The simmering heat of the on-going Nigeria Idol season five is beginning to be felt by the contestants on parade following the elimination of Brenda and Sther from the TV Reality Show at the weekend.
Nigerian Idol presenter, Illrymz, announced their eviction from the Show during the elimination show at the weekend.
On a night that would produce two evictees from the seven contestants, the atmosphere at the OMG’s Dream Studios was visibly a mix of tension, fear, disappointment and uncertainties.
The contestants, standing before the judges and uncertain of what awaited them, clutched their fists, with some only able to stare at the comfortless roof while others attempted to mask their emotions by keeping a straight face.
Show anchor, Illrhmz, was not going to offer some respite either, but rather opted to play up the Show’s themed suspense and further unsettle the contestants.
He had called up the trio of Sther, Dolu and K-Peace to the eviction corner, but just as the audience and judges awaited the first evictee of the night, he ordered them to rejoin the rest. Not done yet, he took his turn with the quartet of Preye, Nex2, Classic Tunez and Brenda, repeating the same script.
The waiting however, was soon over as he called out K-Peace, Dolu, Preye and Sther and told the audience that Sther would be leaving the show having polled the least number of votes.
With three spots in the top 5 already taken by Dolu, Preye and K-Peace, the race for the last two was narrowed down to the trio of Brenda, Classic Tunez and Nex2.
Brenda was eventually evicted after polling the second least number of votes; it was a contrasting situation to the previous week’s results during which she polled the highest number votes.
Until their eviction, Brenda and Sther were two of the Show’s three best stage performers alongside K-Peace with very impressive showings posted week in, week out.
For Brenda, her participation in similar TV reality programmes in the past offered her a huge wealth of experience as well as added pressure.
While she brought the experience to bear on her performances on the Show, she was constantly under pressure to make a statement.
“I did not foresee this coming. I had a lot of people I wanted to prove a point to, but that has been cut short. It is just painful, but I am not disappointed,” Brenda said.
The eviction, the third for Sther, put paid to her spectacular run on the show. She had previously been evicted during the Group Stage and Top 9, but returned on each occasion following the application of the Judges’ Wild Card and Lifeline intervention measures.
With the eviction of Brenda and Sther, the five remaining contestants in contention for the Show’s first prize include Ogunmoyero Modolowamu (Dolu), Oyinkepreye Deborah Toun (Preye), Godson Goodluck (Classic Tunez), Ogunrombi Kunle (K-Peace) and Ese-Amadasun Imuetiyan (Nex2).