25th April, 2012
Wild celebrations erupted right from the stage down to the hall of the Expo Centre, Eko Hotel & Suites, Lagos, on the night of Saturday 21 April, as Crystals was announced as the winning band at the grand finale of Star Quest 2012.
At a ceremony full of fun and excitement, the Crystals lived up to the rating of millions of television viewers who have staked up their hope on the talented six young men and ladies that make up the band. They squared it up with other remaining finalist bands, Quantum Vibes and Soul Rhythm, that also gave an A-list performance at the show.
For Crystals, it was a continuation of their impressive performance since the competition began as they waltzed through two songs. The first, E Go Beta, their second original composition, and later brought Kanye West’s hit song, All Of The Lights to life. They cemented their reputation as the band to beat in the competition with both performances and the crowd could simply not get enough of them.
Quantum Vibes, also did two songs, Kojo Dada, their personal composition and British Pop star’s song, Adele’s Set Fire To The Rain. It was a commendable performance from the band as usual. While Soul Rhythm had the chance to stake theirs as worthy winners of the competition with their two songs, Mawoju Uche, their own composition, and Billionaire by Travis McCoy featuring Bruno Mars.
During the final moment, Gideon Okeke, the show anchor, standing alongside Nicolaas Vervelde, Managing Director of Nigerian Breweries Plc and all 18 band members present, watched with bated breath as Chika Nwobi, CEO, MTech Nigeria, presented the final voting results to Okeke, who in turn announced the Crystals as the new Star Quest winning band.
For their feat, the band will get the grand prize of a recording contract worth N7.5 million, N3.6 million cash, a brand new mini-van and one year fully paid accommodation in a choice location in Lagos. Nigeria’s foremost musical reality talent hunt contest–Star Quest, still reserves the bragging rights as Nigeria’s only band-based musical contest.
—Funsho Arogundade