Time to gospelentualise like never before
Tonight a new ‘Idols’ winner will be crowned, after one of the best contests yet
WORDS like “gospelentualise” or “vocalisibility” ain’t quite English, but they stuck and what a breath of fresh air they were.
After several seasons of same-old Mr Nice Guy, Mr Nasty or Mz Weeper, the 11th season of Idols South Africa on M-Net was rejuvenated by the addition of flamboyant choreographer Somizi “SomGaga” Mhlongo as a judge.
The talent was more impressive and everyone from academics, ordinary fans and celebrities to cabinet ministers had something to tweet about the show every Sunday.
Judging by the voting numbers — 62 million before tonight’s finale — this may have been the best Idols season to date. It was the man with the interesting hair who brought much of the laughter to the show.
“Wooo shem!” he would exclaim when a contestant had a cringeworthy moment on stage.
Whether viewers understood “gospelentualise” or “vocalisibility”, or thought SomGaga should go back to school, the terms are now as popular with South Africans as “bootylicious”, now in the Oxford Dictionary thanks to Beyoncé.
Mhlongo was not afraid to speak his mind. “God was almost finished with your voice; then there was load-shedding,” he told one contestant. Another was informed: “I wasn’t happy or excited about the combination of the ballad and the uptempo, it was like eating pap with jam. They don’t mix.”
Tonight, in a two-hour finale broadcast on M-Net channels 101 and 161, starting at 5pm, the last two contestants, Karabo Mogane and Mmatema Moremi, will reunite with the rest of the top 10 finalists to perform Rachel Platten’s hit Fight Song.
Mogane and Moremi are due to perform a duet for the first time in the competition when they tackle Beyoncé’s I Was Here.
Show highlights include a Marvin Gaye special by Moremi and Mi Casa’s J’Something, while Mogane will team up with Judith Sephuma for the George Michael/Aretha Franklin hit, I Knew You Were Waiting.
The winner to be is set to walk off with prizes worth R1.2-million, including a Ford Fiesta and a recording deal with Universal.