Sowetans were in high spirits as it was their turn to Shine and showcase their vocal talent in ONE Gospel’s talent search. The auditions were held on the 10th - 13th of August 2011 in Soweto, Johannesburg. In true Soweto style, the infamous Vilakazi Street was abuzz as the hopefuls braced the morning cold to stand a chance to be the next shining star. After Mamelodi raised the bar the previous week with their amazing talent in their Shine auditions the expectations were even higher for Soweto.
Shine is gospel talent search which is scouring South Africa in the hope of finding the next big Gospel star. Unlike last year where Shine was looking for bands, choirs, instrumentalists and soloists, this year Shine is looking for a solo gospel artist. The winner will not only need to possess great vocals but also style and be someone who is going to bring a new feel to the gospel genre.
Surprisingly, the judges were disappointed by much of the talent that turned to audition in Soweto. The judges found that while many of the hopefuls had the most angelic voices they often lacked other aspects the judges were looking for such as poise, presentation and eye contact. Nonetheless, there were few favourites for the judges. Amongst them was a lady called Darlene and a guy called David whom the judges thought had potential sending them through to call backs.
Soweto also had its fair share of funny auditions, sending judges on a laughing spree.
One who made the judges crack up was a 33 year old Maile who sang ‘happy birthday Modimo waka’ none of the judges was able to hold back their laughter. While the judges were still recovering from ‘happy birthday Modimo waka’ in comes 46 year old magriza Jamina with ‘thiyas rolling down my chicks’ an indeed tears couldn’t stop from rolling on judges chicks.
Tears were shed, some of joy and some of hopefuls who did not make it to the judges top 20 list. Familiar faces from Mamelodi also tried their luck for the second time in Soweto but the question still remains if they were good enough to snatch a spot in the top 20 this time around. In some cases, judges had to scratch their heads and argue over and over again as they were undecided about whom to put through to the top 20.
If you missed it you can catch the re- run of the episode on Wednesdays @ 21h00 - Thursday @11h00 and Shine extra every day @23h00