Idols South Africa Recap: Mother City Magic & Mayhem
After last week's rather luke-warm start to Season 11 of Idols South Africa I was more than just a bit sceptical about the Cape Town auditions. Yes the Mother City has produced the most Idols winners but it has also brought forth the worst of the worst. Alutho, Kelly Cross and Victor all forgot their words while Renay September had Somizi hysterical with laughter and Unathi spitting out her early afternoon tea. Ruan Grobbelaar and Anelisa Motaung both proved to be promising with Jaco Botha bringing some typical WGWG charm to the party. Nadia Herbst might look like Sami Brady but she has a pleasant enough voice. Here's to hoping her nerves will hold out for Theater Week after a rather alarming crying spell after receiving her Golden Ticket. I had to replay Roxanne Martin's audition a few times and still could not work out what language she was singing in. That being said, a foreign language scores more points than an inaudible audition like the one delivered by Thembi Yoti. I had the check the volume control on my TV just to ensure that my ears weren't deceiving me. I'm a huge Spud fan and was silently hoping that Samuel Hendricks would surprise the hell out of the judges. Sadly 'Death Breath' proved to be more entertaining as a wrestler than a singer and was sent home without a Golden Ticket. Belting divas Braxton Schoor and Elvira Standili scored high with the judges but history has a nasty habit of repeating itself with big female voices rarely making it all the way to the end. What a pleasant surprise to see Tebogo Louw auditioning again and what an apt song to sing after last years' disastrous exit out of the competition. He was a personal favorite of mine last year and I do hope he makes it to the voting rounds this time around. I'm still undecided about Taryn Beckett's audition. Is this woman for real? Megan Trainor's 'All About The Bass' has never sounded worse. I have to give Taryn some points for being optimistic though - She is determined to win the next season of The X Factor USA (please don't crush her dreams by telling her that the show was cancelled two years ago). Just when I thought I have seen it all the love child of Zorro and Emo Adams walks in. Abdur Rahim must have had one of the longest auditions in Idols history - I actually dozed off somewhere in the middle of it! The two standouts of the evening were without a doubt Sam Smith lookalike Emma Ellis of Port Elizabeth and hunky Josh Webber from Stellenbosch. Emma surprised with a stellar performance of Vance Joy's 'Riptide' while Webber proved to not only have a captivating voice but some genuis musical improvisation skills as well. I'm not sure how high the Cape Town contestants will rank in the bigger scheme of things but the show was not completely unbearable to watch. I just want to fast forward past all the bad singing and mockary from the judges and be allowed to enjoy some hopefully good talent. The preview of the Durban auditions looked promising so here's to hoping for some good vibes from both contestants and judges!
