Last night (Sunday, 8 March) the Top 10 finalists went into battle for the Idols title in the season's first Spectacular.
The show was recorded live on Thursday (5 March) at the Mosaϊek Teatro in Fairlands, Jozi and
the theme was Greatest Hits.
Here's what the judges had to say about each hopeful, as well as vids of each performance:
Ntsepa Pitjeng
Ntsepa performed first, singing the Martha and the Vandellas classic, Dancing in the Street.
Dave said he couldn’t understand why Ntsepa isn’t already a big star and Mara was nearly speechless. “The good thing about having a big ‘derriere’ and nice ‘Venter trailer’ in the back,” she teased, “is that your voice is equally big!”
Gareth thought it was a good start but he didn’t think it was Ntsepa’s best performance. “Confident, consummate performance,” Randall summed it up neatly.
Ntsepa's voting number: phone - 086 2277711 or SMS “Ntsepa” to 34680.
Lendel MoonsamyLendel performed the Temptations hit, Lady Soul.
“Last week you were pretty dismal, but you bounced back well,” Dave noted. Mara had some motherly advice: “Remember, this is a competition and you need to keep upping your game, you have to focus,” she said.
But Gareth said Lendel didn’t need to worry about getting votes. As usual Randall was the pragmatic one. “You are focusing on the entertainment value, but you’re going to be a recording artist,” he pointed out. “You have to focus on the singing. This was like average karaoke singing.”
Lendel's voting number: phone - 086 2277712 or SMS “Lendel” to 34680.
Sasha-Lee DavidsSasha covered Lara Fabian’s remix of the '80's Laura Branigan hit, I Will Love Again.
Dave said he wasn’t convinced that she would even make it to the Top 10, but now that she’s here, Sasha Lee shouldn’t let the interaction with the fans distract her from her singing.
Mara agreed. “Remember this is a competition,” she cautioned. “There’s someone behind you who wants to kick you off that stage.”
Gareth also reminded Sasha Lee to remember the audience at home. Randall said she improves every week and it’s getting very hard to choose in the competition.
Sasha Lee's voting number: phone - 086 2277708 or SMS “Sasha Lee” to 34680.
Thembi NkosiThembi Nkosi covered Mariah Carey’s Always Be My Baby.
Dave said he couldn’t remember anyone else who had transformed “so amazingly” and improved in such huge leaps. For Mara, Thembi was a rebirth of the late Brenda Fassie and she stood up to applaud her.
“I love that song and you did it beautifully,” said Gareth. “Apart from being a very good singer, you also have a very good ear - you’re very musical,” Randall complimented her.
Thembi's voting number: phone - 086 2277701 or SMS “Thembi” to 34680.
Cameron BruceCameron accompanied himself on the guitar for the Bob Seger classic, Old Time Rock and Roll.
Dave said he’s a fan and that he respects Cameron’s musical ability. “But you’re in a tough competition, so you’re going to have to get your supporters to back you even more.’
“Baby, you can sing anything, any time, anywhere,” Mara purred. Gareth was very impressed with Cameron’s understanding of “that old music”. Randall agreed, but he said Cameron should be careful of pigeonholing himself.
Cameron's voting number: phone - 086 2277702 or SMS “Cameron” to 34680.
Daniel BaronDaniel accompanied himself on the piano to perform Elton John’s ballad, Your Song.
Dave was impressed with how comfortable Daniel was on stage and he said the choice to accompany himself was a wise one, “because without the piano that song could turn into a cheesefest.”
Mara said an artist should never lose his stage fright and that she appreciated how good Daniel was despite his obvious nerves.
“You know I didn’t love last week,” Gareth noted. “But I loved this week, well done.” But he warned Daniel not to forget the camera audience who will be doing most of the voting. Randall said this Top 10 is “a field of thoroughbreds” and that Daniel maybe wasn’t as good as the rest.
Daniel’s voting number: phone - 086 2277707 or SMS “Daniel” to 34680.
Lizé HeermanLizé gave her own interpretation of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah.
Dave said it was like a “Tribute To Leonard Cohen evening at the Germiston City Hall”. Mara was similarly unimpressed. But Gareth liked it. “Now, I’m not a religious man,” he drawled, “but you make me wanna believe!”
Randall said he was intrigued by the song choice, but that Lizé didn’t have the interpretive skill to really live the song.
Lizé's voting number: phone - 086 2277709 or SMS “Lizé” to 34680.
Pixie Bennett Pixie sang Phil Collins’s ‘80s classic, Against All Odds.
Dave joked that it took Phil Collins twelve days to lay down the lyric tracks for that song because he kept falling asleep! “Sing something more fun!” he begged. Upon which Mara sang a bar from “Old Man River” to him. “I liked it, you were good,” she thought.
“I took a look at you now and there was a bit of empty space,” Gareth punned. He said Dave was right - “He’s clever, despite the way he looks.” Randall quite liked it, though, even though he said Pixie seemed to be concentrating hard on remembering the lyrics.
Pixie’s voting number: phone - 086 2277706 or SMS “Pixie” to 34680.
Jason Hartman Jason dedicated the Beatles classic, With a Little Help From My Friends, to his brother who had died recently.
When Dave could finally make himself heard above the din, he said that was the performance of the night, and one of the top performances in Idols. Mara asked the audience to stand up and pay respect to Jason’s brother.
Gareth said there was “such magic” in that performance. Randall refused to be swept away by emotion. He thought it was “an extremely good performance,” but that Jason should also beware of pigeonholing himself.
Jason’s voting number: phone - 086 2277710 or SMS “Jason” to 34680.
Graeme Watkins
Graeme closed the show with a rendition of the Joe Cocker hit: Unchain My Heart. He also thanked the audience on behalf of all the contestants for supporting them so enthusiastically.
Dave thought it was a solid vocal performance but he asked Graeme to tone “the manic” down a bit. But Mara encouraged him to “gooi”!
Gareth called Graeme a natural performer. “Who’d have thought a haircut could get you this far!” Randall joked.
Graeme's voting number: phone - 086 2277713 or SMS “Graeme” to 34680.
Voting lines opened at the start of last night's show and the results will be announced in tonight's (Monday, 9 March) Results Show.
Tickets for this week's Spectacular are available from Computicket for R40 seated, R20 standing.