Microphones to become battle axes in ‘The Voice SA’

M-NET’S new singing contest, The Voice SA, will move into its second phase, the so-called Battle Rounds, tomorrow, when some incredibly talented performers with roots in the Eastern Cape will have to give it their all to stay in the competition.

Up to now, during the show’s blind auditions, The Voice SA coaches – Karen Zoid, Bobby van Jaarsveld, Lira and Kahn Morbee – have been sitting with their backs turned to the talent on stage, making the decision on whether they wanted the singer in their teams based on vocal ability only.

Each coach had 14 spots in his or her team and when more than one coach turned their red chairs around to indicate their desire to work with the performer, they had to fight it Out to persuade the talent to pick them as their future mentor.

In the upcoming Battle Rounds, the coaches will pair up the 14 members of their teams for a sing-off battle.

At the end of this head-on duet, they will decide which of the two singers will proceed to the live rounds during which the voting public will have a say in the outcome of the competition.

“While the Battle Rounds will be spread over four episodes, we can reveal that two of the magnificent singers from the Eastern Cape will be clashing with other talent in [tomorrow’s] episode,” M-Net’s head of publicity Lani Lombard said.

One of the strong contenders is Johan Anker, 24, of Port Elizabeth, whose impressive operatic blind audition showed there is room for all kinds of voices and genres in the competition.

Anker began singing opera at the age of nine while at Moregrove Primary. After matriculating at Andrew Rabie, where he was headboy, he enrolled at Stellenbosch University to study drama. While completing his honours degree in education management he is now teaching at the National School of the Arts in Johannesburg. Anker picked Morbee as his coach. Another Bay talent to look out for, is 23-year-old Zoe Mtila, a student at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) who is only studying accounting because a music degree was not an option in her parents’ eyes.

She grew up loving the performing arts and expressed her passion for singing by being head of the choir and junior conductor while at Riebeek College Girls’ High School in Uitenhage. Her choir won a national competition with a traditional song composed by her grandfather. But it was her late uncle, Celani Nzo, who made her decide to follow her music dreams.

Van Jaarsveld turned his chair around for her at the very end of her performance.

Then there’s also Sibulele Miti, 27, from King William’s Town, who is working at a financial services company in Cape Town. Miti grew up in a musical family and is the mother of a two-year-old girl.

She performed at weddings and cultural events in her town and followed her dad, a musician himself, around to practise her skills wherever she could.

At the blind auditions, her soulful rendition of Bob Dylan’s Knockin' on Heaven’s Door prompted the four coaches to turn their chairs around in quick succession.

Lira was the one who finally nabbed her for Team Lira.

ý Tune into M-Net, channel 101 on Dstv tomorrow at 5pm to see which of the singers will be featured in the first battle rounds.