When I read Charles Novia's critique of the "music" and movie careers of Tonto Dikeh, I actually felt some parts were a bit over the top. But watching her perform at AY LIVE last Sunday really made me reconsider my judgment of that piece.
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Clad in white panties/bum shorts, a white shirt, a black bowtie and sneakers, she ascended the stage with a retinue of dancers. There was no real attempt at singing as she was busy trying to pull down the shorts which kept riding up her ass and smiling sheepishly at nothing in particular while the disasters of her songs, It's Ova, Hi and Crazically Fit, belched from the speakers.
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It was a really cringe-worthy affair and there was that embarrassing shamelessness of someone who doesn't care about the public's perception of her actions yet wants them to care about her and revere her.
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While not the best actress in Nigeria, Tonto is not the worst. No, not by any means. She has also exhibited genuine strains of social responsibility and human empathy as she has donated towards a number of charitable causes in recent times. But why she has chosen to embarrass herself and her fans with a spurious music career is a continuum that has baffled sane people ever since it began.
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It is not a case of 'She who the gods want to kill, they first of all make mad.' No god is involved in this embarrassing sequence. The almighty and benevolent God has already given her a talent which has made her a star in the movies and given her a beautiful space in the Nigerian star-sphere.
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The problem seems to lie in the proliferation and liberalisation of file sharing, good speech as well as nonsense through the Social Media. Anyone with an internet connection on any device can download music and the number counted including the failed downloads. Then they can proceed to Twitter and with a simple mention reach their subject and massage their ego through base sycophancy.
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One of such Twitter sycophants woke up one morning and declared that @TONTOLET would win a Grammy soon which she gladly retweeted knowing fully well that she can only win a Grammy awarded by her granny.
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Then there are Social Media mercenaries who for a fee would keep mentioning a handle or hashtagging anything until it trends. They, like local marabouts, fete whatever is their object until it is lulled into a false sense of fame and acceptability.
She shouldn't have even thought of venturing into music in the first place. Acting is her destiny not Music