deliberated and declared Ayotunde Sobowale the winner of the competition with a cash prize of N1.2 million; Seun Elebimoyo came in second place with a N500,000 cash prize, and Precious Babalola came in third place with a N200,000 cash prize.
The Best of the Streets is a new music talent discovery initiative from MTN Nigeria designed to create a platform for young Nigerians to express their talent for a chance to become superstars. Unlike other talent discovery platforms, Best of Streets is taken to the community with 30 contestants from the locality divided into three groups of ten. Each contestant is given one minute to perform any song of their choice before the audience selects two contestants from each group who will advance to the finals using the popular “Waka or Stay” method, and the judges choose one contestant from each group to advance to the finals. Following that, nine finalists will be shortlisted, and the finalists will perform any song of their choice while the judges sieve through all the performances and select the winner of the competition.
