On the night of Saturday, 13 June, 2015, Ogunrombi
Olakunle Koya, also known as K-Peace, emerged winner of the
Etisalat-sponsored Nigerian Idol Season 5.
At an exquisite grand finale show held inside the Dream Studio,
Omole, Lagos, 32-year-old K-Peace beat arch-rival and co-finalist, Ogunmoyero
Modoluwamu, with stage name Dolu, to cart home a brand new SUV, cash prize of
N7.5 million and a mouth-watering international recording deal with Universal
Music Company.
“I am overwhelmed getting to this stage today because I faced
tougher and amazing talents, especially Dolu. I thank the sponsors of this
competition for giving me the opportunity to pursue my dream,” an elated
K-Peace said after beingn crowned the winner of the competition after voting
results were collated by Alexander Forbes.
K-Peace and Dolu emerged the final two contestants in the music
talent reality show after scaling different stages of auditions involving
thousands of people that auditioned in Benin, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan and
Lagos five months ago.
The contestants were reduced initially to
100 and finally 12 that battled week in, week out for the coveted prize until
the last day.
During Saturday’s grand finale, K-Peace, renowned for his
dexterity in fusing Fuji into many of the songs he performed throughout his
stint at the competition, won the hearts of the judges and the studio audience
including his (K-Peace’s) mother, wife and daughter, with his classy rendition
of Kiss Daniel’s ‘Woju’ and later Sir Shina Peters’ chartbuster, ‘Ijo Shina’.
Both performances earned him a standing
ovation and accolades from all.
Equally-talented and vocal power house Dolu, a 25-year-old civil
servant from Ondo State, as first runner-up received a cash prize of N1.5
million and a brand new saloon car, while the second runner-up Nex2 got N1 million.
Francesco Angelone, Chief Marketing Officer, Etisalat Nigeria,
said at the event that the company is living up to its reputation as a
lifestyle brand that is passionate about the youth and it recognised Nigerian
Idol as a veritable platform to identify, nurture and celebrate young talented
Nigerians.
“Nigerian Idol is one of our platforms to celebrate the Nigerian
youths. This season, all the contestants have been amazing in their individual
right and K-Peace particularly has been outstanding from the audition stage and
we are glad that the voting public has crowned a winner deserving of his
crown,” Angelone said.
Rotimi Pedro, Chairman, Optima Media Group (OMG), franchise
owner of Nigerian Idol, was equally excited at the emergence of K-Peace, who he
believed has a bright future in the music industry.
“Our joy at Nigerian Idol is, the more we do this, the more talents
we discover and the good thing is that the winner, K-Peace, has the ability to
blend Fuji and ‘R&B’ and we believe that the young man will do very well in
the music industry,” Pedro said.
K-Peace will be joining the growing list of exceptionally-talented
young Nigerian artistes discovered via Etisalat-Sponsored Nigerian Idol.
The past winners since its debut in 2010 are Yeka Onka (2011),
Mercy Chinwo (2012), Moses Adigwe (2013) and Evelle Zibilli (2014), all of whom
have regularly graced numerous entertainment and musical events nationwide.
The grand finale was characterised by superlative performances
and jaw-dropping moments from the top 12 finalists, Dance Na the Main Thing
(DNMT), a choreography and dance group, and comedy by Acapella. The Season 5 judges,
Dede Mabiaku, Yinka Davies and Darey Alade, also took turns to put up
exceptional performances.
The show was rounded off by Nigerian international soul singer,
Asa, who flew in from her base in France.
She did three songs from her current album, Beds of Stone:
‘Satan Be Gone’, ‘Eyo’ and ‘Moving On (Where Do People Go?)’.
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