The gloves are off and everyone is threatening to bring their A-game in a bid to win your heart. Makisto delves into the inner thoughts of the contestants.
Vincent Bones, Bongi and Musa, I would say are the people that we feel are the competition because they have a huge following and they are very good, so say all other eight IdolsSA about this year’s competition.
The competition sentiments were not voluntary statements as this year’s Top 11 faced a room packed with journalists at The South African State Theatre in Pretoria during a press conference just after the Top 11 reveal on Sunday.
Vincent Bones, who is a married father of one, tells me after the press conference that he doesn’t take what other contestants say about him as competition to his head as he still has a lot to prove.
During the press conference, I ask Tumi about putting her studies on hold to compete in the talent search and she says all she wanted to do was complete her first year Musical Theatre studies at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) but her family and friends made it very clear there has never been a more right time for her to enter Idols other than now.
While I am busy chatting to Vincent, she joins our conversation as she and I had our introductions earlier. She says no matter what happens with Idols, she will go back to TUT and complete her studies, after all, she is only 21.
But Tumi is not the only Idol this year who put her studies on hold to follow her dreams. Lize already has a BCom Law, put her post-graduate studies on hold to see to Idols. But her reserved personality is something that comes up during the press conference and is asked if she is ready for fame. “I prefer not to show my feeling even though I want to. I try to suppress them that they don’t show,” she said.
However, she is prepared to make a compromise to resonate with viewers. “Going forward, I think I need to show my vulnerable side in my performances,” she reveals.
Vincent V joins us as we discuss the competition and he still cannot believe he made it this far. I press him about the “Top 3” and he says they are indeed the ones to beat. I mention that in a talent search such as this, there are “underdogs” and he may just be that. “But you are still an underdog,” he responds and we all chuckle.
During the press conference, Demi Lee was first to declare war on her fellow contestant. “I am bringing my A-game next week,” she said. But that remains to be seen because Kyle is also an awesome artist. Having done a collabo with Cassper Nyovest, he is most definitely well versed about the industry and his crossover appeal is something he aims to capitalise on, he said.
This year’s Musa is practically living in the shadow of last year’s winner Musa Sukwene but Musa Mashiane doesn’t mind. “Musa and I have been friends for the past 16 years and we were in a band together. He and still keep in touch,” he said.
Clearly he has bathed were Musa Sukwene bathed. But he should not feel comfortable though, as Bongi elaborates. “I am capable and if audiences love Musa they love Musa,” she says.
Demi Lee told journalists how the screaming of the Musa name during performances makes one feel on stage. “It is intimidating to stand there and hear someone else’s name. Kyle perhaps is calmer about the competition. “You gotta believe in yourself and your team back home who are supporting you. It isn’t just about the live audiences but the country as a whole.”
However, Lize sees the whole scenario as healthy competition. “If the audiences scream someone’s name, you need to up your game,” she exclaims. Tumi is perhaps more honest about this than everyone else. “It can get very distracting and it’s very nerve wrecking,” she said.
And Musa? How does he feel about the screaming of “other people’s names”? “So far so good for me,” he jokes prompting the media to laugh out very loud. “It shows what I am doing is not in vain if half the people who attend the live shows shout out my name.
Earlier on, we as the media, had a presser with Idols, Mzansi Magic and M-Net executives together with the judges. I asked the executive producer if the previous 10 winners (in 2009 we had two winners due to the voting fiasco) will be asked to come perform on stage.
“It was difficult for us to have all the top 11 on stage so you can imagine how that will be like,” answered Mr Mean, Randall Abrahams. “However, what we will do is each week from now on we will have a previous contestant, not a previous winner per se but a former contestant who is doing well in the industry to come perform.” This ties in neatly with the show’s development plan of the talent they unearth.
The issue of Musa Sukwene disappearing into obscurity since Idols 9 ended is brought up and Randall jumps in. “You can ask the same about Elvis Blue and many others. Having said that, he is busy in studio recording an album and it will be released soon,” he says.
Perhaps worth mentioning is that Brenden who made the finals last year is also now signed up, says Randall. Though he would not divulge the date of Brenden’s album release, Brenden himself told me on Twitter sometime in July that he will dropping his debut album in October.
Yazi I can go on and on about the press conference but I shall leave it here. For now, we wish all the top 11 the very best as they sharpen their vocal chords, and that is music to our ears.