Hymnodia has been nothing short of exciting– great hymns, beautiful voices, experienced Judges, vibrant personalities and the list just goes on and on. As we see the Hymntestants lined up on the stage, we are filled with so much anticipation.

However, we were quite sad to learn that Ayodeji, one of the Hymntestants pulled out during the course of the week due to personal issues, leaving 11 Hymntestants. We wish him all the best. Rachael and Rioja emerged the two Hymntestants with the lowest votes. The battle was on, after a beautiful performance from both Hymntestants, with them singing like their lives depended on it. Racheal was saved. It was so emotional listening to Rioja talk about the things he would miss at the Hymnstitute, apparently, he was the clown of the house and he made everyone happy. He surely would be missed.

The theme for the night was ‘Hymns of the Cross’ in honour of the Lenten season. It was so nostalgic listening to the hymntestants remind us of the life, sufferings and death of Christ. Blessing sang ‘The Royal Banners Forward Go’ by Venantius Fortunatus, Kenneth took ‘ Jesus Keep Me Near The Cross’ by Fanny Crosby, Mobalanle rendered ‘Sing My  Tongue The Glorious Battle’ by Venanatius Fortunandos, Abigael sang ‘In The Cross Of Christ I Glory’ by John Browning, Jemine took ‘I cannot Tell Why He Whom Angels Worship’ by Williams Fullerton, Olumide ‘Stand Up, Stand Up For Jesus’ by George Duffield, Uduak ‘There Is A Green Hill Far Away’ by Cecil F. Alexander’, Juliet ‘O Come And Mourn With Me Awhile’ by Fredrick W. Faber, David ‘Nearer My God To Thee’ by Sarah Flower Adams and Rachael with ‘The Way Of The Cross Leads Home’ by Jessie B. Pounds. All the performances were nothing short of glorious.

At last the show came to an end and it was time for the moment of truth. Kenneth, the basso profondo and Olumide, the baritone were declared the best performances. The Hymntestants, however were given a chance to pick an Hymntestant that they wanted on probation. At the end, 4 people were put on probation, 3 from the judges and 1 from the Hymntestants. The 4 Hymntestants were David, Mobolanle, Blessing and Jemine.

The next stanza promises to be even better, as the Hymntestants would be performing original hymns composed by them. In addition to this, they would have to pick 4 people from the Hymnodia choir, to be their backup singers and no two Hymntestants should have the same backup singers.

We are already anticipating the next stanza. Hymnodia is nothing short of the best.