13th July, 2011
The city of Calabar was literally brought to a standstill when dancers, singers and basketballers besieged the Malabo Hall of the University of Calabar in droves to fight for honours in the 2011 edition of the Sprite Triple Slam (STS) a unique and exciting fusion of skill and dexterity in music, dance and basketball.
After several hours of close and stiff competition, the judges had a Herculean task choosing the four individuals that will represent the zone in the grand finale in Lagos.
Bassey Christopher, 23-year-old Computer Science undergraduate of Cross Rivers State University emerged winner for the basketball category.
Jane Amadi, 21 years old native of Ogbunabali in Rivers State and Personnel Management student of the University of Calabar clinched the Music category, while the combination of Edeniyi Olayinka and Mercy Gbarane, both Theatre Arts students of the University of Port Harcourt emerged winners in the Dance category.
The four regional winners received gifts of Blackberry phones and an automatic ticket to represent the Western zone of Nigeria at the Grand Finale in Lagos, where they will battle with other regional winners from Enugu, Abuja and Lagos zones for the N6million cash prize.
The Calabar STS activation had top stars thrill their fans at the audition. They included Iyanya, Overdose, Dil and Praiz. Some local based artists and comedians like Calibaba, Dream Kid, Speedy Man, Mr. Harmony, Kobasta and Last Prophet amongst others, further electrified the show.
Sprite Triple Slam is an annual activation that involves basketball, music and dance. Winners are picked from different states and a grand finale is held where an overall winner emerges from each category.
—Funsho Arogundade