Many of us came expecting tradition to be continued: Chioma Jesus would close the show.

It has become a thing of pride actually: we have this cast of globally renowned performancers including CeCe WInans and Donnie McClurkin and yet The Experience knows that the one person that would keep people waiting to the end would be a Nigeria-based act.

After two years of that experiment, they decided to shake things, if only slightly.

Chioma Jesus performed at the end, but for one person though: Tope Alabi.

This year, the 46-year old Alabi with hits such as Ore ti o common and Agbo Jesu had never performed on the stage of The Experience before, and so the event was taking a big risk closing with a woman who has been out of the major-stage mainstream for a while, and who sang in a language about half of the audience couldn’t understand.

But they took a risk with Chioma Jesus and it paid off. And so they had earned the right to take another risk and shake things up.

It worked. It totally completely worked.

Chioma Jesus shaking up the crowd, and Tope Alabi bringing it together in delirious, glorious ecstasy – the transition from Igbo to Yoruba so smooth, you may not even have noticed. The energy not flagging, the atmosphere completely charged.

Well done, whoever is in charge of making the decisions as to the flow (our people at the House on the Rock say it is Pastor Paul Adefarasin himself).

These two are authentic Radicals for Jesus. We have now begun to fast and pray for a collaboration to end all collaborations.

Tolu

Your pop culture/entertainment go-to. Music head. Wallflower. I do not like to write. On a mission to decipher covfefe.