?Obolo?, Joe Take Lead

Three contestants in the ongoing reality show on TV3, Mentor 2, have zoomed to the forefront of audience prediction with virtually nine weeks more to go.

By last week?s eviction of Cindy Appiah-Kubi, aka Cee, 20, Sandy (Obolo), Joe and Prince has firmly planted themselves within the collective psyche of Mentor 2?s massive following.

Already, pockets of supporters? groups have begun crystallising around the three contestants such that what took Mentor 1 a long time to achieve is already here five weeks into Mentor 2.

Whiles they top the list as favourites of the numerous fans of Mentor 2, it is interesting to know how the others appear in the eyes of the same public in whose hands lies their fate as far as eviction or retention of a housemate is concerned.

Sandy, well known as the ?Obolo? in the house, exudes a lot of energy when performing and her weight is no hindrance.

Well accepted by the judges and the general public as having a good voice with a perfect command over her breath and rhythm, the ?Big Mama? is a likely candidate tipped to retain the winning title in the Ashanti Region after her predecessor Prince of Mentor 1 who incidentally hails from that same region.

Western Region?s Joe has been nicked-named ?Humble Lion? and tops the list of flawless contestants in the show. With a good singing talent and excellent stagecraft, he is seen by the public as possessing the complete features for showbiz.

He dances well on stage which leaves the ladies screaming with admiration. At the initial stages of the competition, Joe?s voice was not audible which many people attributed to either shyness or fear of going off key but with time, he is now considered a master of his own voice and his stage works continue to remain unchallenged.

Prince?s acceptance by the public as one of the most confident and creative contestants in the show has been earned through perseverance.

At the audition for Mentor 1, which he was part of, he was selected among the final six but failed to be part of those chosen to represent Accra and his good strides in Mentor 2 is meant to make up for lost times.

People are of the view he dances well but usually holds himself back as though he is not sure of his own moves.
Vic is seen as beautiful and vocally good but over-confident.

In terms of body movements on stage, she is not flexible and while some considered her a good dancer, others think otherwise.

Surprisingly, however, the 22 year old diva has gathered more male followers who believe she is gradually improving with time.

One of the housemates with many talents is Kofi. He sings and dances well and his fans believe he would also do well as a comedian and an actor.

He has the ability to imitate popular personalities with ease and the ladies love him for his jokes. Though his performances are fun to behold, Kofi often gets carried away by cheers from the audience so much that he concentrates more on his stage craft than his singing.

Seen as beautiful and sexy are the three fair damsels in the house, Rose, Anita and Adez.

Rose, the shortest is seen as an average performer who is still struggling to improve whiles Adez, tipped as the ?most beautiful and interesting girl? in the house, fails to appeal to the public and judges as having the best of voices for such a tension-filled competition.

After being evicted and voted back into the show, Anita seems to have gathered more confidence on stage and is still struggling to keep herself above eviction level.

The public believe it is too early to judge her since she is now trying to adapt to the show.

The only Eastern Regional housemate in the show, Dee, is popularly called ?Dada Dee? because the public perceive him as the oldest among all the contestants. They are sceptical about his claim of being 23 years old and wished he would publicly come clean on his real age.

To them, his height, body structure and facial appearance do not reflect his stated age and he is teased for that. Though confident on stage, people believe Dee is an ?on and off? performer who does well today and flops the following week.

For competitions of such nature, it is constantly typical to have fans forming alliances with certain contestants to the detriment of others which does not only add more excitement to the programme but also makes it more competitive.

However, these ?likes or dislikes? for contestants have reportedly been known to generate into serious emotional outbursts if not handled with self restraint.

The public?s perception of the Mentor 2 contestants is reminiscent of the different emotional attachments that fans developed to their favourite or non-favourite contestants in Mentor 1 some of which resulted in violent clashes, weeping and over excitement even to the point of death.

Hakeem?s eviction, for instance, sparked up violence at the TV3 premises perpetrated by a group of Mentor 1 fanatics who believed he was evicted based on controversies about his age which, to them, was unfair.

They allegedly destroyed properties and attacked anybody who dared to condemn their actions.

In another incident, shock and grief filled the atmosphere when Martin, who was voted back into the house a few weeks after his dramatic eviction which had almost everyone weeping in the studio, announced that he had been told that a die-hard fan of his who was in labour at the Korle-Bu teaching Hospital alegedly died following the shock she suffered upon hearing of Martin?s eviction.