GCGT7 Road to Finals: Who wears the crown?

The leap of joy, excitement from a cheering live audience spiced with some nerve-wrecking moments and of course breath-taking performances will capture the mood of God’s Children Great Talent Season 7 finals coming up this weekend. From the excitement of this season’s auditions to extensive trainings at the boot-camp and revealing of last week’s semi-finalists, […]

The leap of joy, excitement from a cheering live audience spiced with some nerve-wrecking moments and of course breath-taking performances will capture the mood of God’s Children Great Talent Season 7 finals coming up this weekend.

From the excitement of this season’s auditions to extensive trainings at the boot-camp and revealing of last week’s semi-finalists, everything all comes down to the grand finale this Saturday 24th June, 2017 at Eko Convention Centre, Lagos when the winner of GCGT 7 will be decided by the judges and television viewers. This season, the winner goes home with a 250 million-naira management deal, 10 million naira cash and a brand new car.

It’s not just us who are excited to be a part of this. Celebrity Photographer and Musician, TY Bello – one of the few who have photographed Presidents in this clime – will be joining the live television show as a guest Judge alongside our GCGT Season 7 Judges Kaffy, Omawunmi and Tee-Y Mix.

The judges with a combination of votes from the public audience will determine who takes the crown. Preliminary voting has commenced for the 10 finalists – Joseph Odi, Damilare Bafunso, Anderson Peter, Deborah Oladipupo, Olawonuola Kehinde, Sophia Albert, Goodluck Enoch, Nengi Jaja, Emmanuel Osahor and Esther Benyeogo already canvassing with their respective unique codes.

Voting lines are expected to close 15 minutes before the live television grand finale wraps up and the winner is announced. The live show will also feature guest performances, which organisers say will remain as a surprise.

God’s Children Great Talent’s hosts Uti Nwachukwu and On-Air Personality Ayo Thompson will be spicing up the grand finale to be broadcast on HIPTV, Wazobia Max TV and Dove TV from 6pm. Beautiful GCGT Season 7 Presenter, Olive Emordi will do what she does best on the red carpet and keep nerves of the finalists calm while backstage.

The two-hour live broadcast is the final show of this season and the most important. Each of the ten finalists will be going an extra mile to convince judges and viewers why they deserve be to crowned the GCGT S7 winner.

It is revealed that representatives from RCCG City of David & The How Foundation will present the grand prize to the winner. The stage is set, the contestants are ready, and of course, Nigeria as well as the rest of the world cannot wait to see their favourite upcoming stars light up the GCGT stage this Saturday.

Meet the Top 10 finalists as they continue to compete for public votes to win the GCGT Season 7 title.

Damilare Bafunso:

Born in Lagos, 19-year-old Dami is a whiz kid on the saxophone who’s currently in his 3rd year of studying Urban & Regional Planning at University of Lagos.

In the last edition of GCGT, Paul had tried entering himself and his sister but unfortunately he ran out of data. But as all things work together for God’s Children, he decided to give it another try this year and today Damilare is among the top 10 finalists contesting for the top prize.

 
Emmanuel Osahor

Emmanuel, 19 danced so well at the regional auditions that GCGT7 judge, Kaffy even offered to dance with him. The Delta State-born talent has been dancing professionally since he was 15.

When asked what dancing means to him, his response was epic. “Dancing is Emmanuel. I say things I can’t really put into words with dance.”

Joseph Odi

Joseph is excellent on the drums. He is so precise; not missing a beat even with blindfolds.  Though still working on his admission into a higher institute of learning, the Port Harcourt–born drummer says winning the competition will mean the world to him.

Anderson Peter

Peter is just 8 years old and in Primary 4. Young but mighty, nothing about the way he handles the saxophone – an instrument that is almost bigger than him suggests his age.

His mastery of the musical instrument is way beyond his years as he succeeded in blowing the minds of the judges and studio audience from his very first audition to the semi-finals.

Goodluck Enoch

9-year-old Goodluck from Abuja has the combined confidence of 10 superstars. His stage presence belies his young age. In his own words “while preparing for the semi-finals, I had committed all the activities to the Holy Spirit – the reason for my confidence.” He said.

The rap artiste who wrote his first song at age 5 sees himself winning souls for Christ through the ministration of his rap songs.

Nengi Jaja

Port Harcourt has birthed a star with Nengi! He effortlessly shines at each performance. The 11-year-old’s strong and smooth vocal range never fails to get the audience on their feet. Some even say his pitch perfect voice gives a reverberating thrill.

Esther Benyeogo

As a child, Esther’s love for music always got the attention of the neighbours who could hear her sing and shout from the comfort of their homes. Since discovering her talent at 13 there has been no stopping her. The 19-year-old undergraduate of the University of Benin takes on a very different personality when she graces the stage to minister.

Olawonuola Kehinde

Olawonuola is only in primary 4. Her choreographic skills have left us awestruck at every stage of the GCGT7 competition. It is no surprise that we have her as a finalist. Right from her audition, Olawonuola has the charm and grace of a professional dancer.

Sophia Albert

You will never meet a more self-aware 10-year-old than Sophia Albert.

Her parents discovered Sophia’s gift of spoken word when she was only 4 years old. Following her progress in the competition, Sophia has continued to amaze the audience with her excellent use of words and command of presence during performances.

She cites the Holy Spirit, Word of God and her pastor Chris Oyakhilome, as her best positive influences.

Deborah Oladipupo
Deborah is the only female drummer to come this far in the competition. The Lagos-born contestant who resides in Ibadan with her parents went from feeling out of place as a female drummer to recognizing her gift is an asset.

When Deborah was faced with a challenge within the competition, she relied on grace, resilience and hopes to get through, she is grateful for not quitting.