The much anticipated Lagos Premiere of I’ll Take My Chances was held on the 24th February 2012 and it will go down in history as a superlative amalgam of stars from the movie industry Nollywood & the Music industry.
The premiere drew some of the biggest names in entertainment together as big time musicians mingled with famous actors under the same roof. The roll call read names like Paul Okoye of PSquare, Rugged Man, Faze, Slam etc (who did the musical score for the film) all mingled with Nollywood stars like Monalisa Chinda,Chioma Chukwuka-Akpotha, Uche Jombo, Susan Peters, Nse Ikpe-Etim, Mahmoud Alli-Balogun, Segun Arinze, Kunle Afolayan and ofcourse the ‘celebrants’ of the day, Emem Isong & Ini Edo etc. Also present were Director of the movie, Desmond Elliot, lead actor Bryan Okwara, Big Brother winners past & present Uti Nwachukwu & Karen Igho. New Nollywood was well represented with the presence of Uru Eke, Alexx Ekubo, Beverly Naya, O.C.Ukeje, Anthony Monjaro, Chelsea Eze etc.
The setting was authentically African and in keeping with the theme of the movie, ushers were dressed in native Akwa Ibom dance costumes, adding colour & flair to an already lively event! Observers were in for a treat when the lovely Dakore-Egbuson made an entrance! Rarely seen on the Red Carpet these days, her appearance was a pleasant surprise as was the arrival of newly wed Mercy Johnsonand Nollywood ‘Bad Boy’ Jim Iyke! But what caused the biggest commotion of all was the arrival of soulful crooner, Tuface with the latest fiance in town, Annie Macauley! The place almost went berserk! They had to be ushered in through a back entrance and whisked upstairs to the cinema screening room. The MC of the evening was Comedian, A.Y. who had everyone laughing as he introduced and recognized some familiar faces in the House! In what seems to be a Royal Arts trademark,the two halls used for screening were jampacked with many having to make do with standing and some, sitting on the floor! But when the lights deemed and the movie came on, it was all worth it. The crowd loved it! Several times during the production, the audience broke into applause. Though in one of the halls, the screen setting (by Silverbird) was rather dark, it was later rectified and the audience continued to enjoy the movie till it ended in tumultuous applause. Overall, everybody had a great time an left with goodie bags laden with lots of stuff including packs of hair from Noble Hair & Chivita Juice!
Credit: Bola Aduwo
Photographer: Kelechi Duru
