By Johnson Ode
Sarah Alpheaus first came to Bayelsa’s Got Talent (BGTT) as a supporter. “I heard about BGTT via my friend, Timi Turna, and I attended the Season 2 finale to support him,” she says. A season later, she was centre stage – and victorious.
Her account of the contest is unsentimental. The audition rooms were “amazing and intimidating” in equal measure. “I saw amazing vocalists. Everyone came prepared,” she recalls. What followed was a grind: all night rehearsals, exacting coaches and the relentless pressure of weekly voting. “The organisers basically pushed us to our elastic limits. But it’s a competition – it’s not supposed to be easy. The sacrifice was definitely worth it.”
Time, she says, was her fiercest opponent. Balancing work with the show forced her to be “tactical and intentional”. On the eve of the grand finale she developed a sore throat. “But I couldn’t just give up,” she says. When her name was finally announced, the feeling was simple: “I was overwhelmed with joy because my hard work paid off. Much was expected of me, and I’m glad I didn’t disappoint.”
If the rehearsals were punishing, the voting was worse. “The most challenging part was the YouTube views. Convincing people to watch a YouTube video isn’t easy,” she says, bluntly.
Music, for Alpheaus, is innate. “I didn’t choose singing as a talent; I was born with it,” she says. Her influences are firmly local. “I’m inspired by the stories of our famous Nigerian musicians,” she adds, singling out Seyi Vibez: “He’s a great artist.”
Winning BGTT, she believes, has already shifted how she is seen. “Being an ambassador of BGTT has given me a better face in society and more respect musically. It’s a good platform – a building ground – and it has given me a step higher in my journey of greatness.” Next comes an assault on a bigger stage: “Heading straight to Nigerian Idol and fully in the music business now,” she says. A debut single is imminent, with promotions to follow. “Yes, I’m planning and working on a single track project and more – with the help of the BGTT organisers, of course.”
For Sylvester Sede, CEO of Silverflame Media and creator of BGTT, this is precisely the point. “BGTT is a talent discovery platform designed to showcase and nurture skills across diverse creative areas, including music, dance, comedy, acting, and more,” he says. The ambition is regional and cultural as much as individual: the show “seeks to uncover and promote exceptional talents from all eight local government areas of Bayelsa State, with the broader aim of celebrating the rich culture, creativity and image of the Bayelsa people and the Niger Delta region”.
The structure is deliberately demanding. Auditions run across all eight LGAs; five contestants from each progress, producing 40 finalists. They enter the live shows, where five are eliminated weekly over eight weeks until a winner emerges. Eligibility is broad: all ages, all genders, Bayelsans and non Bayelsans alike. Since inception, Sede notes, the franchise has delivered three seasons and spotlighted more than 400 young performers.