Fashioning Modern Africanism

Tapping into music their parents grew up listening to, the  Idols SA  season 18 top 8 took us on a dazzling trip down memory lane with some of the world’s greatest hits from artists such as The Beatles, Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey.    With over 7 million votes this week, Mzansi decided that their top 8 was: Nozi, CeeJay, Zee, Kabelo, Ty Loner, Thapelo, Mpilo and Noxolo. Sadly, Tesmin-Robyn’s  Idols SA  journey came to an end.    The show started off with an electrifying group performance paying tribute to kwaito legends TKZee. The top 8 had the Heartfelt Arena on their feet with an upbeat medley of  Dlala Mapantsula, Phala Fala, Fiasco  and  Shibobo .    Amapiano sensation Pabi Cooper kept the momentum going with an energetic performance of  Banyana ke bafana  and  Waga Bietjie .    Starting off was Nozi, who delivered Roberta Flack’s  The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face  — this was her father’s high school crush.    Somizi Mhlongo, who gave Nozi a standing ovation, said: “There’s

With Heritage Month in full swing, last night’s   Idols SA   season 18 episode celebrated the incredible musical history of Mzansi – with contestants recreating Southern African   classics in the youth’s image. Icons such as Hugh Masekela, Thandiswa Mazwai, Caiphus Semenya and Brenda Fassie were honoured by the contestants who received enough votes to sing another day.   With over 7 million votes cast this week, the 9 who made it are: CeeJay, Kabelo, Mpilo, Noxolo, Nozi, Tesmin-Robyn, Thapelo, Ty Loner, and Zee. Sadly, Lerato’s   Idols SA   journey has come to an end.   The show started on an upbeat note, with Noxolo taking on Joe Mafela’s   Shebeleza   and turning it into a house-influenced banger. The judges loved it, with Somizi Mhlongo giving high praise: “Bra Joe is so proud wherever he is.”   “You are a natural. The power and control that you have on stage is amazing,” said Thembi Seete, with JR Bogopa adding: “This is how you open a show!”   Next was Kabelo, taking on Ringo’s  

Taking place at   Idols SA ’s new home, Tshwane’s Heartfelt Arena, it was the competition’s first live show in front of a full house since the pandemic began – with over 2,300 people in the audience. The first voting show of the season also featured collaborations between contestants and some of the biggest stars in the music industry.    "It feels good to be back!” said host ProVerb as he introduced the first live show of Idols SA season 18, and – with electrifying performances that saw six of the top 12 take to the stage – he was on the money. Kicking things off was this season’s youngest singer, 18-year-old Zee, who performed a duet with Kelly Khumalo on her soaring hit  Empini . For her solo act, Zee sang the sexy  Surprise  by Chlöe. All three judges praised her solo performance, with Thembi Seete calling Zee’s delivery “beautiful”. While both JR Bogopa and Somizi Mhlongo also applauded her, Somizi felt that the teenager was intimidated by singing with a star the calibre of K

There is a new twist in this year’s search for the next  Idols SA  winner – season 18’s live performances will kick off with 12 contestants vying for the top spot as opposed to the usual top 10. This is following a pressure-filled and gruelling few weeks for contestants, who have made it through the famously tough theatre week The top 12 were announced in tonight’s episode, a two-hour show that showcased the highly impressive top 32 performances – evidence of the tough competition contestants faced. Making it even tougher was the surprise reveal that, instead of the traditional top 16 at this stage of the show, this year’s competition would cut the number down to 12, who would then perform in the live shows starting next week.  The judges – Somizi Mhlongo, Thembi Seete and JR Bogopa – have done their bit: from Sunday 28 August, it’s in viewers’ hands, where votes will determine who stays and who goes home. Without further ado, here are the top 12 contestants for  Idols SA  season 18. C

Day three of auditions for SA Idols season 17 brought yet another week of tears of joy and disappointment. In addition, there were plenty of laughs and birthday balloons on stage as the judges sifted the good from the bad, paving the way for dreams of stardom to come true. This week’s guest judge was one of South Africa’s greatest talents, Ringo Madlingozi. He took a day off from the world of politics and Parliament to help select the best singing talent South Africa has to offer. For Randall Abrahams, Somizi Mhlongo and Unathi Nkayi, the day brought with it some pleasant surprises as they – assisted by Ringo –  dished out 24 golden tickets. The day may have started with a no as 22-year-old Karabo Mogola from Pretoria failed to make the cut. However, there were plenty of golden tickets, with several Idols hopefuls managing to secure a full house of nods. Twenty-two-year-old Katiso “Kat” from Johannesburg rolled in with his roller skates and falsetto to clinch the first golden ticket of

It continued to rain gold on day two of Idols SA season 17 auditions, with 31 entrants securing that all-important golden ticket to theatre week. Unfortunately, for the many others selected to appear before the judges – the dream ended far too soon and they will be watching the show on TV like the rest of Mzansi. This week, judges Randall Abrahams, Somizi Mhlongo-Motaung and Unathi Nkayi were joined by a new guest judge, award-winning gospel artist Ntokozo Mbambo, as they weeded out the good from the bad and downright scary. The first golden ticket winner was 16 year-old Zukisa from Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal, who felt he had something unique to put out there, which was not yet out there. After his rendition of Ami Faku’s  Ubuhle Bakho , Unathi said his audition was beautiful. “Your voice is rich, your range is wide, your delivery is sincere, what else should I want?” An overwhelmed Zukisa garnered enough votes to get a golden ticket with a hope of following in the footsteps of

Zwai Legendary Kwaito artist, producer and musical director Zwai Bala and renowned singer, producer and Member of Parliament Ringo Madlingozi are among the guest judges as the popular talent search show   Idols SA   returns for its 17 th   season this Sunday. Ringo The much anticipated return of the IdolsSA, which attracted a record 15 000 online entrants, will heat up viewers’ living room this winter as  Idols SA  hopefuls belt it out to impress the guest judges as well as the show’s resident judges. Reality TV star, musician and choreographer Somizi Mhlongo, musician, radio and TV personalities Unathi Nkayi and Randall Abrahams, Rapper, radio and TV personality and the show’s co-executive producer Proverb also returns as the show’s host. Idols SA  will start with the airing of all online auditions on Mzansi Magic (DStv channel 161) this Sunday, 11 July 2021 at 17:30. Somizi “We are excited that South Africa’s most-loved talent search show ,  Idols SA ,  returns this Sunday to enterta