Review... IN UPTOWN LAGOS WAS THE LAGOS COUNTDOWN 2014!

THIS IS MY CITY....... And Indeed, Lagos Countdown is here to stay… it is apparently the best and only modeled countdown in Africa. If you have ever seen the Sidney Countdown, New York “Time square” Countdown, London, Tokyo and many more urban-city-countdowns around the globe then you’d have reasons to understand why the Lagos Countdown is no mere joke anymore and a pioneer for Africa. 

Sure, I’d prepared my mind, body and soul, I was darn sure nothing was going to bar me from being at this year’s grand finale countdown of the eventful LAGOS COUNTDOWN; just incase you don’t know, the Lagos Countdown starts from the 1^st day of December and culminates on the 31^st of December when the timely countdown to the new year take the center stage. 

It was Beat FM’s Fade Ogunro, and Gbenga Adeyinka who hosted the night, though wasn’t too content about the choice of Gbenga Adeyinka amidst a contemporary and lavished array of choices that abound, E.g.  Apkororo, Dotun of Cool FM or even Yaw and co would have given the night an awesome thrill but all thanks to sponsors Nigeria Breweries who shoved Gbenga down our throat.

THE BAR BEACH STRETCH OF THE EKO ATLANTIC

Walking through the stretch of Eko Atlantic, a road that conveys the later portions of Ahmadu Bello way in uptown Victoria Island, one immediately gets the impression of a Las Vegas style splendor of lights and merriment. The whole stretch was beautifully lit with all manner of decorative lights and beautification; from the Silverbird/NTA end of the road to the Eko Hotel end it was a gradual simulation of everything colorful, beautiful and wonderful.

A major spectacle on the night that signaled the detailed approach to the decoration of this stretch of road was the strategic lightning of the adjoining offices on this stretch of road. From outside and through the glass shields you could see empty offices with PC’s, chairs and desks but with only the moving head lights rotating all its dimension in multiple colors, at this sight, I had no choice than to salute the extreme ingenuity of the planning crew of the 2014/2015 Lagos Countdown.

THE PERFORMANCES…

CDQ opened the floor with a command performance, trust CDQ, he’s got his street-cred. From where I’d positioned myself I’d seen closely how the front crowd sang his hits word-for-word just as he dropped it... Hence it was Daddy Showkey who performed live with a band where he rendered a lovely medley of his major hits... Then there came DJ Jimmy Jatt who DJ Nana helped open for in the 2 hours that preceded the start of the nights event. With a 5 minutes display immediately after the first countdown of the night Jimmy jatt was his ususal non artistry show of his DJ spectacle.

Thence came the electric and timeless Shina Peters doing a medley of his major hits after which the legendary Orlando Julius wowed the Lagos Countdown crowd with his hits from way back “Eko O Gba Gbere” and “Iwo Ololufe”.

Wonderfully clad in red blazer and back to stage was a Shina peter with his Guitar playing a solo of Victor Uwaifo's Mami-water... This ushered in the performance of Sir Victor Uwaifo, the Edo legend as he did the song “Mami-water” in its splendor. Thence came from Sir Uwaifo  a clean, sweet and original delivery of “Joromi”… trusts me, it was a total sing-along from the crowd.

The executive governor of Lagos Babatunde Raji Fashola came up next on stage as he delivers a brief speech noting it was his last outing at the Lagos countdown as a governor. The man spoke about the journey so far and the dream he nurtured that has led to the Lagos Countdown, he also briefly campaigned for the APC candidate for Lagos State "Ambode" and he thanked the sponsors of the Lagos Countdown 2014/2015 edition.

Then from the old school acts came the new school as YQ opened the floor for the fresh sound… Reminisce, Banky W, Yemi Alade, Dammy Krane and co came up one after the other until it was the turn of Dbanj who closed the show at around 4am.

HIGHPOINTS OF THE 2014/2015 LAGOS COUNTDOWN… 

At exactly 11:50 Olamide, Tuface, Omawunmi and Banky W were on stage to perform the official theme song of the 2014/2015 Lagos Countdown. It wasn’t a super song though but the idea that there was a theme song and was performed by the major stars was a welcome twist to the night.

At about twenty seconds to midnight the mega screens switched to the countdown as everyone led by the MC counted down to the mid night. At the stop of the countdown and the beginging and entrance into the new year it was a massive and non stop display of fireworks. The fireworks were indeed splendid and glorious.

A major highpoint was the announcement of the free "Lagos countdown 1 and Lagos countdown 2 Wi-Fi” service… Though it was almost immediately oversubscribed and slow as soon as Fade Ogunro made the announcement. Thumbs to Lagos state government and its co-partners, they sure can improve in the coming edition whilst I must confess they did put out a good show from the buildup up until the countdown night.