Idols South Africa Recap: Spring Chickens
The winner isn’t likely to come from Joburg. It was the first audition city that did not give me that one person who could be a major threat this season. There was not that one person who made me lift my eyes from the laptop screen and take serious notice. Although I did not see that one here, the city did deliver up some promising young talent, who could develop into that one.
26-year-old Chrystal Worship was the first person to get a Golden Ticket to Sun City. She’s roommates with two previous Idols finalists, one of them being Phaksy from season 7. She has a tone for pop music, the looks for pop music, but on a pretty superficial level. She can carry a tune alright, but I don’t see her joining her roommates as an Idols finalist, as Randall calls her, she’s “unoriginal”. She gets three yes votes. On her way she goes.
Ndumiso, 21, Ithabeleng, 23, and Alice, 17, also got the majority of the judges to give them a Golden Ticket.
“The Eliminator” Busisiwe Mthembu was the next contestant to go through. The 22-year-old single mom took on Adele’s ‘Hometown Glory’, and although she ain’t no Adele (no one is), her voice is strong. There’s something there, and she, too, looks the part. She’s already better than last year’s losing finalist Bongi. Randall’s “Just don’t get eliminated, that’s all” was a very funny but very true warning, because it would be embarrassing. Four yes votes.
A group of 16-year-olds were nicely packaged together as “The Youngsters”. Talent shows need them, but they so rarely win these days. Voters seem to be going for older contestants, or rather, older guys. That said, this group was a little too young and undeveloped to really make themselves known, except for, possibly, one.
Karabo, Jamie, and James all went through, but Rebecca was sent home. Don’t worry, girl, the other three probably won’t last long either.
Then there was Nina Terblanche from Nelspruit, by far the best of the “The Youngsters”. Her beautifully pure, clear tone worked very well with Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking Out Loud’. She has the potential to be a real artist if she continues to develop her craft, but, at only 16, I’m afraid she’s still too young. She gets four yes, though, and she’s through.
Horse race betting specialist Keith Basel, 21, was the next contestant to receive a Golden Ticket. He has a solidly average rock tone to his voice. Sure, he can hold a note, but his voice is rather unmemorable. Three yes votes and he races to Sun City. He won’t last long. I’ll bet on that.
Sporty 16-year-old Loyiso Gijana from Uitenhage was likely my favourite contestant of the night. His pretty cool cover of Nick Jonas’s ‘Jealous’ showed that he is fresh and marketable, something that this show doesn’t often get. Whether he makes it far or not, he should continue working on it. He has star quality. Randall lets Unathi make the call, and he goes through to Sun City. So basically, unanimous decision from the judges.
Clifford, 23, Sindile, 24, and Dandre, 22, all go through. I liked what I saw from Clifford.
Dineo Moseki is back. Apparently she just narrowly missed out on a spot in last season’s Top 16. I can’t say, because I don’t remember her at all. This time around the 21-year-old sang her own original song. I like her, I like her look, and I like her voice, just was not sure about the song. Gareth wasn’t sure whether she’ll go farther this season. Randall said no. Ultimately, it went to Gareth’s decision – he gives her the ticket. I hope she surprises at Sun City this year.
There you have it. All the Golden Tickets handed out in Joburg. A total of 78 Golden Tickets were handed out throughout the audition tour. Honestly, it hasn’t been a very strong group, and we very likely know who the winner will be already.
Looking at you, Sizwe.
