Top singer blamed for EC choir’s failure
Members say Simphiwe Dana neglected them
MEMBERS of the Eastern Cape choir eliminated on the Clash of the Choirs reality show on Sunday blame their choirmaster for their failure.
The choir, headed by the Eastern Cape’s music sensation Simphiwe Dana, was trailing in the bottom two for three weeks before they were eliminated on Sunday.
They were bottom alongside the Western Cape choir headed by Ziyon of Liquideep.
Judges Anele Mdoda, Lindelani Mkhize and Rebecca Malope all decided to send Dana’s choir home instead.
During the elimination, Malope said she felt Dana had not worked as hard as the other choirmasters.
Mdoda said the choir was not as rehearsed as the others and there was a divide between Dana and her group.
Mkhize said the choir was not well prepared and not working together.
In an interview after the results on Sunday, Dana said she had failed her choir.
The sentiment was shared by choir members, who spoke to the Daily Dispatch yesterday.
Zintle Ngcapu said if Dana had given herself time to get to know the choir from the beginning, they would not have been sent home.
“She had her problems and she was busy with her shows. We would spend time alone doing our own thing and she would arrive at the last minute and change things,” Ngcapu said.
She claimed at one point the choir had wanted another choirmaster.
“We were frustrated as a choir and it got to a point where we just wanted to go home.”
Ngcapu said it was only during the last week that Dana had realised her failure to spend some time with the choir. “If she had done that from the beginning, we could have avoided this.”
Despite the absence, Ngcapu said she they had learnt from Dana when she was around.
Another choir member, Yanga Ziwele, said they did not get to spend a lot of time with their choirmaster.
“As a choirmaster she was okay and we also got to see another side of her during the little time we had with her,” he said, adding that the choir spent most of their time working alone.
Ziwele said they did not understand what the judges wanted them to improve on.
“Apart from the fact that our choirmaster wasn’t there, we also lost our confidence and that affected our performance.”
Nkosi Mtshali also echoed Ngcapu’ sentiments, saying Dana had a lot of commitments.
“She’s great person but she did not put the time to help the choir,” he said.
Mtshali said there was also internal fighting among the choir during rehearsals which affected their team work.
“Other choirmasters were bonding with their choirs but we only saw her for a limited time,” he said.
Mtshali also said Dana made a lot of last minute changes.
“Our last performance we rehearsed alone at our hotel, but when she came she changed everything. The performance was terrible,” he said.
All three said they would continue singing and might audition again next year.
There are six choirs left in the show. Dana had not replied to question sent by the Dispatch at the time of going to press. —