Glo Battle of the Year Nigeria reality TV show premiered last Saturday night on GloTV, the company’s mobile streaming app, to glowing reviews and positive sentiments.
The first episode focused on the audition and elimination rounds, and one of the standout performers, was BBoy Prym whose dexterity was applauded in the comments section, while episode 2 was drama-filled as crewmembers and siblings battled one another to get ahead.
As we countdown to episode 3, TS Weekend looks at what the show means from a numbers’ standpoint.
The launch
The show was launched on October 13, 2021 with a call for entries. The company described the response as massive and overwhelming. It says: “Since we kicked off the “call for entry” phase of the Glo Battle of the Year Nigeria competition, we have been amazed by the response we received. The array of Nigerian talents we have seen has been nothing short of exceptional and we are excited to show the world the quality of dance talents and entertainment Nigeria has.”
The auditions
Auditions were held in six venues across seven dance categories. Dancers and their crews came out in large numbers to take part in the auditions and elimination rounds which held in six different cities – Abuja, Kaduna, Benin, Port Harcourt, Enugu and Lagos. There were tears of joy and pain as many saw their dreams atrophy before they had fully formed, but win or lose, it was clear that whether breakdancing or krumping or locking they all had mad skills.
1 down, 12 to go
Did you miss the premiere episode on February 5, 2022, which ran on GloTV? Well, don’t beat yourself up. The Glo Battle of the Year Nigeria reality TV show will run for another 12 weeks so there is plenty of time to play catch up and enjoy all the exciting dance floor actions. Check out highlights that are posted daily on social media or click on GloTv and watch again and again.
The judges
As contestants battle it out for a chance to win mega-millions in the reality TV show, there will be 13 dance icons, award winners and experts in their various fields drawn from across the world to help decide who stays on and who drops off. The judges include Menno from the Netherlands, BGirl Manuela from Germany and BBoy Poxxy from Cameroun. Others are BBoy Gidnasty, Locking Si’on and Izzy Odigie from Nigeria/USA. The rest are Nigeria-based JC Jedor, Poco Lee, Pinkie Debby, Frank Okwara, Big Flow, MaxBuck, and Dunamis.
1,542 entries received
Auditions are necessary for separating the chaff from the wheat but sometimes, especially as was the case with the Glo Battle of the Year Nigeria, it gets pretty hard making that distinction, but some had to progress while others had to drop off. In all, 1,200 dancers took part in the auditions with 168 (28 from each city) progressing to the next rounds.
Employment opportunities
For a massive production stretching over six cities with the semi-finals and finals billed as live recordings in Lagos, the Glo Battle of the Year Nigeria is a massive undertaking providing jobs to hundreds of Nigerians. Over 200 production crewmembers are working on the show from cameramen to sound men, events coordinators to logistics managers, editors to graphic designers, security to medical personnel. This is a massive undertaking with Globacom as sponsor.
The budget
At Globacom, it’s all about empowering Nigerians, so it’s never about the money. But it is important to take a look at what Glo is shelling out to produce this 13-episode show through which the company hopes to empower young Nigerians who want to make it to the top as dancers.
There is the cost of production, of paying crews, buying airtime for broadcasting the show on terrestrial and cable TV, then the mega millions that winners will go home with. Add it all together and you are looking at something ‘hoooooooooooge’ as they say on the streets.