MTN brings back old memories in music with the Corporate Elite Event...As Joe , Billy Ocean, Maxi Priest, Telvin Campbell thrill

In what could be described as an unprecedented blast from the blast, Nigerians at the weekend, were treated to a good dose of tasteful, old music via live performances, by various award-winning artistes of international reckoning. Courtesy of telecommunications giant, MTN. The feeling at the Expo Centre of the Eko Hotels and Suites, was nostalgic, as the audience were swept off their feet by great performances by stars of the 1980s, 1990s and the 20s.

 Indeed, the concert has been applauded by most music lovers. The black tie event featured the finest and most sophisticated musicians alive, coming together under one roof, to thrill the elite who had come out en masse to witness the event. The show featured great names such as Billy Ocean, Maxi Priest, Awilo Lomgomba, Joe, Tevin Campbell, James Taylor of ‘Kool and the Gang fame  among others.

Indeed, the expectant guests were not disappointed from the ouset, of the event as they were welcomed with the performance of the ever green Tevin Campbell. The American born singer, writer and actor who has earned about five grammy award nominations,   delighted the guests as he rendered his hit songs such as ‘I’m Ready’ from his double-platinum, chart buster. The level of delight   went higher as he rendered his most popular song- ‘Can We Talk?’.  

After him came the performance from the legendary and sweet-voiced Billy Ocean. By all means the most popular British-based R&B singer-songwriter of the early to mid-1980s.Billy Ocean gave a splendid account of himself.The living legend has accumulated a series of transatlantic successes, including the Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for his worldwide hit, "Caribbean Queen" and was nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Male Art.  The power in his voice far belied his age, as he took the listeners down memory lane- making couples fall in love all over again.

As he  reeled  out classics like What is the Colour of Love?, Suddenly, When the Going Gets Tough, Get Out of My Dreams (Get Into My Car), the entire venue sang along; even the most reserved of the corporate elite. ‘Suddenly’ was particularly tender as everyone, held on to their other halves and loved up the atmosphere. His performance was rated AAA by highly trained listeners who noted the discipline style and skills with which he sang along with the band.

Then Maxi Priest took the stage, the Reggae crooner, charged up the hall with some Reggae tunes. He took to the roots and beauty of origin as he rendered reggae music at its finest, to guests. He rendered such hits- I Just Wanna Be Close to You, Wild World, Just a little bit longer and the like. He proved that the genre of reggae music, from its origin, is actually music of refinement and class.

After Maxi Priest came the francophone legend- Awilo Longomba- ‘weeeepah!’. He relived the happy old days of Makossa- The days of ‘Comment tu t’appelles?’ of the late nineties and early twenties. Before performing his hit songs he rendered a new song which he called ‘Carolina’- dedicating it to the beautiful ladies in the house. After performing his hit songs. Praiz joined Awilo , exciting the crowd and proving his mettle as a singer to reckon with.

Some guests , however, pointed out that the highlights of Awilo’s performance were from two dancers. They were first introduced to the continent on Youtube, via ‘Britain’s Got Talent’. The professional dancers rocked it in their professional mimes to Awilo’s hit songs.

Undoubtedly, the highlight of the event for the ladies would be Joe’s performance. The ladies trooped to stand close to the stage as the sexy crooner sang to the excitement. He oozed deep talent and sexy professionalism as he crooned ‘I wanna Know’ amongst other songs.  Indeed, it would seem that they were enchanted by him as they swayed and reached out to him as he performed. 

Another living legend who performed on stage was JT of ‘Kool and the Gang’. Kool and the Gang is the American funk Group James Taylor came along with three delectable dancers who reminded us of Destiny Child. The hall swung to the songs rendered by JT from his group’s album. He rendered songs like ‘Open Sesame’ and more. After a while, he stepped back and let his ladies take the stage- singing and dancing energetically.

A performance that really united both the young and old at the concert was the by the South African group- Mafikizolo.  The group exuded pure talent and class as it performed songs written in their dialect. The indigenous yet very entertaining performance got all the guests in the hall swaying from side to side  on their feet.

Other Nigerian performers such as Inyanya, Davido, KCee took the stage to perform at the concert. To a lot of guests, who attended- the concert,it could be described as unbelievable- as no one would ever have believed such a galaxy of evergreen stars could be paraded on one stage and on  one night. MTN, Nigeria’s leading telecommunications network made this happen. The concert was, indeed, a definition of what music should be. The ICT Company has, indeed, proven that it was  a brand that is committed to delivering quality and excellence to its teeming customers, on all fronts.