SPOKEN WORD POETRY: SOS POETRY SLAM 2.0 MEDIA RELEASE

WHEN SOS POETRY SLAM 2.0 EXPLODED WITH BOMBS AND CATACOMBS OF WORDS.

‘E be laik say dem wan tu write anoda story again o..."

This isn’t just a story; It’s more like the ultimate search, where finding our winners seemed like finding the ‘White Elephant’s trunk, judging from the many ties that rented the rounds. Seeing multiple contestants having a tie at every round isn’t something common in poetry slams in Nigeria- from Abuja LiterarySlam (ALS), Eko Poetry Slam (EPS), Jos Poetry Slam (JPS), Figures Of Speech State-O-Scope(Inter-State) Slam, just to mention few.

The firmament of words that fell like thunderstorms at the SOS Poetry Slam 2.0 kept the audience entertained; yelling, clapping, snapping fingers, standing, shouting and screaming the stage names of their favorite contestants. Indeed, SOS Poetry Slam 2.0 was far better and more intriguing than the maiden edition.

Again, one would wonder why the Ankara fabrics replaced the usual curtains or backdrops found on event stages. Well, it's tantamount to say the uniqueness of this stage craft literarily added colour to the event.

SunsamPaul, A contestant at both season 1 and 2

Sir Eriata Oribhabor speaks about poetry promotion at the red carpet segment

That moment when the slam champion got new fans

Red Carpet Host Ezenwaka Uzoamaka with her co-host from TGz Africa TV

At round 1, there were 15 contestants:

SifonEdiomo-Abasi (OluwaSifon), Increase Nathaniel, SunsamPaul, Toba Ephraim (Dark Bard), BWriteWord, Clement Abraham (HeartBeat), Njoku Paul Chibuike Henry(Fr33zinPaul), Salam Seun (Tiwistar), Fuad Abiola Olanrewaju (Hola That Poet), Elemide Benjamin Odunayo (Penjamin), Charles Prince Obazee (Charlee X), Cornelius Chinazam Okeke, Lawal Kafayat Gold (LKG), Akharia Success (DeeWordsmith) and Aiyetitun Deji (DejiFlex)

After this first round, there were top 3 Contestants and 7 other qualifiers:

Fr33zinPaul with an intimidating score of 10, 9, 9 (28), Penjamin 8, 9,9 (26), LKG, (25), Increase Nathaniel, Charlee X, Tiwistar, Sifon Ediomo-Abasi, DeeWordSmith, Toba Ephraim and Cornelius.

Top 3 Contestants (Round 2) and 3 other qualifiers

Fr33zinPaul this time had a perfect score of 10, 10, 10 (30), Penjamin (28), Charlee X (26), LKG (25) with 3 other contestants having a tied score of 23 each, out of which only one of them must qualify to make up for final 5.

Face of Finalists, L-R: Fr33zinPaul, Penjamin, Charlee X, Increase Nathaniel and LKG

Tiwistar, Increase Nathaniel and Toba Ephraim went head to head, given 1 minute each to prove who would be worthy to proceed to the next round. Increase Nathaniel, who incidentally was the 2nd-Runner-Up at the maiden edition of #SOSPoetrySlam came out victorious with his one minute-poem, "Where were you" with a score of 9, 9 ,9 (27).

Final Round:

Fr33zinPaul 9, 10, 9(28), LKG 9, 9, 10(28); Charlee X 9, 9, 9(27); Increase Nathaniel 9, 9, 9(27), Penjamin 8, 9, 8(25). Increase Nathaniel hits another stumbling block in a tie with Charlee X, this time 30 seconds each, after which the obviously entertained audience voted for Charlee X, drawing the curtains for the slam.

Prince Charles Obazee (2nd Runner-Up blazing the mic)

Judge Kemistree Bakare in her elements

Guest Performer, Ajijola Habeeb Da-Beloved doing his trademark "I have a dream" masterpiece

Increase Nathaniel

Sacrificial Poet, Olayinka Samson Aremu (Poethick Samurai)

Salam Oluwaseun Tiwistar

CONSOLATION PRIZES (DECIDED BY AUDIENCE'S VOTE AFTER NOMINATIONS BY THE SOS BOARD:

*Nominees for the Best Performer:

Fr33zinPaul

LKG

Tiwistar

*Nominees for Best Poem:

DICKSON by Lawal Kafayat Gold

'Lustful Love' by Penjamin-

'Prison' by Charlee X

SIDE ATTRACTIONS

The slam commenced with performance from PoeThick Samurai, the sacrificial poet at the maiden edition and second too.

SOS Curator, Bankole Kolawole presenting the 1st Runner-Up dummy cheque to LKG

Presentation of the overall Winner’s dummy cheque was done by Sir Eriata Oribhabor, Nigeria’s leading poetry promoter. While giving words of advice, he added that a time would come where every occasion won’t be complete without the performance of a poet/spoken word artiste. This would be made possible if all hands are laid on deck to keep promoting poetry everywhere we go.