I Went To Project
Fame To Change My Life For Good
Patience
Edache popularly known as Immaculate was the first runner-up winner at the just
concluded music reality show, MTN Project Fame, the widely-watched reality show
across West-Africa.
Immaculate,
a graduate of Mass Communication at the Benue State University, she was the
last born in a family of six (five girls and a boy).
Immaculate
narrates her journey into the Nigerian music scene and her experiences in the
MTN Project Fame Academy to BOLATITO ADEBOLA. Excerpts…..
How do you feel being the first runner up
winner?
I feel so great,
I feel so happy and I feel so fulfilled with what I got in the competition.
Do you ever think you could go far in the
competition?
Seriously, the
particular six contestants are outstanding and I always have it in my mind to
get to the top and put everything that I have to make sure I get there.
What was the experience like in the academy?
The experience in
the academy was so funny, though challenging, entertaining and educative, it
was really challenging and it wasn’t easy for me and I didn’t forget the fact
that I came here for something, I came here to be known, I came here to learn
and actually came here to change my life and I didn’t let anything take that
away from me, even with the facts that they are so much emotional times, but I
was determined and focused such that I didn’t come here to cry all the time,
and I also had it in mind that I came here (Project Fame) to change my life for
good and I didn’t let anything weigh me down; even with Uncle Ben, Mrs. Ige,
Mrs. Kaffy and everybody really tried for me, it wasn’t easy in the academy.
Has your life changed now?
Life changed?
that is an understatement, my life has changed, even I tried to cover it. Many
people know that my life has been transformed to good with the platform, though
I’m not stopping here, this is just the beginning for me, I don’t know about
other contestants, but for me the word hustle has just started.
But how prepared are you for the industry?
I’m very much
prepared for the industry because recently that I checked on my facebook page,
I saw the response of people on the song I did in the academy titled: ‘Sugar-Lala’
many of them have even forgotten my name as Immaculate but it was ‘Sugar-Lala’
everywhere and this was a song I actually sat down and wrote in the academy
which I didn’t feel it in me and if I could do a song and the whole world could
feel, I think I’m fulfilled because that’s what I want to do, I want to pay
back to the society with good music, I don’t even want to know the type of
music, either reggae, blues or jazz, but all I want to do is good music, I want
to do something that would actually touch someone life’s and to inspire
meaningful message to the world.
What is the genesis of Sugar-Lala?
The word
‘Sugar-Lala’ it is like my signatory word and if you have watched the show (MTN
Project Fame) from the beginning; you would notice that at the end of my performances,
I used the word ‘Sugar’, either I was performing a gospel song or general song,
I use ‘sugar’ as my trademark and I personally think that I’m creamy in
complexion and oil with love, sweetness and everything in life should be sweet
even in the time of struggle, there should be this believe that there’s
sweetness in everything we do and why I used the word ‘sugar’ is for people to
remember the journey so far and I also called people I love ‘sugar’ and
everything close to my heart, my teeming fans are close to my heart and that’s
why I called them ‘sugar’ and I did the song ‘sugar-lala’ for them and to let them
know that they are ‘Sugar’ and to appreciate them for everything they have done
for me, they have been my backbone since the beginning of the competition even
when I’m not doing things right they keep supporting me with their votes and
love, I just want to use the song ‘sugar-lahla’ to say a big ‘thank you’ to
them.
With the car, fame and money, how do you
intend to cope with stardom?
Immaculate remains
forever because that’s the first thing everyone saw in me not the car or the
money and they love me like that and I don’t intend to change that and I still
want them to know that the level-headed girl they knew then is still the same,
but it won’t be easy because star, money and fame come with a lot of things but
I won’t leave the supreme God because He is the only one who can guide me and
show me the right path to follow, so my fans shouldn’t expect nothing less than
what they have known me for and the only thing they should expect is good
music, good personality, the one God has already made and nothing is going to
change that.
What is your next step after Project Fame?
My next step is
to bombard people with good music and to disturb you positively with everything
I’ve got inside because I think I owe people a lot and I am here to serve them
with good music.
What should your fans expect from you?
They should
expect something good from me, though I’m dropping the song Sugar Lala’ as my
first single track and I want my fans to expect everything called good music,
either jazz, RnB, souls, afro or ghalala, they should expect any style of music
from me and it’s going to be very soon.
If you are not doing music, what will you be
doing?
If I’m not doing
music, which I know I won’t stop doing, isn’t possible and if I’m not doing
music, I study Mass Communication at the Benue State University and it still
revolves around entertainment and I don’t think I can deviate from
entertainment.
What is your relationship with other
contestant?
My relationship
with them is smooth and like a family, I took everybody in the academy as my
sibling, and like brothers and sisters, everybody lived maturedly and
understood the life we live in the academy, and I take them as my family,
because with love there’s no mountain we can’t climb together.
With the likes of Omawumi, Tiwa Savage,
Chidima and Monica as top female musicians, how do you intend to compete with
them?
I’m not competing
with anybody in the industry; I have already seen my position and my place in
the industry, so I’m not competing with anyone and to make it in life you have
to picture where you want to be, so I already see myself there, it’s either
they love me and they don’t have a choice because I’m taking them as my sisters
and my role models in the industry and I have already seen myself in this particular
picture which nobody hasn’t occupied in the industry and I’m going there to
take my position.
What is going to make you different from them?
Everything is
going to be different, my kind of music, my presence and my voice would
differentiate me from them and make me standout.
How are you going to cope with male advances
that come with fame?
Immaculate is
more of a tom-boy, so I know how to handle and cope with my male friends, even
those ones that immaculate me, I know how to handle them because we are all one
and I don’t intend to change in anyway and I love to make friends and to keep
friends around and nothing about me is going to change, expect the fact that
God is going to continue to bless me more.
Are you engaged in any relationship?
That is my
private life, I need not disclose that area and if anybody is interested in me,
he should try his luck.
What keeps you going?
It’s my past, my
past keep me going, I’m just scared of going back there, I don’t want to
experience or go back to my past, because it has been hustling and struggling,
I just don’t want to go back there, I just want to keep going forward, because
I have a lot of people and a lot of responsibility, not only my family but to
the world, because God has placed me in this world to correct something and
it’s my responsibility to effect that change and the word change keeps me
going.
How can you describe the platform Project
Fame?
Immaculate is the best word to describe the
platform ‘Project Fame West Africa’ the people behind it and every single
objects, everything is immaculate, they are spotless, clean and perfect,
everything is on point and big kudos to MTN, Ultima Studio and the viewers that
made it more interesting. Everything is immaculate.