Are Music Talent Hunt Shows Relevant In Today’s Nigerian Music Industry?

We laugh till we cry when we watch their auditions. We follow their exploits religiously when the show proper begins and even use our airtime to make sure our favorite contestant emerge tops at the end of the day. But what happens to the eventual winner after the end of the competition filled with intense coaching and competition?

From Project Fame West Africa to Star Quest, Nigerian Idols and many others, these music talent hunt shows have kept us glued to our seats and our eyes fixed on our television screens whenever they are on. But alas, more often than not, nothing is heard from the eventual winner and he/she goes on to make little or no impact in the ever-growing music industry. This is not so in, for example, the United States, where past winners of talent hunt shows like Jennifer Hudson and One Direction have gone on to make a significant impact in their music industry.

The Nigerian music industry, as it stands today, seem to be all about making commercial songs with little regards to lyrical content and the artiste’s vocal ability. These days, it is common place to have tracks that are purely hinged on the wonderful beats from the amazing producers who also use auto-tunes to cover up some really bad voices. In this light, it is hard to imagine some of today’s biggest hit makers such as Terry G, Timaya and even Dbanj winning any of these numerous talent hunt shows. These guys might not have the angelic voices which the contestants of the talent hunt shows have but they are entertainers and are constantly churning out hits after hits. Simply put, these guys have studied the Nigerian music scene and know exactly what the people want.

To further buttress the point that winning any talent hunt show does not guarantee a successful stint in the Nigerian music industry, it is imperative that we take a look at some of the past winners of these shows and see those that have gone on to have a successful career.

PROJECT FAME WEST AFRICA

This is arguably the biggest of the shows, spanning the entire West African sub region. It involves contestants from Ghana, Sierra Leone and Liberia alongside that of Nigeria. Auditions are held in the various countries where the best of them are invited to the show proper which is held in Nigeria. Since the show began a few years ago, there has been five winners namely; Iyanya, Mike, Chidinma, Monica, Ayo and most recently, Olawale. Iyanya was the first winner in 2008 and it would be noticed that since then, it took him about four years before he could have his major hit in the industry with his ‘Kukere’ track. The track itself follows the normal pattern of modern day hits by relying on a super beat with continuous chants of the bridge and chorus. The verses lack any depth and his vocal ability was not tested at all. Never the less, the song was still the biggest hit made that year and fully announced Iyanya as one of the Grade A artistes in the country.

Taking a cursory look at the others who, in the past, have emerged as past winners of the competition, it will be noticed that only Chidinma has succeeded in having an instant impact in the industry with her two singles, Jankoliko and Kedike, having being hits in their own rights. It remains to be seen whether Olawale will go the way of Chidinma by having in instant hit or follow in Iyanya’s path by going through a lull at first before blowing up in the industry.

 

NIGERIAN IDOLS

This is another major music reality show. It debuted in 2010 and the previous winners, Yeka Onka and Mercy, have had a negligible impact in the industry. One would have expected that with their coming out tops at the show, they will go on to make an even greater impact in the industry. This has not been so, at least, as at the time of writing. Moses, who emerged tops of the most recent edition just this past week, will be looking to correct this anomaly.

STAR QUEST

This, perhaps, is the longest running music reality show on TV. It runs on a different format from the other shows because it is based on band contest. It requires the housemates to form a band made up of instrumentalists and vocalists and then the bands formed go head-to-head against each other. Names like KC Presh, D’Accord, D’Jewels, Diamondz, Juke box, The B.E.A.T. and Crystals have been winners in past seasons of the show. As good an initiative as this band format seems to be, it has not had the impact it was meant to have. The band or group culture does not seem to work in Nigeria. The reason for this is still quite unknown but most groups eventually tend to break up and go their solo ways. Examples can be seen in the case of Plantashun Boiz, The Remedies, Trybesmen, and even past winners of this music reality show, KC Presh. Also, only KC, after breaking up with his partner, Presh, seems to have made his mark in the industry as the others are largely nowhere to be seen.

CONCLUSION

From the analysis above, it has been very obvious that majority of those that win these reality shows do not necessarily end up having successful music careers. This does not however mean that the shows are useless.  In fact it is very useful to the individual artiste as it introduces them to the art of stage performance. Some of the shows also give the contestants rigorous vocal trainings and mentorship.

The peculiar nature of our music industry, where the listening audience prefer the beats to real good music, has ensured that the training given to these contestants during the reality show is as good as useless. What the reality shows should focus on now is to find a way of nurturing the contestants’ vocal ability to be more suited to our kind of songs. This way, with their angelic voices, they would rule the airwaves as even those without the voice are making hits after hits.