Showville rocks Mossel Bay
About 100 local acts took part in the auditions for Showville Season 2, held in Mossel Bay last week. Dubbed as South Africa’s small town talent show, Showville takes the glitz and glam of television to the small, remote and overlooked dorpies. With this in mind, says the show's producer Minke Alves, the show's motto is: every town has a story and every town has a star.
Mossel Bay was the first stopover for this popular talent search, which offers regular small town folk a chance to be the big fish in the little pond of their hometown, if only for a moment.
On Thursday, 15 February, during the auditions at the D'Almeida civic hall, hopefuls of all ages including elderly dance groups and some wellknown drag acts, were keen to show what they've got.
The top four acts selected included vocal trio Crowned, acclaimed vocal soloist Keenan Daniels, everpopular dance group Snipers and the sensational 16-year-old saxophonist, Caleb Cupido.
After being selected in the top four, apart from receiving master classes from the Showville coaches on Friday, the artists also took part in the filming of the series, to be screened on SABC 2 later this year. They were filmed and interviewed on location in their neighbourhoods and at home.
Each self-contained, one hour episode in the series sees Showville touching down in small South African towns. The action culminates in the production of a talent show, put together in a mere four days, to the entire town. "We were gobsmacked when we were chosen for the top four," says Adrian London of Crowned. The trio, including Janine Manus and Edinia Grootboom, were keen on their masterclass and how it would benefit them in future.
Snipers said in an interview with the Mossel Bay Advertiser that their participation was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, for which they were extremely grateful.
Final
On Saturday night, the audience gathered in the Sao Bras High School hall and brought the house down, cheering for their favourite act.
A glittering trophy and prize money of R10 000 were up for grabs. For those present, it was quite an experience being part of the filming of the showdown.
Despite the tangible excitement, the audience obligingly kept quiet whenever called by the film crew to do so. And when asked to cheer, did so with double the enthusiasm.
This season of Showville will be hosted by two well-known South African celebs: Lorcia Cooper - the dancer, dance teacher, choreographer and actress best known for her role as Charmaine in the soapie, Backstage; and presenter, artist, singer and performer Morena "The Squire". Lorcia and Morena were also responsible for the masterclasses with the finalists.
"We never expected to find this level of talent in Mossel Bay," Lorcia said on Saturday night, leaving the audience roaring with cheers. Crowned was the first act to warm up the audience. Snipers was up next and as always, had the audience cheering loudly. Keenan Daniels's performance had the audience on its feet. When Caleb Cupido took to the stage, it was clear that he was a firm favourite.
Audience members confirmed who their favourite was by casting their votes after the performances.
* The Mossel Bay Advertiser has been requested by the producers to not publish the identity of the winner, since Showville is only to be broadcast later this year.