Nigerian Idol: Top eight emerge as Abigail exits competition

Sunday’s live show on Nigerian Idol marked the end of Abigail’s journey in the seventh season of the competition as David Operah, Zadok, Banty, Faith, Jordan, Debby and Progress made it to the top eight spots.

The show also featured Nigeria’s Queen of Afrojazz, Yinka Davies, as a guest judge for the night.

The theme of the week was ‘This is me’. The top eight contestants performed songs that they described as the soundtracks of their lives. Each of them also had beautiful outfits to match their performances as they gave it their all.

The night’s opening act was David Operah. He shared his hopes and dreams for Nigeria in his performance of Timi Dakolo’s Great Nation. The audience and judges applauded his performance and commented that it was a great way to open the show.

Next up was Itohan, aka Baby Dragon, who got everyone doubting the ‘baby’ in her moniker thanks to her emphatic cover of I Look To You by Whitney Houston. The judges were full of praises and raves for her performance of such a classical and vocal-intensive song.

Zadok was the next person to make it into the top eight, and he had everyone feeling the love with his performance of Soul Provider by Michael Bolton. Judge D’banj called him a natural entertainer, as it showed in his serenade of one of the audience members.

Banty was a vision to watch in her red dress as she gave a fantastic performance of another Whitney Houston classic, Greatest Love. Although she had great reviews from the judges, Yinka Davies pointed out that she should relax more in her performances.

Faith channelled her musical icon, Simi, and further proved that she belonged to the competition by delivering a great cover of the singer’s song, Charlie. Her performance wasn’t only soulful, it also brought Simi to tears and reminded her of her father, who died in 2014.

For Jordan, This Is Me from The Greatest Showman movie was the best song to express himself, and from the reactions and comments of the judges, he couldn’t have chosen a better piece. The Kaduna-born contestant received standing ovations for a well-delivered performance.

Jordan’s performance meant that the show was down to the wire – with three contestants left and two spots on the show.

Debby’s version of Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On was another colourful performance of the night, and according to Obi Asika, it was one of the best covers of the classic song.

Progress delivered a perfect ending to the tense but incredible night of performances with his cover of I Need An Angel by Ruben Studdard. He “killed” the show, according to Yinka Davies.

Sadly, Abigail didn’t get the opportunity to share her favourite song as she didn’t receive enough votes, but it wasn’t a question of her talent.

The Nigerian Idol live shows continue next week, but you can catch previous episodes on Showmax. Don’t forget to vote for your favourite contestants, as the power to determine who stays and leaves is solely in the hands of the viewers. Voting closed at 9p.m. on Thursday, April 14, 2022.