Your Talent Should Make Way For You – KieKie

Content creator and award-winning actress, Bukunmi Adeaga-Ilori,
popularly known as Kiekie, in this interview speaks on her upgraded talent show, ‘Kiekie Unscripted Experience’. At a media parley, which was held earlier in the week at the Mikano Experience Centre, V/I, Kiekie shared details of the project with TOMI FALADE as transcribed by Kofoworola Ogunbiyi.

How long did it take you to conceptualise the idea of ‘Kiekie Unscripted’?

Three years. Initially, we were supposed to kick off in 2022, but we had to pause because I was pregnant. But when we decided to kick off again last year, I wasn’t feeling all the excitement that we had created. By 2024, everything we wanted to create in 2022 was already sounding outdated, so I had to create a brand-new show.

I have a full creative team and a writer’s team. We came together and had three brainstorming sessions, and I still didn’t feel it. My husband told me that he knew that one day I would just sit down and write the whole show. One day, I started around 11, and I finished around 6 AM when I went to bed. I called him during the day and said, “Papa, my show is ready.” And then I sent him the entire synopsis of all 12 segments of the show.

I would say that the journey took about three years of thinking and brainstorming to myself, as I was working, driving, and playing with my daughter; it was all in my head.

What would you say is the driving force behind this show?

I’m a person of talent, and as a host, concert and live host as well, I have been to a lot of shows, and anybody who knows me can attest to it that any show I go to, I always have a talent moment on the stage. If I host a show, I don’t do it in vain, talents always win money, N100,000, N150,000, I do it all the time. There was a time when one of the brands that I hosted their events asked me ‘how much did we even pay you?’ I think I gave about a million Naira out on the stage that day. When I do these things, it’s never from the brand’s pocket.

Maybe because I’m a person of talent, and as a Christian as well, giving is a part of me. You know that story about God giving three different servants a certain amount of talent? Talent is gold. When you are a person of talent, your talent is supposed to make way for you. Your talent is your means of livelihood. I don’t want people to die in this life, and their talent will not come forth.
But I understand that taking the journey alone can take a long time, that’s why I want to create a platform. I already have a very big platform. I have about 10 million followers across social media. My impression across all my platforms, every month is over 150 million. If you understand what that means, then what am I doing with these impressions? How about we create a platform where people of talent can come and be seen? For ‘KieKie Unscripted’, we have 10 different segments where 10 people can be celebrated.
If I can create 10 of my own every year, by the time I do it for 10 years, that would be 100 people, and the dream is that this year we create 10 winners, and next year we can create 20 winners.
I’ve also come to realise that with most talent shows, it’s just one person
winning the money and the attention is on that one person.

When I was in secondary school, I used to come second and third, at times fourth. What happens to those who come second, third and fourth? And to be honest, sometimes at some point in life, you find yourself in the second position, just like me, but look at where I am in life today. But I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have the opportunity to rise, and if God hadn’t been gracious. So, I’m mindful of that grace. And that’s why I’m saying, let’s give other people that same platform as well.
I personally know businesses that N2million can start. As bad as Nigeria is, there are businesses you can start with N2million. Imagine somebody winning N2million on the show, or winning N5million on the show, and they start a business that changes their life. Or people come on the show and become famous enough that they become people of talent themselves and brands are happy to work with them. This is one of the reasons we also have several different brands on the show, those brands are also watching. MTN, Mikano, First Bank, all the brands are watching and they may see someone with a great voice and say, come and sing our next theme song and that person will have a royalty of N10 million, N15 million, N100 million, even though they won maybe only N2. 5million on the show. That’s what I’m trying to achieve.

Where did unscripted from the name come from?

Kiekie Unscripted started in 2020 after I got married and I had a lot of experiences. I started sharing my experience about my wedding ceremony and I realized that millions of people could resonate with that. That show got millions of views on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.
It was also in 2020 that I realised that people enjoy listening to me speak, so I started sharing different experiences from secondary school, and university.

Later, my friends started telling me of their similar experiences, so in season
two of Kiekie Unscripted, I invited my celebrity friends to share their own experiences. I saw again that more people, regular everyday people, were resonating and connecting to their stories. That was when I realised that it’s not only me and my celebrity friends that have experiences. How about we now make this a general thing where millions of people can come around and share their experiences where other millions of people can also resonate with it? The unscripted element is what is genuine to each person.

And that’s why the show has different segments. If you can’t sing, you can’t dance, you can’t cook, you can’t act. Just come and play games. The unscripted is what is genuine to you.
Talking is unscripted for me it’s genuine for me and I have mastered it so much that I make sense at it. If cooking is your own, come there and cook, Golden Penny is bringing products, so come and cook whatever you can cook.

You mentioned that there’s no age bracket, what if a child wins in one of the segments?

I started playing drums when I
was nine years old. I remember when I was in JSS2, I fell ill in school and my dad came to pick me. The whole school was crying and they were escorting the car. My father asked why, and I said it was because we have praise night and nobody will drum.
My dad said, ‘You drum?’ And I said yes. I kept telling my dad that I had to get back to school before Friday and he said, ‘But you’re not feeling fine’. I said, ‘Daddy, I must enter that school before Friday.’ When they took me back to school on Friday, the moment they sighted my dad’s car, somebody started shouting that Adeaga is back.
I didn’t know, but my dad waited back in school for the praise night
and watched me drum. He cried. I was just 10 at the time.
That’s one thing about my parents, they enabled my talent from the start. I danced so much in my school that
I represented the whole of Oyo State in Nigeria.
I don’t want to know if you’re 65, if you have such an amazing talent, you are good enough.
And I’m not choosing any winner, the way I created the show, everybody would vote and let the favourite win.

What plans or measures do you have in place to ensure that you sustain it beyond this year?

That’s why we are starting small. Trust me, this is small because I know how this can be bigger in my head. The good thing is when I was selecting brands to work with, I didn’t go to just any brand. YouTube, First Bank which I have been working with for three years. I have been working with Maltina, and I just signed with Easy Travel as a brand ambassador and Naim Insurance. I didn’t pick just any brand, I picked brands that also stand for longevity.