It was a moment of conquest, happiness and fulfillment for Robots for Christ, a Benin-based entertainment duo and contestants in the season two of the Airtel-sponsored Nigeria’s Got Talent reality show as they beat nine other finalists to the N10 Million grand prize.
Robots for Christ was declared the winner by NGT presenter, Andre Blaize at a grand finale held at the weekend at the Dream Studios in Lagos before the three celebrity judges, Dan Foster, Kate Henshaw and Yibo Koko and thousands of guests chief among which include the management and staff of Airtel Nigeria, the lead sponsor, management and staff of Optima Media Group, Malta Guinness and members of the media. Continue...
The occasion lived up to book makers’ billing as the only non-discriminatory reality show per excellence with series of fun-filled, exciting and breath taking performances from the ten finalists who sought to convey a message of unity in diversity and Bash, a stand-up comedian who captivated both guests and audience with rib-cracking jokes.
Speaking in his welcome address, the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Airtel Nigeria, Segun Ogunsanya, while congratulating the finalists for putting in their best, said the foremost telecoms operator shares in the dreams of the Nigerian youths hence the creation of worthwhile platforms such as the NGT to identify, nurture, reward and celebrate the talented.
“As an innovative company, we value talent and will always go any distance to identify and celebrate talented Nigerians. We are extremely delighted to be associated with Nigerian talents because we are passionate about creating credible platforms that celebrate and reward innovation and originality. The Airtel brand is not just red, bold and jazzy but youthful, exciting, unique and full of fun,” he said
The Airtel Chief Executive also reiterated the commitment of the company to the brand vision of becoming the most loved brand in the daily lives of Nigerians.
His word, “We are committed to driving our brand vision of being the most loved brand in the daily lives of Nigerians. As a company, we are passionate about building reputable platforms for the celebration of talented Nigerians, we will continue to support initiatives that will bring excitement and happiness to the door steps of all our stakeholders. We have been consistent in bringing laughter, pure joy, excitement and plenty of fun to the homes of Nigerians through our various platforms”
Ogunsanya also listed some of the other platforms through which Airtel has been bringing excitement to Nigerians homes asides Nigeria’s Got Talent to include, Airtel Rising Stars,Tinsel, partnership with Arsenal Football Club, Big Brother Africa, the Lagos Countdown Festival, CSR-based Adopt-A-School initiative among several others.
In his own speech, the Group Managing Director of Optima Media Group, Rotimi Pedro said the whole idea of the multi-talent reality is to create a platform that would help to discover talented individuals, put them on stage in the hope they would cut a career for themselves.
He also revealed that Got Talent franchise has a global franchise currently in 53 countries making it the most wide travelled and most watched by households.
Top dignitaries on the bill of Airtel who accompanied the CEO-Ogunsanya and his wife in gracing the event include Maurice Newa, Chief Commercial Officer; Mrs. Segun Ogunsanya; Jibril Saba, Director of Human Resources; Obinna Aniche, Director, Brand and Marketing; Nitin Anand, Products and Services; Ajay Bakshi, Director, Customer Service Delivery; Rama Krishna, Director, Supply Chain; Dinesh Balsingh, Director, Segment and U &R; Rahul Chaudhari, Director, Marketing and Revenue Planning; Adebayo Osinowo, Regional Operations Director, Lagos; Wole Abu, GM Acquisitions; Ifeanyi Egbuawa, Senior Manager, Brand Assets, and, Adefemi Adeniran, Head of PR.
The Airtel NGT 2 train had successfully combed the nation for talents for months beginning with regional auditions in eight cities across the nation followed by theatre auditions in Lagos from which the top 40 were selected to participate in the semi-finals in groups of eight over a period of five weeks with two best acts from each group going through to the finals.
The other finalists include Laff Doctor, David, Korede Odukale, Daniel ‘8 Strings’ Azuka, C.I.D Squad, D’ Flex, Elevators NG, Praize Puppets and D Naturals
The show commenced on October 9 with nation-wide auditions in select cities including Abuja, Port- Harcourt, Asaba, Calabar, Enugu, Benin, Ibadan and Lagos .The semi-finals opened on December 29 while the finals held weekend of February 8, 2014.
It is the only talent competition show that is open to any age and any talent, with auditions taking the show to numerous cities in search of a one-of-a-kind gifted or skilled individual.
Nigeria’s Got Talent is sponsored by Airtel and is ably supported by Malta Guinness, Tetrazzinni, Soul Mate Hair Products and Nig.info among other partners.
Airtel’s NGT 2 was shown on both terrestial and satelite TV stations including NTA Network (5-6 pm), STV Network (9-10pm) Ontv(6-7pm), Soundcity on Dstv(6-7pm), Hip TV on Dstv & Gotv (Channel 324-8-9pm), V Channel on Startines (Channel 124-8-9pm), Oodua TV on Startimes (Channel 112-8-9pm), A+ Channel on Mobile Tv(8-9pm),Wap TV on Startimes (Channel Ii6-7-8pm), Amc on Startimes (Channel 144-8-9pm).
Meanwhile, the Result Show is aired on both terrestial and satelite TV stations including NTA Network (3.30-4 pm), STV Network (7.30-8pm) Ontv(6-6.30pm), Soundcity on Dstv(6-6.30pm), Hip TV on Dstv & Gotv (Channel 324-8-8.30pm), V Channel on Startines (Channel 124-8-8.30pm), Oodua TV on Startimes (Channel 112-8-8.30pm), A+ Channel on Mobile Tv(8-8.30pm),Wap TV on Startimes (Channel Ii6-9.30-10pm), Amc on Startimes (Channel 144-7.30-8pm).
