Darlings, African queen Odidiva is back and she’s vast

FINDING myself in a nightclub on a Sunday was the last thing I expected, but there I was last weekend at Decodance in Sea Point for the opening night of Vast! starring the gorgeous and talented Odidiva, a true African queen.

After two years it’s a triumphant return to the stage for this livesinging – no lip syncing – drag darling. Odidiva is glamorous, larger than life, high kicking in even higher heels and fabulously flamboyant in spectacular African costume.

In true Cape Town style, the show began a lot later than it was supposed to, and we had almost finished an entire bottle of wine by the time Odidiva came out. She was well worth the wait though, and at times her singing literally gave me goosebumps.

Between the songs, Odidiva joked and engaged with the audience, smoothing over the opening night sound niggles with a mixture of charm and bitchiness. The stage – a dance floor on other nights, with illuminated multi-coloured squares – is disorientatingly, surrounded by mirrors. But Odidiva used them to great sultry advantage, sliding and smooching, all the while maintaining eye contact.

The venue has new owners and has been revamped. No comment, since it was my first time there. There is one chap whose job it is just to make cocktails, and he was shaking up a storm.

When she is not Odidiva, he is Odidi Mfenyana, son of a preacher man (a sample of the song is cleverly worked into the show), who has travelled the world with the hit show House Of The Holy Afro. As a social activist Mfenyana has worked with the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), organised marches against xenophobia in Khayelitsha and Nyanga, composed and recorded the original theme song for HIV/Aids magazine show Siyangoba/Beat It, and earlier this year, as Odidiva, launched the national campaign for male to male sexual awareness and HIV/Aids prevention by Anova Health Institute and the Elton John Aids Foundation.

● There is a cover charge of R60 for Vast! which includes a complimentary cocktail. To book a table, call Julian on 021 433 2912 or 076 964 4464. The show runs every Sunday until December 27. Doors open at 8pm and Odidiva promises to be on stage by 9pm. Decodance is at 120 Main Road.

CAN’T BEAT IT: Odidiva, the African queen, is performing at Decodance in Sea Point every Sunday until the end of December.