Gtown’s own Voice!
“Think about your first note,” was the advice of Victoria Girls’ High School choir conductor Sibusiso Mkhize to Zikhona Gqamana.
It has worked well for TheVoice SA Season 2 participant who entered the music reality show in October in Port Elizabeth. She was selected to audition for the coaches in the Blind Audition which aired on MNet January this year and is one of four remaining in coach Kahn Morbee’s team. Between the four coaches there are 22 competitors left.
Speaking to Grocott’s Mail this week, Mkhize said Gqamana had played a huge role in the VG choir.
“She was a regular soloist,” he said of the talented singer.
“She was an all-rounder who won all the music prizes.”
Of course, that put a special duty of care on him as her teacher.
“Because she was only a teenager we had to make sure she didn’t overdo it. We had to take care of her voice.”
Born and raised in Grahamstown. Gqamana attended Victoria Primary School and VGHS. This year she graduated from Rhodes University with a BSc Honours Degree in Information Systems.
But she eats, breathes and lives music, she told Grocott’s Mail – probably inspired by her uncle Zonwabele ‘ Radio’ Mcuba, prinicipal at Khutliso Daniels Secondary School in Extension 4, who founded the Masakheke Youth Choir.
“When I was younger, I would go watch my uncle conducting his choir during performances or competitions,” Gqamana said.
Zikhona started singing around the age of 7 (school plays and Sunday School at church), and continued throughout pimary and high school, and at VGHS was awarded colours in Grade 10 for her involvement in the school’s cultural activities.
“My experience on The Voice so far has been an exciting yet challenging one,” she told Grocott’s Mail.
“Back in school I was used to juggling my books and singing at the same time, but now that I have entered The Voice and the only thing I'm focusing on is just me and my voice, is a totally different experience.
Zikhona has never really been afraid of performing in front of a big crowd – “I'd say that’s where my strength lies” – but having to deal with the pressure of preparing for your performance in a short space of time is something new to her and she’s slowly growing into it as the competition progresses. She says the support she’s received ever since viewers watched her Blind Audition has motivated her to do better in each round.
“I admire the fact that Kahn knows my strongest points in terms of singing and performing but at the same time he has taught me a lot about ‘tell- ing a story’ when I sing a song.
“Because I naturally have quite a commanding voice, it is not always necessary to sing loudly, so he has also advised me to be dynamic in my tone.”
Song choice is important - plus it is really not about how popular the song is, but how well you deliver it, Zikhona has learnt.
“For my battle performance against Monique, we performed a Fleetwood Mac song that I was not familiar with and out of my comfort zone - but instead of dwelling on that, I decided to add some ‘Zee’ in the song,” she said. “I honestly did not expect the reaction I got from the crowd and viewers at home. It was unbelievable.”
Before going on stage, VGHS choir conductor Sibusiso Mkhize always used to tell her, "think about your first note".
“Somehow it has always worked for me,” she said. “I envision myself on stage before I am literally there and in that way I already know how to handle my nerves and people watching me.”
At this stage of the competition, the stakes are high. Every contestant who has made it this far is super talented.
“Yes, in the beginning of the season nerves got the better of me and I would feel the urgency to compare my singing to the person next to me,” Zikhona said. “But currently I'd say the only competition I have should be myself because the minute I feel threatened by another contestant I will lose focus.”
And what does her former music mentor have to say?
“She has everything it takes,” Mkhize said. “I believe she’s going to win this competition.”
LOOK AND LISTEN!
http://m-net.dstv.com/show/ the-voice-south-africa
Blind Audition Performance
http://bit.ly/GrocJailer
Battle Performance
http://bit.ly/GrocZeeBattle
Knockouts Performance
http://bit.ly/GrocKnock • Azlan Makalima, Donnay Oosthuizen and Sue Maclennan contributed to this article.