They came, they saw, they conquered but only one of them was good enough to smile home with N6million naira, a brand new car and bragging rights as Nigeria’s number one dancing family. It was the Briggs family from Port Harcourt who were on Saturday, September 21, 2013 crowned winners of Maltina Dance All Season Seven “The Evolution” in a grand finale that saw five families lock in a battle of style, form and rhythm of music for the grand prize.
The five families that made it to the finals after many weeks of competition at the Academy were the Ikumoinein, Ibrahim, Enweribe, Ebute and Briggs family. The event which was beamed LIVE across selected Television networks began with the families dancing to various oldies of the 80’s and 90’s in the Pantomime category.
The Ikumoinein family set the tone for the evening with an impressive performance that attracted a deserved applause from the audience. The Ibrahim family then came on stage and danced to the 90’s hit song, “I like to move it” by Reel featuring the Mad Stuntman. The Enweribe family set the lit auditorium with a starling dance performance to Fela’s “Zombie”; and the Briggs family took the audience back in time when they danced to Felix Liberty’s hit song “Ifeoma”. Last on stage for the Pantomime performance was the Ebute family who performed to “Rise up” by Swiss artiste DJ Yves Larock.
The Hip-hop dance style was the final performance of the night. The Ibrahim family was the first on stage, followed by the Briggs, Ikumoinein, Ebute and Enweribe families.
But it was the surprise performances from the judges – Muyiwa Oshinaike, Janell Burgess and Jeffrey Page that got everybody screaming as all three stepped on the dance floor to show and prove!
The highlight of the night was the announcement of the winner after voting by viewers was concluded. The tension in the hall was palpable as the families all gathered on stage eagerly awaiting their fate. In the end, the Briggs family amassed the most votes to win the MDA 7. The Enweribe family was the first runners up while the Ebute family emerged second runners up. They got N1million and N500, 000 respectively.
Speaking at the event, the Corporate Affairs Adviser, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Mr. Kufre Ekanem said “Maltina is about sharing happiness. The family is one of the most important aspects of the society through which Maltina shares happiness. If you impact the family positively which Maltina is doing, you touch the whole Nigerian society”. He also promised that there would be a surprise from Maltina for MDA Season 8 next year.
Also speaking, Mr Samson Oloche, Marketing Manager, Non-alcoholic, Nigerian Breweries Plc, commended all the families for giving a good performance. In his words “all the families performed well. But unfortunately there had to be winners and losers. These families put in their best and it was a great spectacle. Maltina is about the family which Nigerians hold dear. Since 1976 when the brand was launched, it has always being about the family. The MDA is a platform to show what the brand stands for”
Senior brand Manager, Maltina, Mrs. Ngozi Nkwoji stated that the Season had been an amazing one. “The family is the bedrock of the society. I believe that Nigeria has so much talent and today it was shown in these families coming together to share happiness. Nigerians love to dance. It is who we are, anytime there is a new dance step everybody adopts it and as a result our music has gone far and wide. One of the ways we do this is the seamless synergy between the brand and dance. Apart from earning the title of Nigeria’s number one dance family, the winning family becomes partners of the brand and we will continue with them for as long as we can”.
The Maltina Dance All Season Seven was tagged “The Evolution”. The concept was to chronicle the development of dance in Nigeria. The participating families challenged themselves by learning and performing various dance styles from the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s to the present day in the famous Maltina Dance All academy.
