Abuja agog for MDA 8 auditions

Dancers at MDA8 Abuja audition

Thousands of dancers defied the heavy down pour in Abuja, the Federal capital territory to participate in the regional auditions for the Maltina Dance All season eight (MDA8) which made its last stop for this season in the city, which was agog for the show.

SHOWBIZPLUSng learnt that the event which took place at the ultra modern conference hall of the NICON Luxury Hotel played host to contestants who trooped in from Benue, Nasarawa, Kaduna, Plateau, Bauchi, Taraba, Adamawa and surrounding states to compete for the mouth-watering prizes and a spot in the academy - alongside their respective families. With their grand performance, they were able to set the tone on what to expect at the academy. Lagos and Port-Harcourt had already played host to the auditions.

The “Rhythm of Happiness” theme for this year’s MDA 8 was aptly captured and exhibited as contestants and spectators contributed to the atmospherewithhigh spirited people who learned the new Maltina Dance All dance style “Rhythm of happiness dance” (ROHD) which helped set the pace throughout the competition.

On the first day of the two days competition, contestants thrilled the judges with different dance steps and in the process won home theatre systems, generating and television sets from four different age categories of 5–12, 13–19, 20-29 and 30 and above.

The audience went wild when the children between the ages of 5-12 took to the stage and showed so much energy to prove to the judges they had what it takes to win  the  prizes from Maltina.

Divine Onyejide, the star of the day in the 5-12category and proud winner of a generating set was full of excitement and could not hide his joy. Voicing his excitement and gratitude, he said “this is my first time in MDA regional auditions, am so grateful to Maltina for the gift and the opportunity to display my talent. With this recognition, I know I will go places in the future.”

At the end of the day two, which is the day set aside for the epic battle between family representatives, BlessingOmoregie -18,  Leonard Jennifer – 18, Miriam Maisamari- 19 ,  Kelvin Ayanruoh- 23, Ezekiel Emmanuel- 21, Michael Atuonwu -24, Peter Odigie- 21, Akindele  Michael- 21 and JustineChimaUnanka- 21 all qualify for the next stage.

According to the rules of the competition, these family representative will have to perform with other members of their families in their respective homes and if they are able to convince the judges and pass through the next phase of the screening exercise, which includes medical and physical tests, they will then be admitted into the Maltina dance academy to compete for the grand prize of N10 million.

The Senior Brand Manager, Mr. Adewole Adedeji who was visibly excited about the huge turn out and quality of dance styles, applauded the zest and energy displayed by the Abuja contestants, commenting that the academy for the MDA8 will be a ground of wit and strength even as the show promote bonding and sharing of happy time with families.

The judges on their part described the Abuja auditions as intense. Bimbo Obafunwa said he is really surprised at the turn out in Abuja despite the rain, “And I must say that we the judges are impressed with the dancers here in Abuja from the first day of the auditions. There was so much energy and talent displayed on stage.The selection process was quite complex and if I had my way we would have selected more than nine dancers that were picked to make it to the academy.”

On what is up for grabs for this year’s edition, the winning family will go home with the grand prize of a whooping sum of N10 million. The first and second runners up will also get N3 million and N1 million respectively. This is a considerable increase from the N6 million, N1 million and N500, 000 won last year by contestants.

After the conclusion of the regional auditions, Nigerians and followers of the show are set to witness the greatest dance battle of all time when the show begins in earnest in September.

Thousands of dancers defied the heavy down pour in Abuja, the Federal capital territory to participate in the regional auditions for the Maltina Dance Allseason eight (MDA8) which made its last stop for this season in city which was agog for the show.

The event which took place at the ultra modern conference hall of the NICON Luxury Hotel played host to contestants who trooped in from Benue, Nasarawa, Kaduna, Plateau, Bauchi, Taraba, Adamawa and surrounding states to compete for the mouth-watering prizes and a spot in the academy - alongside their respective families. With their grand performance, they were able to set the tone on what to expect at the academy. Lagos and Port-Harcourt had already played host to the auditions.

The “Rhythm of Happiness” theme for this year’s MDA 8 was aptly captured and exhibited as contestants and spectators contributed to the atmospherewithhigh spirited people who learned the new Maltina Dance All dance style “Rhythm of happiness dance” (ROHD) which helped set the pace throughout the competition.

On the first day of the two days competition, contestants thrilled the judges with different dance steps and in the process won home theatre systems, generating and television sets from four different age categories of 5–12, 13–19, 20-29 and 30 and above.

The audience went wild when the children between the ages of 5-12 took to the stage and showed so much energy to prove to the judges they had what it takes to win  the  prizes from Maltina.

Divine Onyejide, the star of the day in the 5-12category and proud winner of a generating set was full of excitement and could not hide his joy. Voicing his excitement and gratitude, he said “this is my first time in MDA regional auditions, am so grateful to Maltina for the gift and the opportunity to display my talent. With this recognition, I know I will go places in the future.”

At the end of the day two, which is the day set aside for the epic battle between family representatives, BlessingOmoregie -18,  Leonard Jennifer – 18, Miriam Maisamari- 19 ,  Kelvin Ayanruoh- 23, Ezekiel Emmanuel- 21, Michael Atuonwu -24, Peter Odigie- 21, Akindele  Michael- 21 and JustineChimaUnanka- 21 all qualify for the next stage.

According to the rules of the competition, these family representative will have to perform with other members of their families in their respective homes and if they are able to convince the judges and pass through the next phase of the screening exercise, which includes medical and physical tests, they will then be admitted into the Maltina dance academy to compete for the grand prize of N10 million.

The Senior Brand Manager, Mr. Adewole Adedeji who was visibly excited about the huge turn out and quality of dance styles, applauded the zest and energy displayed by the Abuja contestants, commenting that the academy for the MDA8 will be a ground of wit and strength even as the show promote bonding and sharing of happy time with families.

The judges on their part described the Abuja auditions as intense. Bimbo Obafunwa said he is really surprised at the turn out in Abuja despite the rain, “And I must say that we the judges are impressed with the dancers here in Abuja from the first day of the auditions. There was so much energy and talent displayed on stage.The selection process was quite complex and if I had my way we would have selected more than nine dancers that were picked to make it to the academy.”

On what is up for grabs for this year’s edition, the winning family will go home with the grand prize of a whooping sum of N10 million. The first and second runners up will also get N3 million and N1 million respectively. This is a considerable increase from the N6 million, N1 million and N500, 000 won last year by contestants.

After the conclusion of the regional auditions, Nigerians and followers of the show are set to witness the greatest dance battle of all time when the show begins in earnest in September.