Members of the Bass group
For the second week in a row, the judges of the Vodafone Icons reality TV show were faced with the difficulty of choosing between two groups that they didn’t want to see in the bottom two on Sunday night’s eviction and performance show.
The judges had to choose between Bass and, for the second week in a row, Black N Peach.
Ms Naa asked if she could save both groups but host Benny Blanco answered in the negative. Appietus then offered to cast his vote first. He commented that both groups were very good and it was painful that they had the least number of public votes. He called on Ghanaians to vote and then settled on saving Black N Peach. Ms Naa was indecisive for a while but ended up saving Black N Peach as well. Gena West said it was such a pity that both groups were in the bottom two.
She told Black N Peach that their back-to-back position in the bottom meant that they weren’t getting enough votes and so the group needed to work harder to change the situation. She also voted to save Black N Peach.
It appears that Black N Peach is following in the footsteps of RnM (Rhythm & Melody), the winners of the maiden edition of Vodafone Icons. Apart from some semblance in their name choice, RnM were saved by the judges in the first week and had a bad second week. So will Black N Peach also surmount the initial challenges to win this season of Vodafone Icons just like RnM did? They certainly will face some serious competition from the likes of Vybes.
Meanwhile, Sunday night’s old-school-themed show saw some exciting performances from the remaining groups. 2JD opened the show with their performance of ‘Ring My Bell’ by Anita Ward.
They had nice harmonies, nice costumes and nice choreography. Appietus liked everything, from their hair down to their dance moves. Ms Naa said their harmonies were on point and their dance moves were very good. Gena said she loved Dorienda’s vocals.
Black N Peach, after surviving eviction, performed Tina Turner’s ‘Simply the Best’, perhaps to prove to the voting public that they belonged in the top with the best. They had good vocals, good phrasing and good stage presence.
Gena said she knew Emma would rise to the occasion after her not so impressive performance in the previous week. Gena added that she had been hoping to hear Noella sing a Tina Turner song and she loved it. Ms Naa said the performance was amazing and it made her forget about losing Bass in the eviction. She said Black N Peach had kept their energy up since week one.
Ginger took on Chaka Khan’s ‘Aint No Body’. Their performance was pleasant to watch. Ms Naa said the harmonies didn’t work for her and it seemed Richard and Perez had come in too strong. Appietus called the performance average and said that at this stage of the competition, Ginger should be escalating.
Gena said she didn’t feel any connection with the song but was happy to see Sandra smile for a change. She concluded that Chaka Khan wouldn’t be pleased at all with that rendition.
Sharps performed ‘Holiday Rap’ by M. C. Miker & Deejay Sven. Gena said their performance didn’t cut it for her, noting that their vocals were bad and they sounded off and flat.
Appietus said he was disappointed and he felt as if he was watching kids playing on stage. He said they looked funky but everything else was bad. Ms Naa also added that the performance looked like a high school talent show; not good at all.
Vybes performed New Edition’s ‘Cool it Now’. They showed great energy, sounded original with their arrangement and were very exciting to watch. Appietus said he loved it and was surprised that the usually calm Chidema came out with so much energy. Appietus loved everything about their performance. Ms Naa said they took an old school classic and made it sound 2012. An excited Gena said she was proud of the group, rating their performance as the best of the night.
Waves then performed Kool & The Gang’s ‘Get Down on It’. The judges felt their performance was more comical than a real music performance. Ms Naa commented that the group liked to goof around a lot, and warned them to be careful how that was interpreted by the public. She added that Joshua sang much better than he danced. Appietus thought they rocked on the night but agreed with Ms Naa on the goofing around issue. Gena said she couldn’t take them seriously and pointed out that Gertrude wasn’t vocally strong.
The evicted group, Bass, closed the show with their performance of ‘All Night Long’ by Lionel Richie. Voting is 100% by public and the public can vote by texting ‘group name’ to short code 1738 across all networks. The highest texter at the end of the season also gets to win a Kia Rio, courtesy Rana Motor, so get texting!