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The People’s Hero… finalists square up for showdown

By Chuks Nwanne
07 December 2019   |   4:07 am
It has now come down to final eight in the on-going The Peoples Hero reality show. The finalists emerged last week after the semi finals contest that saw contestants showcase...

Team Ofuobi at the semi-finals

It has now come down to final eight in the on-going The Peoples Hero reality show. The finalists emerged last week after the semi finals contest that saw contestants showcase their talents to the judges and viewers.

An initiative of Hero Lager Beer, the show seeks to celebrate the richness and the beauty of the Igbo culture through singing, dancing, spoken word and acting. Produced by MTV Base, the reality TV show has over the past eight weeks become more competitive with the contestants seeking to outdo one another for the star prize of N7million and the bragging right to be called The People’s Hero.

However, the quest for the N7million grand prize and the bragging right ended for twelve hopefuls last weekend, as they were evicted from the show. This was after different scintillating performances by the groups whose tasks were to perform the Igbanku Nwanyi (Igbo Traditional Wedding).

A rich interpretation of the Igbo culture and tradition began with Team Agwu treating the audience to a romantic flawless performance. This was followed by Team Obidike’s electrifying presentation, which was described as a total package by the judges. Team Obinwanne’s piece was that of a tragic love story, creatively presented but laden with emotions.

Team Ofuobi on the other hand, did not fail to blow the minds of the audience and judges who were completely thrilled by the group’s performance. Team Ichekwu rounded off the night with a very entertaining piece that explained the relevance of palm wine at Igbo traditional wedding ceremonies.

The night ended on a very emotional note, as twelve contestants were eliminated from the show. The show anchor, Nedu, had announced that only one of the five groups will make it to the final, and while addressing the tensed audience and contestants, he declared Team Ofuobi as the only group heading to the final. The judges expressed their satisfaction with the group, stating that their creativity, consistency and continued improvement served as their ticket to the final.

The judges, however, surprised the contestants and the audience when they chose to save four contestants as wild cards from eviction. They include Justice, Amarachi, Elvis and Joel. The saved contestants could not hide their emotions as they expressed gratitude to the judges for being considered worthy to be selected to join members of Team Ofuobi to battle at the final round.

Admonishing the evicted contestants, rapper Illbliss, who is a judge on the show, said the contestants have been placed on a huge platform by participating in the TV show and urged them not to drop from the pedestal. He said, while they were selected as raw talents from the auditions, they have become refined to shine to the world. He advised them to look for opportunities to show the world what they have learnt on the show.

According to the Marketing Director International Breweries Plc, Tolulope Adedeji, the main objective of the show is to create a platform for the youths to express their talents to the world and to promote the beautiful culture and traditions of the South-East of Nigeria.

The Marketing Director added that talented young men and women, who before now were not known even in their immediate communities, have been showcased to the world.

And for the producer of the show, Viacom International Media Networks Africa, the journey has been nothing but fulfilling. The company’s Country Manager, Bada Akintunde Johnson said their expertise in producing such amazing shows has paid off on The People’s Hero.

Being first of its kind, Bada said the team did not leave any stone unturned to ensure a successful show. He congratulated the finalists and commended the evictees for coming that far in the show describing them as Hero-es in their own rights.

The show has taken an interesting turn, as the final eight contestants will now compete individually next weekend and a winner, The People’s Hero, will emerge. The winner will also get a whopping sum of N7 million while the first and second runners up will win the sums of N2 million and N1 million respectively.

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