Alade’s Peak of the lot

BY PAUL OLOKO
The 2009 edition of Peak Talent Hunt Show has signed up Yemi Alade as winner.
The show had begun in September with auditions in six cities across the country: Jos, Abuja, Calabar, Enugu, Ibadan and Lagos.
The grand finale, which held at the Agip Hall of Musical Society of Nigeria (MUSON) Centre, Onikan, Lagos, was titled, Nigeria’s Most Talented Dancer.
Organised by FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria PLC, makers of Peak and Three Crowns Milk, the show had five finalists: Joshua Ekeledo – male dancer; Fine Boy - male comedian; Yemi Alade – female singer; Michael Ogah — male singer and Yahil — two female singers.
The contestants performed two acts each; and were each assessed by three celebrity judges — actress Stella Damasus, producer/presenter Dayo ‘D1’ Adeneye, and comedian Tee-A.
The show saw a rare display of talent in singing, music, dancing (including Salsa and ballet), comedy, ball juggling, acrobatics and poetry.
But more than the display by the contestants was the performance by P-Square, which added fun to the event.
For coming out tops, Alade won a N1m cash prize aside a N4 million contract with WAMCO Nigeria. Other contestants got N500, 000 each with Nokia c-75 phones.




Peace at the CARNIRIV in Garden City
PORT Harcourt, the Garden City, was a beehive of activities recently as it hosted this year’s Carnival in Rivers State (CARNIRIV).
The event, which started on Monday, December 14, ended on Sunday, December 20, 2009. As part of activities for the carnival was a concert, which featured Beenie Man and top local acts such as Tuface, MI, Wande Coal, P-Square, Duncan Mighty, Timaya, Daniel Wilson and J. Martins.
The concert, which held at the Polo Club Ground in the city, saw M.I. dishing out the best from his current album.
Duncan Mighty took his turn and he communicated with the crowd while Wande Coal mesmerised the audience with songs such as Bumper to Bumper, You Bad, among others.
Dance Na The Main Thing (DNMT) also thrilled everybody with their steps and varieties that stood them out in the night. Then came Tu Face whose delivery was a delight. The African Queen crooner led his live band to another spiritual level of musical rendition.
Before Bennieman took the stage, his forerunner, Troublesome, gave a little hint of what to expect from his boss. Later, Bennieman came on stage, and he was at his best. The Jamaican award winning artiste had his hands full to the brim when he invited 2face for a collaboration on Ufunnie Banga remix, it was something else as the duet that was characterised with free style and powerful delivery by the two could easily pass as the highlight of the show.
Egberi Papa, Timaya and his boys equally had a brief intervention before P-Square duo took the show to the wee hours of the day.
Peter and Paul as usual displayed a rare vigour and energy that they are known for as they almost stole the show with the new hit (E no easy o), a song that got the crowd miming and dancing.
The show came to an end around 4.05am to the admiration and delight of the teeming crowd.