Jerrilyn Mulbah, one of the top fine finalists in West African Idols is back! The singer who made her first major appearance on the Idols stage in 2007 is set to renew her pact with fans as she premieres her new singles this weekend.
Produced by Kiss Music’s Dipo Abdul,the singles- Molejo and Mr DJ will be premiered in Lagos, Nigeria and simultaneously across other African countries. On both songs, the singer tries to convey Africa’s culture with music and dance.
The Liberian refugeewas a big favourite of the judges and West African audience while in the competition. Withback-to-back impeccable performance, she climbed the ladder to stardom, and was not only selected amongst the lucky 24 out of 80 contestants, she also made it to the top 10 phase after performing,Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing by Aerosmith.
Making progress to Top 8, she took the audience off their feet with pop diva- BeyoncéKnowles’sWork It Out, making it to top 6. Performing All By Myselfby Celine Dion, she made it to the last 5 standing where she performed Never Too Much by Luther Vandross.Jerrilyn, a Liberian by birth, was evicted from the competition on May 7, 2007 holding the fifth position, after she got saved three times.
Jerrilyn was described as “a survivor and the luckiest contestant” as she was the only non-Nigerian that made it to the Top 10. As a Liberian refugee, Jerrilyn fled from her country to Nigeria during the Liberian civil war. She is a girl who has chosen to live above the wreck of the war and is against all odds, striding towards stardom and a successful music career.
For Jerrilyn, her journey began at the age of six. Being separated from both parents while on vacation with relatives, she encountered her first experience with the hardships of Liberia. She laid eyes on her first dead body, one of which sat on a bench with his legs crossed, arms folded, and had a wheel barrel covering his headless neck. At age seven, Jerrilyn encountered another life altering event. Her mother worked the night shift as a mid-wife, so she would leave Jerrilyn with a trusted “best friend.”
However, on one fateful night, what started out as her usual weekend visit, soon turned into something much bigger. Jerrilyn’s mother’s supposed best friend sold in exchange for food (fish) to a young rebel general to be a “little rebel wife.” The rebel general eventually sent her to his missionary mother in Seclapiae, a town in Nimba County. Luckily for Jerrilyn, she became the love child of their home. What made the situation somewhat bearable was the fact that Jerrilyn was allowed to do the things she enjoyed best, which was going to church and singing in the choir. She was there for 2 years while her mother searched endlessly for her. Finally, someone recognized her picture as the little girl who sang in the Children's Choir in a Saclepea church.
In her stride to stardom,Mulbah performed before an estimated 20,000 concert audience, marking the first phase of the Stop Rape Campaign spearheaded by United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), the government of Liberia and, other partners.
Jerrilyn's road to fame began with singing an ode to her late mother and her greatest wish is to empower the African woman through her music and honour the memory of her late mother by helping others.She is one of the beneficiaries of the major sponsors of West Africa Idols –Celtel as she was a presenter on the then Celtel radio show, Celtel Hit Zone.
Eric emerged fourth place.Temitayo George held the third place,Omawumi second position,while Timi Dakolo emerged winner, all of whom have albums and singles to their credit.Jerrilyn’s singles would hit the airwaves this weekend as she gears towards shooting her video.
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