Otapo Bata Drummers Win Goldberg Excellency Tour

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Otapo Bata Drummers from Abeokuta have emerged winners at the traditional drummers contest at the kick-off event of the Goldberg Excellency Tour in Abeokuta. The group outperformed four other groups at the grand finale to cart home the coveted prize of Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira.

Ayanwale Drummers clinched the second position and won One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira (N150, 000) while Omo Aribido Drummers claimed the third spot and settled for the One Hundred Thousand Naira (N100, 000) on offer for the slot. The other two finalists, Ayandare Drummers and Paramount Band got Fifty Thousand Naira (N50,000) each.

At the commencement of the event, 12 groups auditioned at the cultural centre, venue of the event, with five groups emerging from the pool to reach the grand finale.

The traditional drummers contest which was organised as part of the Goldberg Excellency Tour kicked off with a procession through the major streets of Abeokuta and attracted a huge turnout of residents who were delighted by performances from drummers, praise singers and dancers. The procession helped to pull a large turnout of residents who trooped to the venue of the contest to support their groups during the different performances.

Speaking at the finale, the Senior Brand Manager, Regional Mainstream Brands, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Mr. Funso Ayeni, stated that Goldberg Excellency Tour is scheduled for five other cities: Ilorin, Ado Ekiti, Ikare Akoko, Ile Ife and Benin City.

While commenting on their victory, the leader of Otapo Bata Drummers, Mr. Afolabi Mufutau, said it is a thing of joy to see his group clinch the first prize after putting in putting in many hours of hard work in preparation for the competition.
The Goldberg Excellency Tour is coming on the heels of the unveiling of Goldberg lager beer as ‘Your Excellency’ and it is in line with the brand’s unique credentials that position it in a class of its own, away from its peers in the market.

Show of Creativity on Big Brother Naija
The task demanded that housemates create two separate shows: a dance drama and a mini music performance by four different groups. The dance drama was choreographed by TallThinTony who is a professional dancer. Everyone brought out their A-game to the delight of viewers and approval of Biggie. The songs were original and written by housemates.

The drama depicted the struggles when climbing the success ladder and the various challenges faced whether from family and the society. TBoss played the lead character and for a Business Development Officer, she gave a good account of herself. She played the role of a young talented artist who wanted to pursue her dreams of being the next Pablo Picasso but got a lot of resistance from her father, her friends and even her community.
Many years down the line, she came back home, a successful artist and everyone including her father who destroyed her first artwork, came out to celebrate her success.

For a show that has received so much mixed reaction, the task did a lot to improve the perception of housemates by viewers. Lately, social media has been buzzing with various negative commentaries on how the show promotes pornography and indecent behaviour calling house mates simpletons for being willing tools in the hands of Biggie. This view was heightened with housemates’ favourite games of ‘Truth or Dare’ or ‘Confession’. It does not help matters that they also enjoy the kissing festival, forcing viewers to think less of their professionalism and more of their romantic and emotional sides.

The housemates are from diverse professional background and have displayed various forms of intelligence during the course of the show.
It may not have been a deliberate plan by the organizers of the show but it seems all the housemates have one form of talent or the other for the entertainment industry including music, dance, stage play, movies and production.

A quick search on the internet produced music videos released by Soma, Bisola, Debbie Rise and Jon. Debbie Rise’s Cunny Cunny has over 56,000 views and Jon’s Uncle Suru has made viewers call on Don Jazzy, the boss of Marvin Records to sign him up as soon as he leaves the Big Brother house. There are some people who swear that CoCoIce’s Emi lo mo na sounds like a reincarnation of one of the late DaGrin’s production, who was known and loved for his brand of vernacular rap.

Today, at least one housemate will be evicted from the house. The tension in the house is however in double douse because Biggie annulled the nomination votes this week. The fear factor was again heightened when Biggie dared housemates in a superstitions and phobia themed task. A twist to the task was for housemates to eat an ‘abnormally’ prepared food, failure of which one of their secrets will be revealed to the house. As is traditional with Biggie, this is yet another challenge which housemates will have to ‘swallow’ literarily in order to avoid certain secrets coming to light. Someone like Tripple T should be careful before his closely guarded secret comes to light.