25-year-old Durbanite Khaya Mthethwa became the eighth winner of the
Idols crown on Tuesday night after a tight final two showdown against 23-year-old PE musician Melissa Allison.
TVSA was in the audience during the live finale and it was clear that Khaya was a firm favourite with the audience who attended the show. The crowd erupted the auditorium for him - they chanted his name during every ad break and exploded when his win was announced.
Khaya began his singing career reluctantly when he was forced to audition for his school choir. He went on to perform regularly, honed his skills in his parents' home church and went on to become a member of the popular Joyous Celebration phenomenon.
His stint on Idols has been surrounded by a mix of fierce support from loyal fans versus scandal and controversy. The gossip vine's been ripe with rumours that he was pre-chosen to win the season by producers of the show. Of course it's impossible to say what's true and what isn't and its now become a situation of "damned if you do and damned if you don't."
For Khaya's fans its obviously a damned good thing that he did.
His new single "Move" debuted during Sunday's battle show - it was released with a music video and was immediately available for download.
Keep a lookout for pics and goss from the finale and after-party - coming soon! In the meantime, the vid of his single: