Nigerians React as Progress emerges winner of Nigerian Idol season 7

Congratulations PROGRESS.

You are a deserving winner.

You won’t fail

You won’t fall

You are a ⭐and you’ll always shine bright

You’ll fulfill purpose

This is just the beginning for more great things happening for you

The world is your STAGE

CONQUER, RULE WITH GOD

After several weeks of auditions, performances and eliminations, finally, Progress emerged the winner of the naija Idols 2022 talent show season 7.

The show began on a sweet note with the opening performances of ‘greatest show’ and ‘A million dreams’ – songs from the movie ‘Greatest show’ – thrilling the audience.

Along with performances by the judges -Simi and DBanj, Nigerian star musician Pheelz with his song ‘Finesse’ joined the train of thrilling acts.

Bringing up the parents of the last two contestants after they performed was also one of the best highlights of the night. Also highlights from their journey from the day of auditions to the grand finale night were displayed.

The Delta state indigene and pronounced winner of this season, Progress Chukwuyem is also a singer, performer, songwriter and music minister.

As announced earlier this week, the winner will be going home with 100 million naira worth of prizes.

Progress has been crowned the winner of Nigerian Idol Season 7. He garnered more votes than Zadok, thereby walking home with NGN100 million grand prize on Sunday, May 22, 2022.

The prize is worth NGN100,000,000 including a cash prize of NGN30,000,000, a brand new SUV, a record label deal, a music video, a weekend getaway from TravelBeta, Bigi products for one year, a DStv Explora fully installed and a Dstv premium subscription for 12 months among others.

With the victory, Progress has joined the list of former winners of the talent show.

According to the host of the show IK Osakioduwa, more than 45 million votes came in from Nigerians who cast their votes for their favourite.

The first round of auditions for the reality show began on Sunday, February 6, 2022. The headline sponsor is Bigi, other sponsors are Binance crypto exchange, close-up

Timeline of Nigerian Idol season 7

Since the music reality show started, below is the timeline of applicants that made it to the top 12.

The two upcoming singers made it to the finals on May 15 while Banty who garnered the smallest votes was eliminated.

However, the top 12 finalists and the judges opened the floor with their scintillating performance

Top 2 Finalists (May 15, 2022)

1. Zadok
2. Progress

This means either Progress or Zadok would walk home with the grand prize worth NGN100 million which includes a brand new Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) and record label deal among other mouth-watering prizes on Sunday, May 22, 2022.

Top 3 Finalists (May 1, 2022)

1. Progress
2. Banty
3. Zadok

It’s another elimination day Sunday, May 8, 2022, as Progress, Banty, and Zadok made it to the top 3 finalists of the reality music show.

Jordan’s votes were not enough to keep him in the show. Reacting, he said he was thankful to the organisers and sponsors of the show and for providing such a huge platform for talented Nigerians.

It’s double eviction on Sunday, May 1, 2022, Faith and Itohan have been eliminated, the remaining four finalists on the show. Itohan aka ‘baby dragon’ who was emotional could only say, ‘thank you for the opportunity before exiting the stage.

Top 4 Finalists (May 1, 2022)

1. Progress
2. Jordan
3. Zadok
4. Banty

Nigerians Express Shock Over Itohan Eviction

Followers of the Nigerian Season 7 have expressed shock over the elimination of the Itohan aka ‘baby dragon’ and Faith from the music reality show.

The first set of finalists – Jordan, Faith, and Progress – were put up for elimination based on the votes they received from their fans across Nigeria and other parts of the world. Faith was eliminated because she received the lowest votes.

Next were Itohan, Zadok, and Banty. While Zadok was saved. The host left Banty and Itohan, making followers guessing.

Banty was announced as one of the top four finalists, thereby leaving Itohan eliminated from the show.

Though young, Itohan was one of the most brilliant performers on the show earning her the nickname, ‘baby dragon’ by judges. Unfortunately, her votes were not enough to keep her in the show.

Those who condemned the elimination of Itohan asked, ‘Banty over Itohan?” See some of the reactions below:

Bantallions we move let them hate us we rise. Banty for the money

Noly Charles

King David says, “Can’t believe y’all are choosing Banty over Itohan. Tragic!”

Kels, who likened the elimination of Itohan to what plays out during an election in Nigeria says, “Banty in and Itohan out? I fear for 2023 election sha.”

Tope Lizbeth who expresses surprise also likened it to what could play out in Nigeria’s next general elections saying, “People who Voted Banty over Itohan are Faith are the same ones who’ll vote Tinubu over a Peter Obi #NigerianIdol“

Another Twitter user BabyGirlNoms says:

I feel why banty is still in this show is because she’s a tomboy, because faith and itohan and far better than her vocally.#NigerianIdol

Torlah says:

I am still wondering d people voting for banty cos this isn’t normal faith& Itohan gone and banty still on d show really needs to be studied na so una go vote in 2023 Abi make una continue

David Oprah one of the finalists of the ongoing reality show has been voted out of the show. David says he was proud to have made it to the top seven.

Top 6 finalists (April 24, 2022)

1. Jordan
2. Faith
3. Banty
4. Itohan
5. Progress
6. Zadok

Debby, one of the top 8 finalists of the ongoing Nigerian Idol was eliminated on Sunday, April 17, 2022, at the beginning of the show as against the tradition of calling one after the other.

Top 7 finalists (April 17, 2022)

1. Zadok
2. David Operah
3. Itohan
4. Progress
5. Banty
6. Jordan
7. Faith

Performance for Your Next Votes

David performed ‘Wonder’ By Burna Boy. The song was released in 2020 as a single on the album ‘Twice as Tall’.

Banty came next to the stage to perform ‘Finesse’ a song by Bruno Mars Ft Cardi B. The song was released in 2016 as part of the album 24k Magic’ while the remix with Cardi B was released in 2018.

The third performance was by Zadok with ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ a song by Whitney Houston. The song was one of the big hits from Whitney Houston.

Progress came next with ‘Bang Bang’ a song by Ariana Grande, Jessie J. While Jordan performed ‘Titanium’ by David Gueta Ft Sia on Sunday, April 17, 2022, the song of was a single released for digital download in August 2011 is a part of David Guetta’s fifth studio album ‘Nothing but the Beat’.

For others, Faith performed ‘Koroba’ by Tiwa Savage. The song was one of the lead singles of Tiwa Savage’s third studio album ‘Celia’.

Itohan aka Baby Dragon sang ‘Only Girl In The World’ by Rihanna. It’s a song that was released in 2010 as part of Rihanna’s fifth album ‘Loud’.

The start

On Sunday, April 10, 2022, eight contestants in the Nigerian Idol season 7 made the list of top 8 finalists. They include David Operah, Itohan, Zadok, Banty, Faith, Jordan, Debby, and Progress. Abigail was dropped from an initial list of nine.

From all the geopolitical zones of Nigeria, aspiring Nigerian singers trooped into the audition venue of the Nigerian Idol season 7, with the aim of becoming the next winner of the singing reality TV show.

After the screening process, the number was reduced to 75, they were grouped during the ‘Theatre Week’ before the number was later pruned to 12 wonderful contestants with great voices.

Timeline of Nigerian Idol Season 7

• Application exercise: Sunday, November 14, 2021 – November 28, 2021
• The first round of an audition: Sunday, February 6, 2022
• End date: Sunday, May 22, 2022
• Grand prize: NGN100,000,000
• Host: IK Osakioduwa
• Organisers: MultiChoice Nigeria
• Headline sponsor: Bigi Drinks
• Co-headline sponsor: Binance
• Other sponsors: Close-up, Tecno
• Previous edition winner: Kingdom Kroseide (Nigerian Idol Season 6 Winner)

Channels To Watch:

To follow the weekly performances for the 2022 reality show, below are the channels to watch Nigerian Idol season 7:

1. Africa Magic Showcase (DStv channel 151)
2. Urban (DStv channel 153)
3. GOtv Supa channel 6
4. DStv 197
5. GOtv 29
6. Family DStv channel 154
7. Family GOtv channel 2

Time: 7pm every Sunday

All episodes are also available on DStv App and the scenes available on Showmax across Africa

Nigerian Idol Judges for 2022:

• D’banj,
• Simi
• Obi Asika.
• Yinka Davies joined the panel on April 10, 2022
• IcePrince (introduced to the panel of judges on April 17, 2022)

Top 8 Finalists (April 10, 2022 Elimination)

On Sunday, April 10, the reality music show continued with elimination. It was revealed that more than 18 million votes came in from followers of the show. Abigail could not make the list. Below is the contestant that made the finalist in order of performance.

1. David Operah (performed Dakolo)
2. Itohan
3. Zadok
4. Banty
5. Faith
6. Jordan
7. Debby
8. Progress

Top 9 Finalists (April 3, 2022)

Finalists who made the top 9 on Sunday, April 3, 2022, are :

1. Jordan,
2. Progress,
3. Itohan,
4. Abigail,
5. Zadok,
6. David,
7. Debby,
8. Faith,
9. Banty.

Top 12 finalists (March 27, 2022)

Contestants who made the top 12 are:

Beginning of Elimination

The 12 singers on Sunday, March 20, 2022, began the journey of being the grand prize winner of Nigerian Idol Season 7.

Followers of the reality tv show voted and by Sunday, March 27, 2022, Joel and Precious received fewer votes and were evicted from the show.

As such, Joel and Precious are the first set of Nigerian Idol Season 7 contestants to be evicted from the show.

Contestants who made the top 12 were not only vocally phenomenal, but they are brilliant and creative singers, meaning any of them could be crowned the winner of the show.

So, let’s meet the finalists

Abigail

• Full name: Abigail Okara
• Age: 28-year-old

Abigail pours in her whole when she sings. Her performance since the beginning of the show has shown that she has all it takes to be crowned the winner.

However, she is in for a big competition because her ‘rivals’ have their unique singing voices. Her pitch is not only thrilling but has been able to get the attention of the judges.

On the first week of elimination, Abigail performed Lady gaga’s single, ‘Rain On Me’ which was released in 2020 from her Chromatica album.

On the second week of elimination, she did justice to Whitney Houston’s version of ‘Higher Love’. The song was originally sung by English Steve Winwood.

Whitney covered the song in 1990 and it was included as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of her third studio album, ‘I’m Your Baby Tonight. That said, Abigail thrilled the audience with her performance and voters are expected to be the ‘judge’.

Abigail was unable to make the top 8 finalists as she was eliminated by votes on Sunday, April 10, 2022

Zadok

• Age: 24-year-old

The dynamic Zadok is not only brilliant, but he has shown that he has the voice to modify any kind of lyrics. This was brought to the fore when he performed Michael Bolton’s 1991 hit, ‘When A Man Loves A Woman’.

In the first week of elimination, Zadok brought on his A-game when he sang ‘Perfect’ from Ed’s 2017 album, ‘Divide’. As his best was yet to be seen, the energetic Zadok took the stage on the second week of elimination by performing Timi Dakolo’s 2015 single, ‘Wish Me Well’

Zadok isn’t just a singer but said he was into music production before coming to the competition. And on Sunday, April 10, he showed what he’s made of.

He performed ‘Soul Provider’ By Michael Bolton. It was an electrifying performance according to the judges. This week’s votes for him would be the major determinant.

Banty

From Warri comes the Banty who has been singing since she was eight. Though she was a member of her church choir, she seized the opportunity when the privilege of Nigerian Idol came.

Banty isn’t into music, she is also a tech and gaming enthusiast. She looks reggae, but she has been able to brilliantly deliver any song given to her so far.

She sang ‘Thinking Out Loud’ by Ed Sheeran’s second album, ‘X’ That performance saved her from elimination and made it to the top 9 finalists. As the battle becomes fiercer, she sang ”Learn on Me’ by Bill Withers to keep herself in the competition. She will be banking on your votes.

Those underrated Banty might be surprised again as the young lady again made the top 8 finalists Sunday, April 10. She performed ‘Greatest Love of All’ By Whitney Houston. That performance would earn her votes

David Operah

At every stage of the show, particularly during the audition and theatre weeks. David’s performance has shown he has all it takes to be the winner, but it isn’t going to be an easy ride for him.

His swag coupled with his voice has been one of the qualities one of the judges D’banj has found captivating. At the elimination stage, he performed ‘Before You Go’, a song from Lewis’ 2019 album ‘Divinely Uninspired To a Hellish Extent’ and he made the top 9.

As they say, it isn’t over until it is over, to keep himself in the multi-million naira singing tv reality show, David sang ‘Dance With My Father’ by Luther Vandross.

The song was released in 2003. Whether he makes it to the next stage or not, your votes will be the decider. he made the top 8.

And on April 10, he sang ‘Great Nation’ By Timi Dakolo . Will he make it to the next stage? Your votes count! David Oprah was eliminated on Sunday, April 24, 2022.

Debby

• Age: 25-year-old

Debby, an emotional singer displayed what she has got when she performed the 2009 Jordin Spark hit, ‘Battlefield’. Her performance of the hit Naija song ‘Monalisa’ by Lojay and Sarz from the album LV N ATTN showed she is worthy to be among the top 9 finalists.

But she has more hurdles to cross if she must go home with NGN100million worth of prizes at stake. As such, the ever-smiling Debby displayed her happiness when she performed Pharrel Williams’ song ‘Happy’ on Sunday, April 3 to keep her spot in the competition.

The song was released as an original soundtrack for the animated movie ‘Despicable Me 2’ in 2013.

She dazzled all the three judges on April 3 as she sang ‘My Heart Will Go On’ By Celine Dion. Recalled that the Celine Dion’s won an Oscar at the 1998 Academy Awards.

She was eliminated on April 17, 2022

Gerald (Eliminated)

Gerald’s performance of Mario’s 2004 ‘Let Me Love You’ during the theatre week showed that he was a potential winner. His performance of ‘Leave The Door Open’ by Silk Sonic’ (from the album ‘An Evening With Silk Sonic’) was entertaining.

But the votes showed otherwise. Gerald was eliminated on Sunday, April 3, 2022.

Faith

Being a member of her church choir since 2016, Faith’s voice got the judges speechless during her performance of Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Driver’s License’. That song earned her the golden ticket.

She did justice to ‘Driver’s License’ by Olivia Rodrigo from the album ‘Sour’ and she made the top 9 list. But to keep her spot in the competition, she sang, ‘Next To Me’ in the second week of elimination. And she awaits her fans’ votes to keep pushing on till the end.

Next To Me is an originally choir-backed soulful song that was released in 2012 as the third single from Emile Sande’s debut, ‘Our Version of Events’.

Though claimed Simi, one of the judges, is one of her favourites, unfortunately, she did not sing Simi’s songs until she made it to the top 8 finalists. And on April 10, she sang ‘Charlie’ By Simi. Simi got emotional as Faith sang.

On Why she shed tears, Timi revealed that the track was dedicated to her dad  Engr. Charles Oladele Ogunleye who passed in 2014

Itohan

• Age: 17-year-old

For Itohan, age isn’t a barrier as the young lady has shown to the world that the power in her voice can give her a ticket to the top three.

She performed the song by Bradley Cooper, ‘Shallow’. The performance handed her the top 9 tickets. She mustn’t give up, so, performing a song from Mary Mary’s album, ‘Thankful’ may book her another chance to make the next list.

The song, ‘Can’t Give Up Now’ was one of the tracks in the album, Thankful’ by the American gospel singers Mary Mary.

According to her, singing has been a childhood fantasy and she has never relented in giving her best to bring that dream into fulfilment as made the top 8 finalists in the ongoing Nigerian Idol 2022.

She, again, thrilled the judges when she performed ‘I Look To You’ a song by the late Whitney Houston

Jordan

Jordan, an undergraduate of the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) came into the show with so much power in his voice. ‘Rolling in The Deep’ from Adele’s album. That performance received millions of votes, which shot him to the top 9 finalists

In the second week of elimination, Jordan set the stage ablaze with Lauren Diagle’s ‘You Say’ which he dedicated to the victims of the Kaduna attacks where hundreds of people have been killed by terrorists.

The Grammy award-winning album was released in 2018.

Jordan never disappoints and of course, he dazzled the audience and judges when he performed  ‘This Is Me’ from The Greatest Showman. He is on the top 8.

Progress

Progress is another young singer who is on the path of progress going by his performance of Justin Bieber’s Yummy. According to him, his role model is Jonathan McReynolds.

Singing ‘Heartbreak Anniversary’ saw Progress progress into the top 9. It’s a 2020 song by Giveon. Singing ‘Uncle Suru’ by Jon Ogah would see if he makes it to the next round

Uncle Suru was originally recorded by Jon Ogah featuring Adekunle Gold.

At a point when the next contestant to make the top 8 finalists were between Abigail and Progress, the host of the show called them on the stage. And Progress made the list, beating Abigail through votes.

Joel (Eliminated)

• Full name: Joel Adiele
• Age: 23-year-old

Performing Easy On Me by Adele was not enough to keep Joel in the show was eliminated on Sunday, March 27, 2022.

Precious (Eliminated)

• Full name: Precious Oki
• Age: 20-year-old

Though Precious said that music is her path, her performances were not enough to book her another sport in the next round. She rocked the stage with Ckay’s single ‘Felony’

She was evicted alongside Joel on Sunday, March 27, 2022

With the above nine finalists, you have a chance to save your favourite contestants. You can do this by casting your votes to save whoever you like.

How To Vote in Nigerian Idol 2022

Below is a guide on how to vote for your favourite contestants on any of the available platforms. They are:

• MyDStv App
• MyGOtv App
• Mobile Site and Website site

For everyone who wants vote, they need to first register with their name, surname, year of birth, gender, location, and phone number

To begin, you need to register on the Nigerian Idol website at africamagic.tv/nigerianidol

• Click Vote menu item
• Choose ‘Register’ and enter the required details like your name, surname, and phoen number
• Use international format when entering your phone number e.g +234803222222
• Choose a preferred password
• OTP will be sent to your phone number, enter it
• Once OTP is entered, it confirms your registration
• To proceed to vote, select your favourite contestant
• And confirm

Note: Votes on the website are limited to 100 Votes per user.

How to Vote on MyGOtv or MyDStv App

You have to have eligible packages to vote on the MyDStv or MyGOtv App

• Download the MyDStv or MyGOtv App from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.
• Select ‘Nigeria’ as the default country if you based in Nigeria
• Use your phone number or mobile phone number and your smartcard number to access the app
• Look for the “Vote Now” button
• Click ’Register’ and enter your required details
• Enter the OTP you receive via SMS
• Once registered, go through the contestants to cast your votes
• Click vote and confirm

Voting Privileges

Votes are based on subscription packages

Sources:

1. Featured image by GOTv App
2. DSTV. “Nigerian Idol Season 7”. Dstv.com. Retrieved April 3, 2022
3. Twitter: @Nigerianidol
4. Facebook: @NigIdol
5. Instagram: @nigerianidol
6. YouTube: Africa magic