The Search Continues! Dare2Dream & FCMB hold Audition & Elimination Rounds in UniLag, UniAbuja & UniPort

The road to finding new talent in Nigeria is still on as Dare2Dream – an initiative by fashion brand, Kinabuti & Pulse.ng to give young and aspiring presenters, designers, singers & models the chance to achieve their dreams – moved to 3 universities.

With their team of judges, they held elimination rounds with the hope of finding the finalists that will head on to the Dare2Dream bootcamp and the Federal Palace Hotel & FCMB Headquarters.

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University of Lagos
The team arrived at the University of Lagos to start selections at the Afebabalola Hall, searching for talent in singing, dancing, presenting and fashion design. The contestants were required to open an account with FCMB, to wear their hair natural, black tops & black trousers.

The 1st day witnessed a great turnout with a lot of students showing off to show the judges – Uchenna Mojekwu (Head of Communication, FCMB); Ono Bello (Blogger & PR Expert); Bola Fawehinmi (Model, FEW Model Management); Caterina Bortolussi (Designer, Kinabuti) and Ilona Pink (Fashion Consultant) what they’ve got.

Day 2 was loads of fun and energetic. Guests performed for the enthusiastic eyes of the public, after which they enjoyed meals by Indomie and then faced eliminations.

They Dare2Dream ladies went through training in dancing and walking the runway, and the final eliminations saw 20 girls emerge from the over 100 that originally applied.

Day 3 witnessed a new set of judges – Uchenna Mojekwu (Head of Communication, FCMB); Caterina Bortolussi (Designer, Kinabuti); Francesca Rosset (Dare2Dream/FCMB); Shaydee (Music artist); Tolulope (winner, D2D Season1) and Azuka Ogujiuba(Editor, Thisday) and performances from the selected girls at the final show at UniLag. From the selected 2o girls, the judges picked the final 6 who will go on to join the Dare2Dream bootcamp at the Federal Palace Hotel in Lagos and at the FCMB Headquarters.

At the end of the 3rd day, Shaydee shared some inspirational words with the guests and contestants, sang for them and took photos with everyone.

University of Abuja
Abuja definitely has loads of talent! After a successful 3-day audition at the University of Lagos, the Dare2Dream Team selected 6 girls to join the bootcamp at the Federal palace Hotel. The D2D team along with the FCMB Dare2BePurple Team arrived in Abuja via Dana Air on November 19th 2015.

Selections kicked off for the aspiring models who started attending the dance training with Julia from SPAN (Society of Performing Arts of Nigeria) and the modelling training with Josephine (a D2D Season 1 Finalist). Both teams evaluated the aspiring models with the entertainers, and got them ready for a vibrant final event in the university, from where 13 contestants would eventually emerge.

Day 5 saw amazing performances from the contestants – from dancers to singers, the talented lot left the audience and the judges thrilled, and 6 performing artists were eventually selected at the final event.

The grand finale held on day 6 with members of the Dare2Dream and Dare2BePurple team in attendance. The judges – Adaora (AIT Morning Show) and Filippo Amato (Head of Commerce and Trade, EU) both shared their own stories and encouraged the youth to dream.

The finale saw an extra girl join the 13 finalists competing to be part of the 6 girls flying to Lagos via Dana Air to join the bootcamp & FCMB challenge, in addition to 6 performing artists who competed to be selected to perform at the final closing event on the 6th of December.

The performing artists were amazing – UniAbuja showed some serious talent and made it difficult for the team to choose. But after all was said and done, the team picked 6 girls and the UniAbuja performing artists.

University of Port Harcourt
Next up was Port Harcourt! Both teams from Dare2Dream & FCMB started selections in Port Harcourt and they could tell the city was ready for them. Aspiring models from all over joined the competition and for the next 3 days received intense training in modelling by Sandra (In Our Ghetto Model) and dancing by Julia (SPAN).

It was a time filled with so much laughter and joy with loads of love from the contestants. The judges were made of Caterina Bortolussi and Francesca Rosset (Kinabuti); Temitayo Ade-Peters (FCMB) and Benedict (Indomie) and on day 3 they started eliminations and chose the 6 finalists that will join the others at bootcamp. They also chose the performing artists from UniPort who will showcase at the Federal Palace grand finale on December 6th.

The university selection is all over and after 9 days of eliminations, 18 finalists from UniLag, UniAbuja and UniPort have been chosen. Though the Dare2Dream team & FCMB team will miss the energy and fun from the universities, it’s time to begin the bootcamp and FCMB challenge.

Dre2Dream Season 2 is sponsored by FCMB and proudly sponsored by Nescafe, Domino Pizza, Dana Air & Indomie.

Dare2Dream media partners include;
– TV Partners: EbonylifeTV, Cool TV, Wazobia TV, Africa Magic, AIT and the Guardian TV
– WEebPartners: BellaNaija, Pulse.ng, Ono Bello, Ladybrille and Gidi Grove Media
– Print partners: The Guardian Newspaper
– Radio Partners: Cool FM and Wazobia FM

Dare2Dream (D2D) is produced by Kinabuti Fashion Initiative in collaboration with Pulse.ng. To find out more on the Dare2Dream project, follow them on Twitter: @Dare2DreamNG | Follow them on Instagram: @Dare2DreamNG | Find them on Facebook: facebook.com/daretodream or facebook.com/d2dkinabuti | Follow them on Snapchat: d2dkinabuti

Photo Credit: Marcello Pastonesi
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BellaNaija is a Media Partner with the Dare2Dream Initiative