Another night of suspense, who is going home?

The competition is hotter now, the contestants are good singers but the judges are looking out for the performance and the X factor they have to bring into the competition. So, tonight these singers needed to not only up their games to please the judges but also to escape elimination.

Earlier in the day, the ambience lit up as the excitement rose to a fever pitch with the visit of Midnight Star and SWV that rocked the world with breathtaking R&B music to the Ultima Studios, Lekki all the way from the US of A to give the contestants moral support and encourage them to be the best in all they do. They had fun so much as the contestants and uncle Ben in particular treated them to different Nigerian hits.

Back to the gist of the evening, with the conscpicous absence of the Academy Principal, award winning actress Joke Silver who is fondly referred to as 'Mummy J', the show kicked off as Ghanaian Ethel did a smooth presentation of Lucky Dube's 'Different Colours' as the other contestants on probation performed the same songs that landed them on Probation one after the other.

Then came 'judgement' time. Surprisingly, the highest vote from viewers went not to Ethel as usual, not to Rachael, but to Roy...wow! and that was how the last guy standing escaped elimination. Ethel found favour in the face of the judges as they gladly saved, Ese was saved by the Faculty. As Monica and Ruth were the contestants not on probation, it was therefore their bid to save the last contestant. While Monica rooted Rachael, Ruth voted Yvonne and the need to break the tie came and the contestant saved by the viewers was called to do this. Roy with much thought saved Yvonne and that marked the exit of our Liberian Princess and Rachael. Sadly, though Princess and Rachael brought all their energy and best into their performance, they were not lucky enough to escape the sting of elimination.

When asked how they both felt about their exit, Princess obviously felt bad but still did not forget to send all appreciation to God almighty for bringing her this far. Rachael in her own words said, 'I never imagined I'll be here at a point in my life where I didn't believe I could do anything, but here I am'. God loves me she concluded.

The evening show came to a beautiful end as they both performed Whitney Houston and Cece Winnan's 'Count on me' as it ushered in an evening of beautiful duets tomorrow.

Pretty Rachael is the daughter of a naval officer father and a mother who is a caterer. Born in June, 1989 in Lagos, she is the third amongst five daughters and grew up closely knit with her sisters (who she refers to as her best friends). She grew up an ardent music lover and joined the choir at the tender age of 6. Rachel comes across as soft spoken and reserved; but stops at nothing to sing her way into the hearts of her audience; indeed it seems that singing is where she has channeled all of her depth and energy of expression.