Following Banty’s elimination on Sunday night, Progress and Zadok emerged as the last men standing in the ongoing music reality show, Nigerian Idol season 7.

After delivering a fantastic performance that wowed the judges and audience, the duo came tops.

The night began with a performance from the top 12 contestants.

The top six female contestants opened the show performing Fela Kuti’s 1978 song ‘Lady’, while the top six male contestants thrilled the judges and fans alike with Koffi Olomide’s ‘Papa Mobimba’.

The top 12 contestants closed their performance with Wizkid’s 2014 hit song ‘Ojuelegba’, a song they also performed at the just concluded AMVCA event.

Elimination

After the performances from the top 12 contestants, the three finalists, Banty, Progress and Zadok, were called on the stage to know their fate.

Indeed, the previous week was quite enjoyable, as Ik Osakioduwa, the host, revealed that a 34million votes were made in the last week, as fans voted continuously to save their favourites.

The first contestant to make it to the finale was Zadok leaving Banty and Progress in a tense state.

After much waiting, IK announced Progress as the second finalist on the show.

With Banty leaving the show, Zadok and Progress are left to contest head to head for the show’s grand finale.

After that, the show took the fans on a tour of Banty’s journey to the show from her auditions and all the songs she has performed on the show.

Born Esther Temiwunmi, 27, Banty is a Nigerian singer from Warri, Delta State.

After the elimination, Banty performed her favourite song this season, ‘When I Was Your man’ by Bruno Mars.

The judges commended being the last woman on the show, with D’Banj promising to record a song with her.

Performances

Progress performed his favourite song, “Change Will Come”, on the first theme performance” by Sam Cooke, a soul song released in 1964.

For his first performance for the night, Zadok sang “When a man loves a woman” by Micheal Bolton, the song was released as far back as 1991.

The second theme performance was for the contestants to sing a song picked by one of the judges.

Progress stormed the stage for the second time on the stage, appearing in a Wizkid-inspired outfit as he performed “Joy”, a song that thrilled fans.

Dressed in a dazzling blue suit, Zadok performed the song, which caught the attention of the original singer, Micheal Bolton, on Twitter.

On the last theme for the night, Progress, alongside 121 choristers, thrilled the fans with a stellar performance of Uncle Suru by Jon Ogah.

Alongside the same choristers, Zadok wowed the crowd with Timi Dakolo’s Wish Me Well performance.

Prizes at stake

Meanwhile, the organisers have revealed that N100 million prizes are up for grabs in the seventh season, which premiered on February 6.

According to the judges, as the musical contest gradually ends, the winner will walk away with N100, 000, 000 worth of prizes, including a recording deal from a label, a brand-new Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV), cash prizes, and other exciting gifts.

Nigerian Idol season 7 is sponsored by Big Drinks and Binance Africa. Fans can keep track of the show on social media platforms and on Africa Magic Showcase (DStv channel 151), Urban (DStv channel 153 & GOtv Supa channel 6), and Family (DStv channel 154 & GOtv channel 2) every Sunday from 7 p.m.

You can also catch up on all the episodes on the DStv App and watch the latest behind the scenes on Showmax across Africa and in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.