All roads lead to Akure on June 30 for the quarter finals of Ariya Repete, a talent hunt for fuji and juju musicians in the South-West where winners from Oshogbo and Abeokuta will compete with others selected in Akure, Ibadan, Ilorin, Ijebu Ode, Ado Ekiti and Lagos.
The semi-finals will take place on July 7 in Abeokuta with the grand finale scheduled for July 14 in Ibadan, Oyo State. In the quarter-finals, artistes from the different locations would be reduced to 10 and this would be further pruned to five for the grand finale where a winner, each for fuji and juju will emerge with them clinching individually a grand prize of N1 million and a recording deal.
Commenting, Portfolio Manager, Mainstream Lager and Stout brands, Emmanuel Agu, said: “Goldberg, from the stables of Nigerian Breweries Plc, is using Ariya Repete to extend its drive to discover new talents in the two indigenous Yoruba music genres and the move is in line with its commitment to promote the culture of the people of South West Nigeria.
Meanwhile, the selected artistes for the quarter final in Ado Ekiti and Ota are in high spirit. From the auditions held in both locations on Friday, May 12, five artistes emerged from the 10 that passed through the selection stage in Ado Ekiti; with the same number selected from 11 artistes in Ota, as two contestants with the same scores in the audition were paired.
In Ado Ekiti, three fuji artistes, Omoyajowo Bukola, Alabi Ganiyu and Ogunleye Gbolahan made it to the quarter final while Ademola Adesoji and Tajudeen Olusola David qualified in the juju category.
In Ota, Ajani Azeez, Abiodun Oloto, Ismaila Afefe, all fuji artistes; and Tayo Adex; Adeniyi Temitope; both juju artistes qualified for the quarter final stage to compete with winners from other auditions in Akure on June 30, 2017.
An anxious but elated Gbolahan said: “Qualifying to the next round is not enough for me, I need to enhance my skills to be better prepared.” While expressing joy, Temitope said: “It is time to train more for a better place in order to get to the semi final stage.” Also, David affirmed: “I want to make Ado Ekiti proud when it comes to being crowned the winner.”
Commenting on their performances in Ado Ekiti, Senior Brand Manager, Regional Mainstream Brand, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Funso Ayeni, said he was pleased to see such talent in young artistes that are determined to make fuji and juju music thrive among other genres.