Many patrons who thronged the National Theatre last Thursday for the grand finale of the Vodafone Icons-Street Edition reality show were disappointed at the eventual results.

They had apparently expected Buda, who was consistently impressive throughout the nine weeks of the contest, to be the ultimate winner but that didn’t happen.

Instead, R&B-styled singer, Ryan emerged the winner. He walked away with the grand prize of GHC 50,000, a KIA Sportage saloon car and a recording contract with Universal Records. Kelvin came second.

As a sign of protest, many patrons of the show walked out of the auditorium when Buda was evicted alongside Marion, the only female contestant iwho made it to the finals.

And to add to the woes of the organisers, rapper Kwaw Kese aka Abodam who was ostensibly angered by the eviction of his younger brother, Buda, stormed the stage in protest. He didn’t make any comments though but moved about on stage, thus iinterupting the show for nearly an hour.

It took the intervention of the Police to get Kwaw Kese off the stage. The show had kicked off on a bright note when the four contestants performed I Got A Feeling by Black Eyed Peas creditably well to the admiration of the audience.

When it was time for the contestants to perform individually, it was Buda who rocked the stage with Kwaw Kese’s Makwandem. He won the hearts of many with his electrifying performance which earned him the title of “little star” by an overwhelemed Gena West, one of the judges.

Kelvin performed OJ’s Maye Se Wo Pen and also received fairly favourable comments from all three judges—Ms Naa, Appietus and Gena West. Ryan and Marion, on the other hand, did not receive good comments from the judges for their initial individual pieces because according to them, they chose relatively unknown songs which also weren’t suitable for their voices.

Marion, however, turned things round for good when she performed Beyonce’s If I Was A Boy in the second segment. Unfortunately, that didn’t help much as she was shown the exit alongside Buda after the second round where the best two to proceed to the final stage of the competition are selected based on public votes.

In an interview with Showbiz after the event, Ryan said the public identified his great singing talent and voted massively for him to win the prize.

“I am not surprised I emerged the winner because I know what I have within me. I acknowledge that there were other strong contenders but in the end, those who have keenly followed my exploits in the competition would not be surprised at the outcome.

“I will work hard to make the best of out of what this competition has offered me. I am grateful to all those who supported me and to God for this honour done me,” he stated.

Source: Graphic Showbiz

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