The suspense at the Dream Studios, Ikeja, Lagos was intense when Nigerian Idol host, Ill Rhymz, called out the names of contestants voted by the public to advance to the next stage of the Etisalat-sponsored reality show last Saturday. The competition now in its fourth season witnessed a surge in emotions especially by the Judges when Antwon, Nex2 and Obed were discovered to have got the least votes at the close of the voting period. Already, Beebee Bassey, Nyro Love, Xolani, Jesse Ray, Evelle, Eye-D and Miss Oge were announced as the Top 9 contestants ‘safe’ in the competition for another week.

 Nigerian Idol Judge, Nneka, in sharing her thoughts on the results, made no effort to conceal her emotions, saying that it did not matter to her if she was on TV. Her fellow male Judges, Darey and Dede also expressed shock. The three Judges then used their collective lifeline to save Antwon, a choice that was difficult to make.
At the Nigerian Idol, the Judges’ lifeline is only available once and is activated during the Top 12 stage of the competition. The use of this lifeline implies that the Judges can no longer save any contestant they deem fit to continue in the competition.

A visibly shaken Antwon, who could not believe his luck when his name was called out by Dede, said he was honoured to be the recipient of the only lifeline in the competition. “It means the Judges believe in me, for them to have chosen to keep me on the show. I am truly grateful for that and I will not let them down,” he said. 
The two evicted contestants, Obed and Nex2, though sad that their journey to the ultimate prize had been cut short, said they were grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of the competition.

The competition just got tougher with ten contestants left in the race to be Nigeria’s music idol. Nigerians are advised to keep voting for their favourite contestant by texting the contestant’s number from an Etisalat line or sending the number to 33680 via SMS to help him/her earn a spot in the next stage.