‘Sweet mother, I no go forget you, for the suffer wey you suffer for me-o,’ so goes the famous lines from Nico Mbaga’s classic, Sweet Mother. Those lines must have been playing through the mind of Evelle (Zibili Evelyn), Nigerian Idols Season 4 winner, last weekend, at Dream Studios, when she emerged winner.
The excited new millionaire was all smiles as she was presented with her prize money of N7.5m and a car while being flanked by her family, loved ones, friends, fans and of course, officials of Etisalat and Pepsi, sponsors of the platform. However, Evelle’s mum was conspicuously absent at her daughter’s crowning. Reason, she was involved in a ghastly car crash three weeks earlier on her way from Benin City, the Edo State capital, to Lagos to watch her daughter perform.
In a chat with The Entertainer, the tearful and joyful Evelle dedicated her victory to her mum. “I feel so amazing and extra ordinary. I feel I could just jump and touch the stars. I’m dedicating my victory to my mum,” the singer crooned happily adding, “I know when I call and tell her I won she’s going to feel a lot better. She was traveling from Benin City, the Edo State capital, to Lagos to watch my performance when she had an accident three weeks ago.”
Evelle says so serious was her mum’s injuries doctors had to implant iron rods in her legs. “She’s not been able to walk since last week. I’m sure that if she hears this news she’s going to be 99 per cent happier and better; I’m so happy I can put a smile on her face at last. I’m dedicating my victory to mum; who else but my mum?” Ev elle asks rhetorically, her eyes gleaming with joy, “God first and then my mum; it has to be my mum.”
Tithes
And guess what? Whoever is Evelle’s should be smiling to the bank
pretty soon because for the singer, the need to show gratitude to God is
paramount. Evelle says the first thing she would do is pay her tithes and then she’d
get down to doing good music. “I held God by the neck for this victory
so I’m going to pay my tithes,” Evelle says on her immediate plans, “and then
I’m going to make more music because I believe that more music means more peace,
more joy, more love and more of everything
positive you can think of. “Music can actually give you so much joy and a lot more. And that’s what I’m
going to be doing because I need to extend my music and my message to the
whole world,” she adds flashing a row of perfect teeth as another bright smile
illuminates her visage. Evelle’s ride to the top was not a tea
party. Aside being saved by the judges
through a wild card, last week again she was not favoured by voters thus creating
fears among her fans that she might not
win. What did she do to shore up her votes and eventually clinch the crown?
“I just said to myself, ‘okay Evelle, for
you to win you need to get more people to vote for you; I knew I needed God. So
I went to God in prayer and I told Him,
‘Baba, I don’t know how this is going to happen but I want to give my best shot and
I want you to help me do this. Even those that are voting for my opponents would
be compelled to vote for me this time’,”
she says with the sound of joyful laughter ringing loudly.
Confession
As Evelle speaks, she brims with the confidence reminiscent of a woman
who knows her onions. However, the new millionaire revealed that when she
made it to the last 12 standing, she was intimidated by the quality of talent on
ground. Consequently, she never believed
that she could end up winning. “Sincerely I never believed that I could
win,” she recalls, “I met so many good singers in
the house. I was
like ‘I know I have a good voice but
how am I going to win?”
However,
Evelle was not discouraged but
looked inwards for strength and inspiration to conquer: “I started
putting in a lot of effort
to improve. I fantasise a lot so I learnt to bring my fantasy
into reality. I actually
prayed to God and said, ‘Lord, let meget to the top
so I couldstart my music career.’
He answered my prayers
and now I’m here; I’m so
grateful to God.”
Evelle revealed that her greatest
Challenge came from
Fellow housemate,
Elvis Jay, whom she describes as her greatest threat.
Next level
Now that she has a record deal with Universal Music worth millions of naira,
Evelle says she’s not going to rest on her
oars as she’s already making moves to consolidate. She disclosed that she was
headed straight to the studio to complete work on her debut album which should
be released within a month!
“From here I’m going straight to church and from there I’m hitting the
gym and really getting busy; I just can’t wait to start. There’s so much in me I
just can’t wait to let out and if I don’t I’m
going to burst from the pressure. “I’m hitting the gym to work on my
body and I’m going to be in the studio every day. Don’t be surprised if I drop a
full album soon. I‘ve been working on this
for a while; back on Nigerian idol, I began working on my fan page in anticipation of
victory and now I’m here.”
Once upon a time…
Evelle revealed that indeed, the road to her dreams has not been
easy. Though, she
started singing at the tender age of four, years
after, music was yet to take her to the place
of her dreams and so, a couple of years ago,
feeling that she’d let down her family, she
stopped talking about her music entirely
and took up a job as a cashier at a restaurant/
bar and for two years she stayed away from the mic.
So disappointed and sad was Evelle she did not
tell her parents that she had
made it to Nigerian Idol until three weeks before the event.
Reason, she
Tithes
And guess what? Whoever is Evelle’s pastor should be smiling to the bank
pretty soon because for the singer, the need to show gratitude to God is
paramount. Evelle says the first thing she
would do is pay her tithes and then she’d get down to doing good music.
“I held God by the neck for this victory
so I’m going to pay my tithes,” Evelle
says on her immediate plans, “and then I’m going to make more music because I
believe that more music means more peace,
more joy, more love and more of everything
positive you can think of.
“Music can actually give you so much joy and a lot more. And that’s what I’m
going to be doing because I need to extend my music and my message to the
whole world,” she adds flashing a row
of perfect teeth as another bright smile
illuminates her visage.
Evelle’s ride to the top was not a tea party. Aside being saved by the judges
through a wild card, last week again she
was not favoured by voters thus creating fears among her fans that she might not
win. What did she do to shore up her
votes and eventually clinch the crown?
“I just said to myself, ‘okay Evelle, for you to win you need to get more people
to vote for you; I knew I needed God. So
I went to God in prayer and I told Him,
‘Baba, I don’t know how this is going to happen but I want to give my best shot and
I want you to help me do this. Even those that are voting for my opponents would
be compelled to vote for me this time’,” she says with the sound of joyful laughter
ringing loudly.
Confession
As Evelle speaks, she brims with the confidence reminiscent of a woman
who knows her onions. However, the new millionaire revealed that when she
made it to the last 12 standing, she was
intimidated by the quality of talent on ground. Consequently, she never believed
that she could end up winning.
“Sincerely I never believed that I could win,” she recalls, “I met so many
good singers in
the house. I was like ‘I know I have a good voice but how am I going to win?”
However,
Evelle was not discouraged but
looked inwards for strength and
inspiration to conquer: “I started putting in a
lot of effort to improve.
I fantasise a lot so I learnt
to bring
my fantasy
into reality.
I actually
prayed to
God and said,
‘Lord, let me
get to the top
so I could
start my
music career.’
He answered
my prayers
and now I’m
here; I’m so
grateful to
God.”
Evelle
revealed that
her greatest
challenge
came from
fellow
housemate,
could not afford to break their hearts all
over again.
“I was tired of disappointing them. I
had been to so many auditions and most
times I didn’t even get to see the judges
before I was kicked out and when I got
back home they’d ask, ‘what happened,
how did it go?’ And I’d be like ‘I didn’t
make it.’
“So I made up my mind I was not going
to let anybody know about Nigerian Idol.
I told my parents about three weeks to the
finals because I wanted to get to that stage
where there was no going back; that point of
no return. I did not want to disappoint them
again.
“I have been a singer since I was
four years. I started singing in church.
I stopped singing because I was tired
of music; music was not giving me
what I wanted so I started working at
a restaurant two years ago. One day, I
decided to organise a live band at the
restaurant where I worked
and the management liked it and that was
how I started again.
“I started learning a lot of songs
including reggae, pop and jazz; it was
a learning process that prepared me for
Nigerian Idols,” Evelle reveals.
From the outset, it was obvious that
one of the judges, Dare Art Alade, really
wanted her to win and he did not hide it.
What does she think informed Darey’s
desire?
Evelle picks her words carefully as
she responds: “The fact is that if you’re a
singer and you’re sincere with what you’re
singing, people will feel it from afar and
connect with what you’re doing because
it’s sincere. I personalize every song I sing
before I go on stage. I’m not surprised he
felt that way.”
Debut album
So, how soon is she going to release her
debut album?
“In less than a month,” she gushes
excitedly, “I’m going to be doing a lot of
inspirational stuff; R&B and pop. Before now I was doing all genres of music;
my fans should expect something extra
ordinary!”
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