This past Saturday, things kicked into high gear at Mosaiek Teatro.
After sifting through the country’s top undiscovered talent for six weeks, the judges finally sat for the first live show this season. From the Top 12, six ladies delivered stunning duets with some of the biggest names in the history of Idols SA. The flock of songbirds proceeded to put on stellar solo performances that gagged the judges and impressed the voting public.
While they’ve spent the first six weeks mastering new techniques to harness the best of their talent, Saturday was no Sunday school for Lungelo, Lungile, Neve, Niikiey, Princess, and Sena. Not only were they expected to match the talent of established Idols SA stars Karabo, Lloyiso, Mmatema, Musa, Paxton, and Yanga, but they were also challenged to sing for their lives.
After all, the voting lines were finally opened.
Lungile kicked things off with a performance of ‘Not Yet Uhuru’ with Yanga, which she followed with mesmerising treatments of Zonke’s soothing jam ‘Intliziyo’. Both performances were lauded as worthy of launching the big night.
Niikiey and Mmatema’s set followed with an epic vocal display. The songbirds unleashed a beautifully harmonised rendition of Mmatema’s ‘Make a Way’, which elevated the ground for Niikiey to serve talent for her solo performance. She carried ‘Intliziyo’, for which she garnered a wave of applause from the audience.
Neve and Paxton partnered on the performance of Judy Garland’s ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’. In her season, Paxton’s take on the song became a moment in history. On Saturday, the ladies approached the song with the same level of attention to detail. Neve proceeded to perform Madison Ryann Ward’s ‘Mirror’.
Lungelo and Karabo played on the mellow tones of their voices to deliver a lush performance of his single ‘Safe’. Following a triumphant display of confidence during the duet, Lungelo continued to demonstrate the agility of her dynamite voice when singing Jill Scott’s empowering anthem, ‘Golden’.
For Lloyiso’s soul-stirring ballad ‘Lonely Without You’, the former Idols SA star and Sena sat down. This allowed them to focus on showcasing the beautiful melding of their distinct voices while staying true to the emotions of the song. Sena scored high praise for both the duet and her stunning solo performance of ‘Juba Lami’ by Jessica LM featuring Woza Sabza.
Princess closed the show with two worthy performances. First, the Bushbuckridge powerhouse performed ‘Xolele’ with Idols SA titan Musa. She then shut it down with her unique and powerful take on Rihanna’s emotional R&B ballad ‘Russian Roulette’.
Idols SA airs every Saturday at 18:00 on Mzansi Magic (DStv Channel 161), thereafter on Mzansi Wethu (DStv channel 163) at 19:30.
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