Nigerians Use Their Numbers To Try To Outmuscle Kenyans Out Of The Most Competitive Reality Show In Africa

Am I the only one who feels like there is a plot to ensure that all the Kenyans taking part in the TECNO Own The Stage karaoke competition are eliminated from the show?

I could be wrong – and I hope I am – but with the way Kenyans have been dumped out of the show recently I doubt if any of our representatives will be coming back home with the $25,000 (Kes 2.5nMillion) star prize.

Three episodes ago there were five Kenyans left on the show – Ramar254, Mary, Yubu, Pascal and Sikin – compared to just one Nigerian (Shaapera) and a Tanzanian (Nandy).

But by the end of last Sunday’s episode only Pascal and Sikinremain in contention for the big bucks on the show currently taking place in Nigeria. Which leads to my earlier question on whether there is a plot to get rid of Kenyans from the show and balance things up?

You can watch Episode 10 by following this link: http://goo.gl/gvew5C

When Yubu was eliminated three weeks ago (alongside the Nigerian, Tosin, and the Tanzanian, Zooccu), there was absolutely no reason for it as the judges – Bien, Yemi and M.I. – could have eliminated two rather than three contestants.

There was no forewarning that more than one contestant would be heading home at the end of the episode as our boy had satisfactorily performedThe Eagles’ 1976 Grammy award-winning track ‘Hotel California’.

But despite what appeared to be a good performance, YemiAladeand M.I. were unanimous in their verdict that that they expected more from Yubuwho, in their opinion, needed to take more risks if he hoped to remain in contention for the star prize. More risks? To what purpose would that serve?

Two weeks ago, two Kenyans (Ramar254 and Mary) were shortlisted for evictionalongside Shaapera.But in the end the judges went for Mary, who had been made to perform ‘Bottom Belle’, a song written by the Nigerian artiste, Omawumi.

Why should a Kenyan be made to perform a song by a Nigerian; a song not sang in the English language but in the ‘infamous’ Nigerian pidgin. It’s not like we have seen Shaapera perform any Kenyan song since the start of the show but we regularly see contestants from other countries trying to perform Nigerian songs. And that is not an easy thing to do.

True, Ramar254, who became the third Kenyan to be eliminated in successive weeks, did not sing a Nigerian song in last weekend’s episode; he sang Sauti Sol’s ‘Money Lover’ and deservedly got rebuked by Bien for missing his lines. But so did the other contestants, except Shaapera who (once again) sang a Nigerian song – Yemi’s ‘Johnny’.

But if we are to go by the major reason given by the judges for evicting Ramar254, it’s because he has been performing below par in the past couple of weeks.

We don’t know how Sikin has been getting by because she has performed as many songs of Nigerian origin as Shaapera has, or how Pascal was able to totally transform M.I.’s song into something worth listening to in the last episode. Maybe it’s just that inbred spirit of excellence that we Kenyans have that has stood her out from the crowd.But the rules (if there are rules) need to be changed a bit to allow for a level-playing field for all the contestants.

And that means changes need to be made regarding the judges. Or why should there be two judges from Nigeria and only one from Kenya? There is not even a Tanzanian on the judging panel. The only Tanzanian associated with the show is AY, who is one of the contestants’ mentors; a role also performed by our darling Anto Neo Soul.

Furthermore on the judges, it is too apparent that Yemi is extremely fond of Shaapera.

She did likewise for Toyin before the latter got evicted from the show, but it was not nice watching her praising Shaapera in that Nigerian pidgin that we find so hard to understand in this part of the world.

Agreed, Shaapera has been quite good on the show, but Yemi should try and forget she’s a Nigerian and be fair to all the contestants. Abino be so (please, pardon my Nigerian pidgin)?

Also, what right does M.I. have to take a swipe at Bien on last weekend’s episode?

The Nigerian, while attempting to ‘defend’ Ramar254’s rendition of ‘Money Lover’, said: “I don’t know who wrote that song. I don’t know what group sang that song but that was a terrible piece of music.”

For someone who has never taken off his shades since the show’s commencement many weeks ago, he should know that Bien has no equal in Africa as far as song writing is concerned. He should show more respect to our ambassador.

I am sure the whole of Kenya must have yelled in delight when Bien, much later on the show, took a swipe at the Nigerian rapper while appraising Pascal’s good delivery of a song from M.I. that “he had never heard, and from an artiste he had previously never heard of.”

Bien’s jibe was so well delivered that we only wished M.I. didn’t have those shades on so that we would be able to tell whether he cried afterwards or not.

On the plus side though, Yemi needs to let us in on who designs her outfits as she has been stealing the spotlight from everyone, including the lovely VimbaiMutinhiri with her well-tailored dresses.

I just can’t wait to see what she would be donning on the next show where I, like the whole of Kenya, expect Sikin and Pascal to shine once more and progress to the next round.

So mark the date and time on your calendar, follow the contest on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and don’t miss the next episode on the various Africa Magic channels and on Masha Magic East. Broadcast times are as follows:

Africa Magic Showcase – Sundays at 19:00 CAT

Africa Magic Urban – Sundays at 21:00 CAT

Africa Magic Family – Wednesdays at 19:00 CAT

Masha Magic East – Tuesdays at 18:30 CAT.