It was an unusual blend of fantastic music and nail biting suspense as Nigerian idol aired its group stages in the fabulous Christmas edition that aired last weekend. Now in its 6 th and 7 th episodes, the popular show presented to viewers the elimination of the top 100 contestants as they were pruned to 30 in a keenly contested series of performances.

“The group stages are always a mixture of emotions,” explained director Peter Bode. “It is sad to see a lot of these talents go because they represent the best 100 from around the country, it is however rewarding to see the joy on the faces of those who have made it. In the end, the toughest and the most talented make the top 30 in the competition.”

The competition started with group performances from the top 100 contestants who split up into groups of three and four. After the group performances, the judges had the unenviable task of breaking the bad news to the contestants who had to go home. Judge Yinka Davies was almost in tears as she announced some of the groups that made it into the top 40. But the competition was not over yet; this time, the top 40 had to perform duets in groups of 20. Finally, the judges selected their top 30 while the 10 who did not scale through had to leave. It was a very excited 30 contestants who sang, danced, prayed and shed tears of joy at their achievement.
The 7th episode fell on Christmas day and the talented contestants treated viewers to a very soulful and powerful rendition of popular Christmas carol ‘Jingle Bells’ at the grand Nigerian Idol stage.

This Friday, the battle is on in Nigerian Idol as 30 of Nigeria’s most talented young musicians slug it out in front of a live studio audience. The Nigerian Idol top 30 will take the competition to the next level as they fight for the chance to make it to the next stage as top 10 finalists. The show will end in April 2012 when a new Nigerian Idol is crowned at a glamorous closing gala. Yeka Onka is the season one winner and she joins a bevy of other Idol greats worldwide including Timi Dakolo, Jordin Sparks and Ruben Stoddard.

Fans of the hit show can win tickets to the live studio show as well as other give-aways from this season by visiting the websitewww.nigerianidol.com and other popular blog sites.

Nigerian Idol is proudly brought to you by Etisalat in association with Pepsi and Sony. It is also supported by Air Nigeria, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Megalectrics [owners of the Beat 99.9 FM, Classic FM, and Naija FM]