After a nail-biting two month nationwide search, 23 year old Olayinka Oladiran from Abeokuta was finally revealed as the winner of the 2016 MTV Base VJ Search – Nigeria on MTV Base (DStv channel 322) on Friday 23 September.
Four finalists from all over the country slugged it out for the top slot during the televised grand final in front of Viacom executives Alex Okosi and Katung Aduwak, as well as famous faces from the entertainment industry including Olisa Adibua, Vector Tha Viper, Ikechukwu, Niniola, among many others
Olayinka Oladiran beat fellow finalists Tomiwa Olorunfemi (23), Tochukwu Onwubiko (21) and 19 year-old twins, Grace and Glory Danbaki after competing with thousands of hopefuls in Lagos, Enugu and Abuja plus online and social media applicants. While all the competitors brought their “A-Games” to the finale, K’Ola outStr!pped the competition thanks to her bubbly personality, relaxed stage presence, and the ability to relate to the audience.
The other finalists also went home with contracts and will be representing MTV Base as VJs on new shows coming to the channel.
Speaking about the victory, Alex Okosi, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) Africa, commented, “Congratulations to K’Ola, who really has shown the rare combination of qualities we look for in an MTV Base VJ. We are so excited to welcome K’Ola to our MTV Base and VIMN Africa family and look forward to seeing her on screen on MTV Base in the coming weeks. The finalists were so strong and amazing this year that we plan on contracting all of them to represent the brand as VJs”
K’Ola who could not contain her excitement after being named as the latest MTV Base VJ commented, “I feel very blessed by this experience and I’ve learnt that any dream that is worth having is worth pursuing.”
Olayinka Oladiran will now join Ehiz Okoeguale, popularly known as “Dadaboy Ehiz” on MTV Base’s in-house talent roster, where she will start off presenting ‘Word on the Street” and “Newsish” on MTV Base. BI, who also walked away with a contract worth 20million Naira, will also get the opportunity to travel around the world with the MTV Base team on a wide range of glittering entertainment events such as the MTV Africa Music Awards Johannesburg 2016, the MTV EMAs, BET Awards, BET Experience Africa, and many other events in the Viacom portfolio.
