It was a day of mixed feelings, tension and surprises, as the first three contestants to make it to the Top 12 in the Etisalat-sponsored Nigerian Idol season 4, were chosen by viewers. The lucky three: Lisa Omoregebe, Jesse Okonkwo and popular Elvis Ejiro, were among the first group of 10 who slugged it out last weekend during the first Top 30 stage performance.

The results of the first voting stage however left judges Dare, Nneka and Dede shocked at the audience’s decision to vote out some of the contestants they saw as promising talents.

 Reacting on behalf of the judges on the evicted contestants, one of the Judges, Nneka Egbuna, said that the eviction of some of the contestant is the biggest surprise she has witnessed so far on the show. “Frankly speaking, I am very surprised with the result of the votes gathered. I am really shocked seeing some real good contestants leaving the show today because they got few votes. We will do all we can to bring some of them back using our wild card.”

Nneka went on to charge the audience to vote for their favourite talent as this is a critical stage for the contestants.

The second set of 10 contestants in the top 30 stage performed on Sunday. There were impressive performances from Jahtell, Eye-D, Shola, Henry Mc-John, Nex2, Xolani, Joy, Victoria, Dawn and Miss Oge. The judges spared no words as they urged the performers to exercise more enthusiasm and stop “playing safe” with their performance, commending Eye-D, Henry, Xolani, Victoria and Jahtell for an impressive performance.

Now that ten more contestants in the top 30 group have sung for the world to judge their talents, the decision on which 3 moves to the next stage is left for viewers to decide. To vote, viewers simply need to dial the number of their favourite contestant on an Etisalat line or send the contestant’s number to 33680 via SMS.