Vanessa Obioha
TALENTS ON DISPLAY reports that the grand finale of Season 7 of the Christian-centred God’s Children Got Talent attracted an eclectic myriad of youths and adults who came to witness a masterly display of diverse incredible creative talents
You could feel the palpable tension in the packed hall of the Eko Convention Centre, Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos, as the hosts Uti Nwachukwu and Ayo Thompson prepared to reveal the first bottom five of God’s Children Great Talent Season 7. The gamut of emotions displayed on the faces of both adults and children bore similar expressions of anxiety. The evening had been a spectacular one. So much incredible talents from the 10 finalists had probably left the audience with more than one favourite, or perhaps a change of mind.
Who could blame them? This year’s edition was a keenly contested one that got millions of viewers glued to their TV screens for the weekly shows.
Arguably, children talent shows are not too popular in Nigeria. The few shows hardly garner much devotion compared to other talent shows. However, God’s Children Great Talent proved otherwise not only as the only Christian-centred talent quest for children and teens between ages five and twenty, but also as a model for seamless production. The latter was greatly achieved via the combined efforts of Darey Art-Alade’s Livespot Creative Agency and leading app platform, Unity. It is a known fact that most reality shows in Nigeria revolve round music. Hardly can one find a reality show that effortlessly marry other forms of creative arts on one platform. In a bid to recognise and celebrate talents in God’s children, GCGT embraces talents in four major categories: Music, Dance, Comedy and Spoken Word. The music category embraces all forms of music; be it rap, singing, or instrument playing.
For the first time since its debut six years ago, the talent show recorded the highest number of entrants. Over 10, 000 entrants registered while over 6, 000 showed up for the auditions in three regional locations: Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. The number was further pruned to 20 semi-finalists who made it to the academy /boot camp where their talents were further drilled by professionals as well as mentored on leadership by renowned leaders like Tonye Cole of the Sahara Group and Herbert Wigwe of HOW Foundation. Out of these emerged the 10 finalists battling for the ultimate reward of N10m cash prize, N250m management deal and a Kia Rio car. They were Anderson Peter (Saxophonist), Goodluck Enoch (Rapper), Olawonuola Kehinde (Dancer), Sophia Albert (Spoken word artist), Nengi Jaja (Singer), Deborah Oladipupo (Drummer), Esther Benyeogo (Singer), Damilare Bafunso (Saxophonist), Joseph Odi (Drummer), and Emmanuel Osahor (Dancer).
It wasn’t going to be an easy feat for the young finalists whose ages were within the range of 8-20 years old. It called for endless rehearsals with their coaches to perfect their talents. They had to impress the judges: prolific music producer and engineer Tee-Y Mix; awardwinning singer and songwriter, Omawumi; and eclectic dancer and choreographer, Kaffy. And of course the audience whose votes would also count in the overall result.
So penultimate Saturday, an eclectic myriad of youths stormed the venue to witness the phenomenal grand-finale of the talent show for God’s children. Decked in their casual and formal outfits, even school uniforms, they posed on the blue carpet for selfies and wefies. Proud