Will Esther fare better than previous winners of The Voice Nigeria?

It’s no longer news that Season 3 of The Voice has ended, and a winner has emerged. A very deserving winner at that. That winner is none other than the hugely talented 23-year-old Esther Benyeogo. Esther beat the duo of K-Pee and Eazzie in the top three to emerge winner of The Voice Nigeria and a cash prize of 10 million naira. There is also the promise of an SUV, and a recording contract from Universal Music Group, as part of the winning package. From here on, it is safe to expect that Esther is on her way to international stardom.

However, a look at previous winners of The Voice Nigeria is enough to be somewhat circumspect and douse any expectations with a dose of reality. So, one can’t help but wonder whether Esther is going to fare any better than these past winners. The season one winner you may recall is A’Rese Emokpae while Season Two winner is Idyl (Daniel Diongoli). In the immediate aftermath of her victory at the first edition of The Voice Nigeria, A’Rese became better known for her role as Senami in ‘Jemeji,’ an Africa Magic drama series. As far as remaining on the minds of the audience, this wasn’t a bad movie but featuring in a drama series immediately after the high of winning a popular musical franchise like The Voice Nigeria is far from ideal. For what it’s worth, Chike (Osebuka Chike-Ezekpeazu) runner-up in The Voice Season 1, also took to acting as soon as the musical reality show ended. Although in his case, Chike appears to be fully focused on music. In 2020, he released the well-received album ‘Boo of the Booless.’  As for Idyl, season 2 winner of The Voice Nigeria, apart from a few singles released on Spotify the musical sharing platform, I can’t seem to find any evidence of his professional musical journey.

It’s worth noting that all the aforementioned are truly talented, so their musical qualifications are not in doubt. And in the case of Esther Benyeogo, her talent has already been proved once before. Esther won season 7 of the God’s Children Great Talent, GCGT, in 2017. She beat nine finalists to win a 250-million-naira management deal, plus 10 million naira in cash and a brand-new SUV. In fact, Esther’s case is different from that of A’Rese and Idyl, the other winners of The Voice Nigeria. This is because as far as I know, neither had won a lucrative musical deal before winning The Voice Nigeria. So, the obvious question: Why did Esther, after winning a 250-million-naira management deal and 10 million naira in 2017 need to compete again on The Voice Nigeria platform in 2021? Isn’t the point of contesting in a musical show to go on to become a professional musician? Where’ll Esther be in a couple of years? Is there a chance she could be contesting on another musical reality show platform? There are so many questions begging for answers but with no-one supplying them.

Be that as it may, Esther Benyeogo is a great talent that shouldn’t be allowed to waste away. One can only hope that Esther and talented musicians like her get adequate support and push. Mind you, it’s not enough to be talented. An Esther will need a team that supports her to showcase her strengths. This means identifying her appropriate target audience, providing her with great material because having a good voice can only take you so far if people don’t find your content interesting enough. And after doing these and more, she’ll need the right promotion.

Onoshe Nwabuikwu, AIRTIME columnist is a renowned TV/Film critic, and Film scholar. She also has experience in Advertising as a senior Copywriter and Corporate Communications as Communications consultant