The contestants levelled up tonight, with several contestants making history by walking away with immediate promises of recording deals and even songs written especially for them.
The theme for tonight’s performances in the first half of the show was Oskido’s playlist, with the Kalawa Jazmee Records boss joining judges Unathi Nkayi and Randall Abrahams as tonight’s guest judge. The theme for the second half of the show was the song book of Max Martin, the Swedish record producer.
Oskido’s presence was made all the more special by the fact the top 5 idols finalists will each walk away with a recording deal at Kalawa Jazmee and judging by his comments, it is safe to say that Oskido is confident that he has struck gold.
Berry, Kevin and Daylin Sass were certainly the standout performances of the evening. Berry reduced Unathi to tears with her performance of Amanda Black’s ‘Power’, while Randall said her performance was inspired from the beginning and Oskido calling it a killer performance. She continued to impress the judges in the second half of the show, with Oskido remarking that
“they needed a berry” in their stable after she performed Katy Perry’s ‘Dark Horse’.
Kevin’s first performance of Sun-El Musician’s ‘Ubomi Abumanga’ prompted Randall to remark he could see him in the final, while Oskido said it was a super performance. Unathi called him a producer’s dream after he wowed her with Bon Jovi’s ‘It’s my Life’, with Randall also commending him.
Unathi declared Daylin Sass the top performer of the week after asking him to record his rendition of Lira’s Something inside so Strong and praising his second performance of Zayne’s ‘Pillow talk’.
Nqobie walked away with the promise of a song written especially for her by Zonke after wowing Oskido with Zonke’s Feelings, with Randall agreeing she had done a great job. And Oskido was ready to record a cover of Mafikizolo’s ‘Nyeke balunge’ with Karabo, even though Randall was not convinced she had delivered a great performance and remarking that she is not improving fast enough, while S22’Kile too, struggled to impress the judges this evening.
Commenting on the evening’s performances, Randall Abrahams said the exit of Sia Mzizi was a sign of the high stakes at play at this stage of the competition. “Sia really impressed at first, but later we could see he was struggling. This is why at this stage of the competition I keep on stressing the fact that the remaining contestants cannot afford to be complacent. They did a great job this evening and I can’t wait to see what they do next week,” he said.
Next week, the top 5 will compete to make it to the top 4.
Season 17 of Idols SA broadcasts on Sundays at 17:00 on Mzansi Magic, channel 161. Get exclusive updates and a behind the scenes look at all the action right here on our site. Don't forget to join the conversation by following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #IdolsSA. Catch up on Idols on DStv.