10 lucky contestants have been selected for the ‘Star Rising” competition, which will hold December 20th at The Civic Center, Victoria Island Lagos. The 10 emerged after an audition which held recently, at same venue.
120 children and youths, between the ages of 1 and 17,drawn from different primary and secondary schools in the state attended the audition.
The successful acts who will vie for a place with the stars are: Oyinkoyinsola Ebony and ChukwuNonso Ifionu of Western College Gbagada -Moturayo Olajubu of Attwool School Awoyaya ,ChisomSamuel-Johnson and -Timothy Attah of Christ the Redeemer School Gbagada Others are- Gbaja Dance troupe from Gbaja Girls Junior School;The Boy Band from Grace High School, Ejumene Achor from Holy Child College-Udo precious from Queens College-Lillie Stars Group Lillie’s International School and -Alex Louis
At the audition, the youths showcased different talents in singing. A number of them mimed different musical lyrics: pop, rap and gospel. Some sang while others sang and played the keyboard. Some showed dexterity in playing the saxophone, trumpet, violin, keyboard, drum set and talking drum and several of them took to dancing. They danced salsa. Most of the kids, especially within the age bracket of 7 and13, requested to dance to: Shoki, Doro Bucci, P. Square and Baby Pull Over.
Talking about the audition, Mrs. Ovia said: “We have seen a lot of talents and I’m very impressed. We are going to have so many winners. It’s going to be very hard to choose but I know the judges will come up with talented children who will perform on the 20th. That is their day.”
Talking to journalists after the event, Mr. Bardia Olomu, (ILLRYHMES) who was a judge at the audition, said the criteria for choosing the winners were: stage presence, personality, originality and performance.
Ikechukwu Ekwuyasi,ala, ICON, a music producer,who was also a judge, said: “It’s amazing how much talent we have seen so far. I don’t think I have seen two kids riding a cycle and dancing at the same time. I didn’t think I will see a lot of saxophone and trumpet players. Someone came to mime here. It’s been amazing. The turn out has been great trying to judge these kids and inspire them to do better.”
The current Nigerian Idol Winner,Evelle Zibili, another judge, said: “I think it’s been wonderful and amazing to see young people with so much talent. It’s good to see young people playing the violin. These people are just amazing and will be very useful to the society.”