Photos: Joe Thomas & Brandy Perform In Nigeria

We had so much fun at the MTN Project Fame West Africa Gala on Sunday night!

Brandy totally blew us away with her amazing performance and D’banj rocked the stage as always. The gala was a “live taping” for a future episode of MTN Project Fame so there were lots of “stop and start” moments.

It was great to see Brandy in person, performing for the first time in Nigeria. R&B veteran Joe who replaced scheduled performer The Game also delivered though we have seen him perform a few times before in Lagos. D’Banj, D’Prince, Iyanya and many other MTNPFWA stars did well. Overall, it was a great night out.

Here is our recap of the event by BN Contributor, Izie Igodan then check out the official press release for the show below and BN’s exclusive photos from the concert.

Season 4 of MTN Project Fame West Africa kicked off at the Expo Hall in Eko Hotel on Sunday night. All together, there were 19 contestants battling for a seat in the house. As each contestant walked on stage to receive their verdict, the air was tense as the judges handed out their decisions.

Finally, the six contestants facing elimination were asked to perform for the judges, things got pretty intense when the judges were unable to pick between two of the male contestants. You’ll have to watch the show to find out who was chosen!

Finally the concert began.

· Upon Brandy’s entrance the audience rushed to the stage as she performed four of her hits. Although her performance was relatively short, it was impressive as she took us back to her first song “I Wanna Be Down”. She truly has one of the most unique voices in the industry.

· Next up was a performance from the very “SWEXY” Joe who performed a couple of his songs. The crowd went wild for Joe who threw his towel into the crowd causing a frenzy with the ladies. He also serenaded the crowd with his number one hit “ I Wanna Know” – goose bumps!

· And finally the act we had truly all been waiting for, the one, the only D’Banj who showed looking all kinds of FINE. He performed a number of songs including his most recent hit “Oliver”.

Truly there is a lot of talent in Nigeria but I wont say much about it. Be sure to tune in to MTN’s Project Fame to see for yourself.

Watch out for the BN Red Carpet Fab post from the event soon. This one’s a blockbuster edition!

The Press Release

Grammy award winning singer, songwriter and actress, Brandy Norwood, popular American R&B singer, Joe and Nigerian multi-talented pop-star, D’banj were the centres of attraction at the MTN Project Fame West Africa Season 4 opening gala, which took place on Sunday, 2nd of October 2011 at the Eko Hotel, Lagos.

The presence of the trio lightened up the atmosphere at the event which marked the commencement of the fourth season of Africa’s most popular reality TV show, with some exhilarating performances to the delight of a cheering crowd of over 5000 music lovers at the venue.

Brandy mounted the stage amidst an electrifying atmosphere of bright lights and colourful ambience, as she delivered an implausible performance to the delight of the screaming audience, who crowded the stage to catch a clearer glimpse of her.

The music diva rendered some super-hit tracks from her several award winning albums including hits like Aphrodisiac, What About Us, Full Moon, Wanna Be Down and many others.

Also on stage soon afterwards was Joe, who replaced rapper, The Game who was earlier expected in Lagos for the event, but could not make it to the show for reasons beyond the organizer’s control.

The announcement of Joe’s performance attracted wild excitement among the large crowd who jumped up on their feet, screaming and waiting to rock the show with the vocally ingenious singer. Joe’s performance was however, not below expectations as he lit up the audience’s emotions with slow hits from his best-selling albums.

‘Koko-Master’, D’banj crowned the show with an earth-shaking performance that sent the crowd into an endless exhilaration as they jumped up to their dancing feet at the sound of great hits like Mr Endowed, Suddenly, and many other songs.

The MTN Project Fame International concert continued with more performances from past winners of the show; Inyanya, Mike, Chidinma, Praiz and Kesse respectively.

There was also a thrilling dance performance by the ‘Explicit’ group.

Meanwhile, the season 4 of the Project Fame opening show segment preceded the concert, as 16 contestants were admitted into the academy out of the thousands of participants that auditioned for the across West Africa.

The 16 will go through ten weeks of intensive musical training in the complete arts of music which include stage performance, vocal delivery, dance exercise, showmanship, and other key aspect of the trade that will groom them to be all-round music star.

The contestants will also compete rigorously on a weekly basis to determine who eventually step into stardom as the winner of the Toyota RAV 4, N2.5 million cash prize and a one year recording contract worth over N7 million, as well as other mouth-watering benefits.

Source: http://www.bellanaija.com/2011/10/04/bn-exclusive-brandy-dbanj-joe-iyanya-more-photos-all-the-scoop-from-the-2011-mtn-project-fame-west-africa-gala/