Clinton has been eliminated from the Top 9 stage of the ongoing Nigerian Idol talent competition after scoring the least votes in the first round of public voting, as the other eight contestants – Daniel, Comfort, Faith Jason, Akunna, Francis, Emmanuel, Kingdom and Beyonce – scaled through to the Top 8 stage.

The show’s host, IK Osakioduwa, delivered the results with its usual suspense that left Clinton and Beyonce as the last two contestants on stage. Eventually, Beyonce was announced as the last contestant to move on to the next round whilst Clinton bowed out.

The theme of the week was “Naija hits”. The Top 8 contestants performed songs from their selected Nigerian superstars with colourful costumes to match.

First up was Daniel who opened the night with a soulful rendition of Brymo’s Good morning. His performance was so lively that Seyi Shay commented that he was finally coming out of his shell.

Next was Comfort, who performed Simi’s Duduke. Her colourful outfit and pink braids coupled with an exciting performance delighted the judges who commented on how far she had come from being shy on her first audition to dominating the stage.

Last night, Faith Jason ditched his folksy tunes for highlife. His rendition of Awele by Flavor made Seyi Shay remark that he could do no wrong and Obi Asika agreed that he brought his performance home.

Akunna’s version of ”Loving your way” by Seyi Shay left the judges speechless. Seyi Shay was dumbfounded, and DJ Sose mentioned that he preferred Akunna’s version to the original.

Francis also took on another Flavour song. He sang Ada Ada. According to him, he had performed the song before as a backup singer with a band. But this time, he was ready to shine. DJ Sose was impressed with how he managed to keep his voice distinct.

Emmanuel’s performance of For You by Teni featuring Davido was exhilarating. According to Obi Asika, he was one of the best performers he had seen in or out of the show.

However, not all the contestants wowed the judges. Kingdom’s rendition of Davido’s Aye didn’t quite cut it for the judges. They commented that the song choice wasn’t right for him and that this performance was mediocre compared to his previous outings.

Last performance for the night was Beyonce who gave her own spin to Seyi Shay’s classic, Right Now. Again, the judges were left stunned by her performance. Obi Asika commented that her growth has been phenomenal, and she was proving her doubters wrong. Seyi Shay added that she had never seen the song performed like that.

At this stage of the competition, the power to determine who stays and who leaves is solely in the hands of the viewers.  Voting on Nigerian Idol is via the website, mobile site, MyDStv, and MyGOtv apps and via SMS on participating networks – Airtel, MTN and 9mobile.

You can vote for your favourite contestant via the Africa Magic website, www.africamagic.tv/nigerianidol, and the Africa Magic mobile site by selecting contestants of your choice and entering your number of votes and click VOTE. Voting via these platforms is limited to 100 votes per user. MyDStv App and MyGOtv App votes are free, and votes are allocated based on your subscription packages.