By Henry Uche
Winners have emerged in the IMperfect Talent Hunt season 3, which was held in Lagos and organised by Voice Over Geng, an association of voice-over artistes in Nigeria.
Speaking at the event, Project Director, Jane Ugwumadu, said 26 finalists were selected after a thorough and painstaking screening of hundreds of applicants. According to her, the aim of the talent show was to make young talents appropriate their values and potentialities, and use them to make impact on humanity.
“The IMperfect Talent Hunt seeks to disabuse the minds of young ones who think they’re imperfect. We bring them in, work on them and make them somewhat perfect for the larger world. There are untapped potential we need to bankroll and support with what we got. This is a way of reducing unemployment and societal ills.
“Today, the winner received N70,000 cash gift and training worth N80,000; first runner-up received N50,000 cash gift and training worth N70,000, while second runner-up went home with N30,000 cash gift and training worth N70,000. We’re not just leaving them, but we shall assign them to mentors, follow them in their career journey, and offer them vocal training and other support,” she assured.
Also commenting, Head of Jury, Sam Uche Anyamele, who affirmed that the whole screening process was transparent, fair and credible, urged all up and coming talented artistes to optimize every little opportunity offered by different organisations to boost their potential.
“We want to catch them very young. We may not be well known, but I believe the winner, first runner-up and second runner-up would have cause to smile; even others because we are not leaving them just like that, we’re following them up with mentorship, recommendations and every connection/contact they need to blossom,” he maintained.
On his part, the organiser, Ola Richard Adesanya aka the Geng Master, asseverated that the motive behind the gesture was to pull idle but talented young people out of the street.
“We don’t want to see young people with talents being stranded or frustrated. We sourced for talented voice artistes that have originality and composure. There’s no job in the country; from the word ‘imperfect’, we can deduce ‘perfect’ so we want to brush them, polish them and project them to the world of unlimited opportunities, because there are lots of people and corporates who are ready to take one to the zenith of one’s career as long as one has the ability to deliver; the creative industry is currency of the world now,” he posited.
Expressing gladness, the winner, Aisha Ohize, affirmed that coming first was a great opportunity for her to do more exploits in the entertainment industry. “I’m going to learn more skills from experts. I’m coming with a fresh wave of creativity to deliver captivating voice performances across various media, bringing characters to live and enriching storytelling and acting,” he avowed.
Similarly, first runner-up, Tabitha Akeredolu, said: “For me, there is no going back. It’s a step towards higher ground. I believe I can achieve anything so long as I’m focused, determined and resilient.”
The 2nd runner-up, Raphael Moronfolu, asserted that it was a catalyst for him to soar in the industry. “I’m encouraged and I’m not giving up, I’m more passionate to go higher in voice acting. I will promote godliness and morality with the instrumentality of my voice, unlike what is obtained today in the entertainment industry.”