Leonard, Maisamari Families Evicted From MDA 8 Academy

Leonard Family

The picture is gradually becoming clearer and the dance battle for the N10 million grand prize getting intense as the Maltina Dance All 8 academy makes steady progress. The Leonard and Maisamari families could not stand the twist, turns, frills and intensity of the show as they became the first two families to be evicted from the show described as Nigeria’s number one family dance show.

The two were evicted from the show after performing the Wazobia (Nigeria’s indigenous dance) and Jive dance routines.  They got the judges sledge hammer because of their inability to creatively satisfy them with their performances.

The first eviction showdown had four families locking horns to remain in the Academy. The Dide and Leonard families had earlier been placed on possible eviction list after their Wazobia performance show, while Oladapo and Maisamari could not impress the judges after the Jive performance. After what the judges’ trio of Muyiwa Osinaike, Comfort Fedoke and Jeffery Page described as unsatisfactory performance at the various performance shows, they were given an order to redeem their image and justify their stay in the academy.

The Oladapo Family set the tone for the Wazobia performance at the eviction night with Nkpokiti dance from Eastern Nigeria, Maisamari and Leonard families rocked with owigiri/ agene and Dide family nailed it with Bata dance from the South West.

Maisamari Family

Muyiwa Osinaike said most of the families who have participated at the eviction show down from the past till present always come back to the stage with so much vibrancy and determination; he thus commended them for their Wazobia performance.

The Jive performance, which turned out to be a night of emotion, opened with an energetic display by Dide family with a song titled ‘this head I hold.’ They left the floor for Leonard Family with ‘One way or another.’ The Maisamari’s hit the stage with ‘Living La vida loca’ while the Oladapo’s closed the night performance with ‘don’t stop me now.’

When it was time for the judges to announce the families that would be evicted the tension in the atmosphere was quite palpable as they found it challenging determining the two families that would leave the academy. One of the judges Comfort Fedoke, a professional dancer who spoke said the Jive performance described the family performance as an improvement from the initial show.

After the high powered judges deliberations, they collectively reached the conclusion that the Leonard and Maisamari families did not prove that they could make it to the next phase of the competition, this earned them their evictions.

Jeffery Page one of the judges, disclosed that the  families lacked the basic elements of Wazobia and Jive and that their performances was a comedy of error because he did not feel the power and technique needed for them to perfect the routines.

This not withstanding, the evicted family representatives commended Maltina for the opportunity granted them to display their inbuilt talent and learn new dance styles. They promised to keep working on the key learnings from the judges’ corrections and improve on his dance routines outside the academy.

Apart from the N10 million grand prize, the first and second runners-up in the competition will take home N3 million and N1 million respectively.

The show, which hit the airwaves on September 7, 2014, is being shown on AIT (7-8pm) daily, Silverbird TV (9-10 pm) and Ebony Live TV (7pm) Weekdays and (8.30pm) weekend, while the grand finale would be aired live on AIT and Africa Magic channels on DSTV. Viewers who miss any edition can still catch all the action on YouTube, Facebook and the Maltina website.