Fashioning Modern Africanism

As judge JR Bogopa said, it’s no longer about proving that they can sing – contestants must show that they have what it takes to win it all.  Making up the season 18 top 4 are: Mpilo, Nozi, Thapelo and Ty Loner. Sadly, it was time to say goodbye to Zee. Before they were announced in the top 4, the five contestants kicked things off with a group performance, re-imagining PJ Morton’s  How Deep Is Your Love  in front of an enthusiastic full house at Tshwane’s Heartfelt Arena. This was followed by an electrifying guest performance from De Mthuda, Da Muziqal Chef and Sino Msolo with the amapiano megahit  Jola .  Mpilo was first to perform, taking on  Khusela  by Kabza De Small and Msaki.  Thembi Seete said: “I admire the discipline and control you have with your vocals. It was a very hard song, but you held it down.” Mpilo’s next song, later in the show, was  Jealous  by Labrinth, under the theme ‘How it should have been done’ – contestants taking on Wooden Mic performances and giving them

The show opened with the top four being paired with four of South Africa’s gospel greats for some spiritually uplifting performances that bowled over the judges. ZanoThando was first with a duet with Dr Rebecca Malope. The performance injected a huge dose of energy as they belted out Rebecca’s hit,  ‘Ngegazi Lemvana’.  Randall Abrahams gave ZanoThando the thumbs up, saying the performance proved last week was not a fluke. “You did really well on  ‘Angelina’  last week and … you really did well on this,” he  said. Both Unathi Nkayi and Somizi Mhlongo-Motaung were in agreement, with Unathi adding that the judges had been hard on him over the weeks because they had seen his potential. Unfortunately, though, ZanoThando bowed out of the competition, having failed to gain enough of the 21 million votes cast to guarantee him a spot in the top three. Brandon was paired with Benjamin Dube in a performance of ‘ El-Shaddai Adonai’   that Randall described using words once used for American music

Last night’s top four Idols SA hopefuls showed that   local is   lekker   as they tried to win the hearts and votes of their fans that they have what it takes to be the next South African idol. The contestants paid homage to the music stable that might just be their home if they win the competition –  Kalawa Jazmee – and performed songs by artists who have been part of the record label over the years. The second half of the show featured a favourite from last year – The Mzansi Gay Choir. Having said goodbye to Ndoni, who did not manage to win enough votes to make it into the top four, the remaining contestants pulled off a spectacular show, displaying just how badly they want to advance to the next stage. ZanoThando opened the evening’s performances on a high note, receiving all round praises for his first performance –  ‘Via Orlando’  by DJ Vetkuk vs Mahoota featuring Dr Malinga. Randall Abrahams commended him for the brilliant song choice, which allowed him to focus on his strengths.