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Back to School For Idols SAโ€™s Loyiso!

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02 November 2015
In a shocking result, Idols SA host ProVerb announced at the State Theatre in Pretoria tonight that 16-year-old Loyiso Gijana had to leave his Idols dreams behind and return to his studies at Uitenhageโ€™s Muir College.
idols sa 11 Loyiso Gijana

In a shocking result, Idols SA host ProVerb announced at the State Theatre in Pretoriaย that sixteen-year-old Loyiso Gijana had to leave his Idols' dreams behind and return to his studies at Uitenhageโ€™s Muir College.ย Loyiso is the sixthย contestant to be voted off South Africaโ€™s popular singing contest.ย 

It was a fierce battle for a spot in this weekโ€™s Top 4, with just under an astonishing nineย million votes cast from last Sundayโ€™s Top 5 Spectacular to the close of voting at 22:00 on Tuesday evening (27 October)ย โ€“ by far the most votes ever cast in any single voting cycle in Idols SA history.

Having just turned sixteenย when he first auditioned back in March, Loy-Loy โ€“ as the irrepressible teenager affectionately became known โ€“ was the baby of Idols SA Season 11, but he dominated the competition from the very beginning. Loyiso was one of the very few contenders who scored yeses from all fourย judges in his original audition, and at Sun City already Somizi Mhlongo told the teen he had a bright future in the music business, after his performance of Usherโ€™s โ€œGood Kisserโ€ in the solo auditions.

But this youngster from the small Eastern Cape town of Uitenhage always had a bright future anyway. At school he was a very focused student, singing in the school choir and competing in rugby, tennis, and athletics. He was always determined to go to university, even if he should win Idols SA. โ€œEconomics,โ€ he said. โ€œI want to sell stuff โ€“ be able to package and sell my image to the people.โ€ Hardly surprising since his stepdad runs a tavern and his mom is an accountant and also runs her own transport business. โ€œGranny also ran her own business, a spaza shop โ€“ so I grew up with entrepreneurship,โ€ the level-headed young man pointed out at auditions.

That determination was Loyisoโ€™s attitude from the very start of the Top 10 competition. โ€œKeep doing what youโ€™re doing and youโ€™ll be in the Top 2,โ€ Idols SA judge Gareth Cliff predicted after his performance of Emile Sandรฉโ€™s โ€œNext To Meโ€ in the Top 10 Spectacular. He blew the judges away again the following week in the Top 9 show with the Sara Bareilles ballad, โ€œGravityโ€. โ€œYour artistic intelligence is beyond me,โ€ said an impressed Somizi Mhlongo.

Randall Abrahams thought Loyisoโ€™s performance of the Bobby McFerrin classic โ€œDonโ€™t Worry Be Happyโ€ in the Top 8 Spectacular was โ€œabsolutely top levelโ€, and when he did the House hit โ€œDonโ€™t Look Downโ€, by Martin Garrix in the Top 7 โ€œShowstopperโ€ Spectacular, Randall thought the one quality he had over all of the other contestants was charm.

โ€œI donโ€™t know how to fault you,โ€ Somizi exclaimed after Loyisoโ€™s dual performances of the Boyz II Men hit โ€œItโ€™s So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterdayโ€ and โ€œHold Back The Riverโ€ by James Bay in the โ€œ90s vs Nowโ€ Top 6 Spectacular. He thought that Loyiso could give the likes of Usher and Chris Brown a run for their money.

In the Top 5 Spectacular Loyiso sang Zaharaโ€™s โ€œNdizaโ€ and Bob Marleyโ€™s โ€œOne Loveโ€. Gareth was impressed that Loyiso had managed to dominate in virtually every genre of music across the competition, but Randall unfortunately didnโ€™t think that Loy-Loyโ€™s performances would be memorable enough to keep him in the competition.

Fans can catch Loyiso live on Arye Kellmanโ€™s Internet-streaming show on CliffCentral at 16:00 onย 2 Novemberย to find out whatโ€™s next for this charismatic youngster.ย ย 

For the latest information on Idols SA visit the official website at www.idolssa.tv, follow @IdolsSA on Twitter, ID IdolsSA on WeChat, or like the official Idols SA Facebook page at โ€˜Idols South Africaโ€™.

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