Mixed reactions trail The Voice Nigeria

The much anticipated Voice Nigeria Season 2 came to an end after 15 weeks on Sunday with Idyl from Team Timi emerging as winner. The show is an international reality television singing competition franchise. It is based on the reality singing competition The Voice of Holland, which was originally created by Dutch television producer, John de Mol. Many other countries had adapted the format and begun airing their own versions since 2011. John de Mol, creator of Big Brother, first created The Voice concept with Dutch singer Roel van Velzen. The concept came after de Mol was asked by Erland Galjaard, a Dutch program director, about whether he could go with a format further than The X Factor. Galjaard asked de Mol after Galjaard was excited about the Dutch version of The X Factor. So, de Mol then came with the idea of Blind Audition. He wanted to focus on singing quality alone, so the coaches must be top artistes in music industry. The rotating chairs concept was invented by Roel van Velzen. It would also be the first talent show in which social media is actively involved.

The Voice Nigeria debuted last year with an array of talents come across its stage. It also enlisted four judges, 2baba, Timi Dakolo, Waje and Patoranking. Last season saw A’rese Emokpae from Team Waje defeat social media favourite, Chike, to emerge the winner.

On Sunday, June 18, 2017, the second season of the series returned in style, and as expected, viewers tuned in to watch the contestants slug it out for this season’s crown.

For The Voice Nigeria 2016, viewers couldn’t stop singing its praises. They had found a singing competition that seemed to be getting everything right. However, according to reactions from entertainment critics and the social media reactions, its second season in 2017 leaves much to be desired. According to an online magazine, Pulse, the just concluded season of The Voice Nigeria is a contrast to its premiere edition.
Information pieced together by Friday Treat revealed much, with respondents claiming that though the technical and sound production of the show was top notch, the choice of talents, judges, among other issues posed challenges to the entire project.

Regis Uzoma, CEO BrandNet, a brand consulting agency, in a chat with Friday Treat said, “In terms of branding, The Voice Nigeria did a remarkable job with the marketing, naming, tagline, aesthetics, acoustics, sales and everything in between, making it a major challenger to say, for instance, Project Fame West Africa. But then, let us flip this a bit: Branding is not just about the tangible things such as visuals or audio, but a sum total of the perceptions and experiences your audience takes away, both tangibles and especially intangibles. This begs the question: what experience or perception did this platform leave its audience with?

“Let us take a look at the selection process of The Voice Nigeria, for many, the “steal-a-reject” selection strategy was most endearing, as it availed a talent the opportunity of a second chance. Further, the camp-based grouping of talents fostered strategic harnessing of innate potentials which made these lads loosen up more and became more expressive. I know this for a fact because I had a firsthand contact with some of the talents at Project Fame 7.0 and 8.0 regional auditions respectively. These were people who barely/rarely passed day one due to their supposed quackery.

However, in contrast to Project Fame, it appears that The Voice Nigeria did a less satisfactory job in terms of what it provided these acts. I expected that they instil upon them, something that goes way beyond the show; a value that surpasses mere financial gratifications. In Project Fame, contestants were given a thorough musical schooling on a daily basis, exposed them to the sagacity of multifarious celebrities, and were given hands-on engagements that raised the bar of value proposition in the talent management business. Unless The Voice Nigeria was less revealing in terms of this academic impact on talents, I daresay that this is a significant minus for the brand.
“Let us talk about the judges we had on the Voice platform, who by the way, are just as celebrated as those on Project Fame. They appeared to have a really loose grip on themselves, giving way to emotional outbursts that rubbed the audience the wrong way. Again, without bias, some of these judges had no business being on that platform.

“Further, I also make room for the likelihood that Voice is not trying to be anything like any other reality singing show in its brand posture, but a new form of entertainment experience altogether. If this is the case, they’re on course, but should listen for feedbacks. They mustn’t get comfortable.

Weeks ago, the discussion about the personality and actions of the judges on the show had trended on social media. Yemi Alade had replaced 2baba this year amidst cheers from fans. However, some weeks into the show, many complained about Patoranking, who was alleged to be always restless, jumping out of his chair at every opportunity.
“I enjoyed the show in its first season and 2baba was one of the best judges. All of the judges tried. However, this season, I was a bit surprised to see some of the judges off their seats too many times. Timi Dakolo is also guilty of jumping around like Patoranking, Waje had her moments but Yemi Alade, was surprisingly, the coolest judge. Though some claim it’s the Nigerian spirit but to me, it is a bit unprofessional. We see The Voice US judges Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Alicia Keys etc and they inspire the audience even while seated.

I am not against them having fun, but when it is done too many times, especially when they are supposed to be criticising and shaping careers of their talents, it becomes an issue. Their job is a serious one because the future of people rest in their hands,” said Omotunde Taiwo, an entertainment writer.

To Chisom Nwachukwu, “Patoranking, in my opinion, was the weakest link. He rarely said much about the musicology or technical aspects but would rather just give brief general comments. Most judges were mostly always praising the acts rather than criticise constructively to help them and the audience learn the craft, after all, they are professionals and superstars. I have watched Blake Shelton, Alicia Keys and even Simon Cowell, through precise criticism, challenge talents to new discoveries. It seemed the judges were unwilling to tell the contestants the truth or were scared of been criticised by their fans. After each performance, Ik would ask for the judges’ reaction all we would hear is sugar-coated comments/praises. No one was ready or willing to be a villain.”

According to an article from pulse online magazine concerning the second edition of the Voice Nigeria, they identified that over the weeks, as the competition progressed, the contestants improved their voice and stage skills. But something was still missing; the song choices.

“Choosing the wrong song turns a great performer to a good or average one, and so far this season, most contestants have gone for songs that don’t display their power, range and depth”, it said.
This, perhaps, was responsible for the not so good performances by some of the talents who ordinarily would have done better with better song choices. During the finale, three of the finalists struggled with Wizkid’s and Phyno’s songs, which even Timi confirmed during the show.

Many also wondered why Ares’e, winner from the first season, was not also part of the finale. The DNA twins, who lost out earlier in Season One but recruited by Mavin boss, Don Jazzy, held forte as finale headliners.
Ik Osakioduwa was also very commendable throughout the show as he held his ground quite commendably but critics opine that Stephanie Coker-Aderinokun, his co-host wasn’t given much to do. All she did throughout the show was handling product placement heavy segments with the contestants which some people felt the show could definitely do without.

However, the quality is no doubt one of the major reasons why Nigerians became huge fans of the show. Its quality is commendable and for the most part, the contestants lived up to the hype of the show. While the organisers and sponsors must be lauded for putting such a huge show together, Nigerians are waiting to see Idyl, winner of this year’s contest, effectively utilise the platform given him to stamp his mark and voice on the entertainment scene.