Choice counts
You can decide who makes it to the top in the hotly contested spots
WE HAVE some incredible homegrown talent, and these stars will be recognised at the first Dstv Mzansi Viewers’ Choice Awards on Saturday, August 26.
There are 50 Mzansi stars in 10 awards categories to choose from and fans have the power to decide who makes it on top of the hotly contested categories by casting their votes – the deadline is August 15. All the categories, nominees and voting options are shown alongside.
In the Favourite Actor category, Warren Masemola goes up against heavyweights Sello Maake Ka-ncube and Themba Ndaba, and talented young ones Siyabonga Twala and Ntokozo Dlamini. The Favourite Actress category is just as tough – Vatiswa Ndara, Masasa Mbangeni, Thuso Mbedu, Thandeka Dawn King and Lorcia Cooper are all vying for this one.
How does one even begin to choose between Black Coffee, DJ Zinhle, Prince Kaybee, Shimza and Tira in the Favourite DJ list? It doesn’t end there – in the Favourite Music Artist/group category, pick from local music giants AKA, Kwesta, Cassper Nyovest, DJ Murda (Black Motion) and Smol (Black Motion).
#Teamskhumba goes up against #Teamceleste in the Favourite Comedian category with Tumi Morake, Mashabela Galane and Thabo Kgaphola.
Another hotly contested category is Rising Star, where Amanda Black, Zamani Mbatha, Michelle Mosalakae, Jabulani Hadebe and Andile Phehlukwayo are pitted against each other.
Flex those fingers and make sure your choice counts.
My Kitchen Rules South Africa (M-net 101, 6pm): An epic culinary showdown based on the popular Australian format. Amateur cooks invite viewers and celebrity judges into their homes for an evening of pressure cooker competition.
Platinum award-winning singer and songwriter, restaurateur and acclaimed food enthusiast J’something will be one judge, the other judge is restaurateur and award-winning chef David Higgs.
My Kitchen Rules South Africa will showcase a diverse range of local foodie pairs who will have to cook and entertain up a storm to get to the final.
Martin Clunes And A Lion Called Mugie (ITV Choice, 7pm): This one-hour special sees the Doc Martin star joining a mission to return endangered lions to a remote part of Kenya. It is 25 years since lions roamed in the Kora National Park where legendary conservationist George Adamson set up a camp to rescue lions and release them back into the wild.
The heartbreaking but successful story of rescuing orphaned cub Elsa became internationally famous in the blockbuster film Born Free, based on the book written by George’s wife, Joy.
Tony Fitzjohn, who worked closely with Adamson, and continues to work in wildlife conservation, has lovingly rebuilt the original camp, Kampi Ya Simba, in the Kora National Park, abandoned after Adamson was murdered by Somali bandits in 1989.
Fitzjohn picks up where he and Adamson left off all those years ago, with the aim of releasing captive and orphaned lions back into the wild with the support of the Kenya Wildlife Service.
Martin Clunes has had a close friendship with Fitzjohn since they met 20 years ago when they released Nina, a zoo elephant, back into the wild.
In this documentary Clunes travels to Kenya to visit Fitzjohn and to meet his first lion cub to be brought to the Kora camp for 25 years.
Clunes said: “Although elephants and rhinos get most of the publicity, lions in Africa are facing an equally serious crisis. While there are about 500 000 elephants, left on the continent, there are only 30 000 lions. If something isn’t done, they could die out in the wild in less than 10 years”.
Diana: In Her Own Words (National Geographic, 8.05pm): It’s been 20 years since the princess died in that tunnel in France. This documentary is literally in her own words, as it is narrated in her voice using rarely heard recordings.
In 1991, inside London’s Kensington Palace, Diana, Princess of Wales, participated in a series of secret interviews, recorded with her permission by a close friend on behalf of journalist Andrew Morton who was writing a book on Diana’s life.
The Lucky Specials (TLC Entertainment, Wednesday at 8pm): From small towns come big dreams as we’ll see in this story about The Lucky Specials, a cover band from a dusty mining town in South Africa with dreams of making it big in the music industry.
The lead guitarist, Mandla, spends his days working as a miner, far from his real passion – music. But Mandla is faced with a life-threatening disease that could potentially hinder the band’s success.
In this edutainment film, the storyline also addresses misconceptions about tuberculosis, and by describing the bacteria’s journey through the body, it educates and empowers communities to make informed decisions about their health.
American Crime (M-net 101, Thursday at 9.30pm): The third and final season of this critically acclaimed (the first season earned 10 Primetime Emmy nominations) anthology series follows the story of an illegal immigrant trying to find work in the US.
Several actors play different roles in each season. In American Crime, this core includes Felicity Huffman, Timothy Hutton, Benito Martinez, and Regina King.
When Luis Salazar (Martinez) travels from Mexico into the US in search of his missing son, he discovers the servitude agricultural labourers face as they live in poverty, forced to pay their meagre earnings back to their employers for food and other essentials.