Yippeeee! It’s Christmas. The yuletide began early for us as the contestants took the competition to another level of excitement. In the spirit of the season, the Play House Choir joined the contestants to usher us into a beautiful Carol Night and an evening of personal compositions.

Monica started off singing ‘Do you hear what I hear?’ The judges were full of her praise after this smooth rendition. Next was Ethel who brought us to a ‘jazzy Christmas’ with her beautiful rendition of ‘White Christmas’. Roy stepped up the ambience with a classic rendition of ‘What Child is this’? Yvonne was so on-point with her version of ‘The First Noel’,  so also was Ruth whose performance of ‘Oh Holy Night’ pierced into the soul of everyone, while Ese brought a traditional feel to the season with a lovely performance ‘Gbo Ohun Awon Angeli ti nkorin’. It was a Yoruba carol song which got everyone dancing in excitement. It was indeed an awesome night!

Taking the performance to another level, the contestants brought up the game as they performed their own personal compositions. They were all very striking with their writing, arrangement, and performance skills. TY Mix did not fail to commend the depth of their talent. Ethel’s ‘Melody’ was quite striking especially with her description of birds and the ‘ti-ti-ti.....pow’ chorus. Ruth also did so much with languages as she sang her own ‘Mo n bo wale’. Ese dedicated her song to lovers which actually would pass for a wedding song. Roy did a beautiful one which he dedicated to ‘The African Child’, Yvonne sang ‘I Will Fly Away’, and Monica’s ‘Na you i want’. She sang in her language and ended her performance in tears.

As if all these performances weren’t enough, the evening came to a climax with the contestants s ending the show with a medley of K’naan’s ‘Waving Flag’ and Shakira’s ‘Waka Waka’.

The fate of the winner still lies in your hands as it is viewers votes that will determine the winner. So to vote for your favourite, text his/her unique number to 306 from an MTN line if in Nigeria, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. If in Ghana, text to 1739 even as the competition draws to a close. To make your favourite contestant ‘Ese(4), Ethel(5), Monica(10), Roy(13), Ruth(14) and Yvonne(16)’ the winner, text his/her unique number to 306 from an MTN line if in Liberia, Nigeria, or Sierra Leone. But peeps in Ghana can text to 1739.

African night on MTN Project Fame West AFRICA was original and fresh. The contestants and presenters all decked in stylish and elegant African motifs, coupled with first class performances.

In the first segment, the contestants performed duets: Yvonne paired with Roy to perform Onyeka Owenu and Sunny Ade's 'Wait for Me' and the judges thought their teamwork was great and the performance honest and enjoyable.

Ese paired with Ethel  to render 'Miracle' by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. The judges commended their performance noting that although the pair had voices as different as night and day, they succeeded in blending their voices and achieving balance. Ruth and Monica brought the house down performing 'Yori Yori' by Brackett. The judges thought they were lacking in their singing and team work, even though they scored an A on performance.

The second segment opened with Yvonne's performance of 'Kuchi Kuchi' by Jodie. The judges praised her for pushing herself beyond status quo, but noted that she could do better. Ese was next performing Waje's 'For a Minute'. The judges thought she sounded tired, but agreed that she did justice to the song. The Faculty disagreed with the judges and opined that what the judges interpreted as tiredness was merely the contestant interpreting the song.

The Ghanaian Ethel delivered an electric performance of Whiz Kid's 'Holla at your Boy'. The judges were impressed by the fact that Ethel gave the song her own interpretation, beautifully, rather than attempting to replicate whiz kid's character. Roy delighted the judges and audience as he performed D'Banj's 'Scape Goat'. The Faculty and judges noted that he had done something extra ordinary as it was no child's play singing a D'Banj song. Ruth performed Tiwa Savage's 'Kele Kele Love'. The judges noted that although her performance was excellent, her singing was shrill and loud as she very much misplaced the mood of the song and was too dramatic in her delivery.

Monica closed the night with her super performance Tu-Face's 'Only Me'. She had the crowd on their feet and the judges in awe at the way she had delivered a Tu Face song to perfection; Kwame even promised to ask Tu-Face's management to allow Monica remix the song!

At the end of the show, the judges grudgingly yielded the authority to place them on probation to viewers. So now the competition is stiff as their survival depends on your votes. To save any of them, text their unique number - Ese(4), Ethel(5), Monica(10), Roy(13), Ruth(14) and Yvonne(16) from an MTN line, if in Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, but text to 1739 if in Ghana.

It’s reggae night where the remaining contestants had to sing their hearts out to escape probation but some were not so lucky enough to escape.

Gorgeous Ese started the evening beautifully with Bob Marley’s ‘Who the cap fits’ and Kwame was forced to pay for this flawless performance. Sassy Ruth got everyone yearning for more with her electrifying performance of Bob Marley’s ‘Buffalo Soldier’. Dressed the part and with corresponding attitude she wowed everyone.

Ghanaian Ethel also smoothly sang ‘Different Colours’ by Lucky Dube and then came soft spoken Rachael who with her high pitched tone sang Gregory Isaacs ‘Number One’.

The classics "By the rivers of Babylon" and "The Earth song" by Micheal Jackson were beautifully combined and performed by all 10 contestants featuring PlayHouse Voices, who glided in beautifully, taking everyone by surprise. This heralded the other songs on this night of evergreen songs.

Princess started the night with an emotion-racked "I am going down" by Rose Royce. The emotions were so intense it looked like she was going to cry. Both the judges and faculty were pleased and commended it as her best performance yet. Another passionately delivered performance from Rachael singing ‘Loving you’ by Minnie Ripeton got Nomoreloss to doff his cap for her performance, and both the judges and faculty on their feet. Isaac's "Just the two of Us" by Billy Withers was a beauty to watch as he sung passionately to his partner across a romantic flowered table.

Yvonne's rendition of "I will survive’ by Gloria Gaynor was riveting and the judges commended her growth although wanted to see more emotion. Ruth seemed to get off to a poor start as she began "Respect" by "Aretha Franklyn" and the judges caught on immediately too. Roy's attempt at Barry white's "My first, my last, my everything" was a good try, but the judges were expecting even more, the same was true for Ese who did Mary J. Blige's ‘Never too much’ about which the judges felt was below her usual exceptional performances.

Ethel's "Superwoman" by Karyn White was considered by the judges as not passionate enough for this stage of the competition. Velma singing ABBA's ‘I have a dream’ looked good but the judges picked up her flaws and handed out their judgement.

After all sung and done, the suspense of nomination for probation gripped all in the new ultima studio, as Tee Y Mix called the first contestant on probation out, it was Isaac, then Ethel and also Ese, Roy, Ruth, Velma. Of the six on probation only Ese has never been on the block before.

If you want any of them back in the academy  then start voting now, send their unique number to 306 from an MTN in Nigeria and Liberia and in Sierre Leone to 306 from a Comium line. Viewers in Ghana should send the unique number to 1739 from an MTN line.

With the eviction of Aziga and Zaliha on Saturday, the contestants are beginning to sit up and understand the intensity of the competition. It’s another day at the University of Lagos where the contestants would be treating us to Urban Contemporary Music.


Monica opened the floor with a classic and energetic presentation of Amerie’s ‘One Thing’. She had the audience screaming with delight, wowed the judges and her fellow contestants. Velma did not drop the standard when she performed Celine Dion’s ‘Because You Love Me’. Joba as well tried his best with John Legend’s ‘I Used to Love You’, but his best was not good enough for the judges. Next was Rachael singing Jordin Spark’s ‘Battle Field’ with smooth adlibs but the judges felt it could have been better.

The contestants were all in high spirits, gorgeously decked and ready to give their best, after yesterday’s display of forgiveness by the judges, that saw noone sent home.

To spice up the show Bez was present as a guest artiste and judge, along with him was Matilda Duncan who gave sharp insights in the absence of TY Mix and Nomoreloss.

Chidinma opened with a beautiful rendition of ‘Listen’ by Beyonce and it was a great way to start. This ushered in gentle Zaliha who with a chic, naughty school girl look performed Adele’s ‘Rolling in the deep’, as a matter of fact it wasn’t an easy song to render, the judges remarked. Big boy Isaac was next to perform ‘Water runs dry’ by Boyz 11 Men which the judges felt he struggled with. Calm and collected Aziga must have felt so good with himself after successfully singing Lionel Richie’s ‘Stuck on you’. But the judges felt there’s still more this Port Harcourt dude could do. Liberian Princess sure dressed like a priceless princess as she elegantly performed Whitney Houston’s ‘Greatest Love’.

The effect of yesterday’s eviction was still very fresh in the air as the contestants began to realise the essence of the competition. It was another night where they all gave it their best to escape the judge’s probation list.

Opening the floor was the sonorous Port Harcourt girl, Chidinma. She held everyone spellbound as she rendered ‘Wind beneath my wings’ by Betty Midler. The judges commended the tone of her voice and the personal feel she gave the song, but reminded her to be careful with pitching to avoid the risk of shouting. Next was beautiful Saro girl, Velma doing ‘From this moment’ by Shania Twain. The judges enjoyed her performance but pointed out that she could have done better than what she did, and the faculty promised to work on her.