Songs are the key to Haylea’s life
FOR Durban singer Haylea Heyns, winning this year’s Durban Artist of The Year award came as a breath of fresh air after a torrid Covid-19 year.
The accolade comes from City Awards SA, the country’s largest chain of award shows, celebrating the achievements of individuals in the entertainment industry.
“This category is based on innovation, impact, visibility, popularity, originality, relevance. Winners are chosen based on 40% judges’ vote, and 60% public vote,” she said.
Heyns described it as “a shred of light after the year we’ve had”.
Unable to perform for months, she used much of lockdown to write more music. One of her ups and downs came around the festive season.
“I had a brief reintroduction back to live performing in December 2020 and was booked to perform in Dolphins by Starlight at uShaka Marine World.
“I went from sheer excitement from singing in front of a live audience again, and feeling like the pandemic was over, to sheer panic when I realised, just days after the show closed, that I had Covid. I was really ill over Christmas, completely exhausted, and at times was super stressed about my voice ever returning.
“In the end I did recover. It was a really emotional time for me, and I felt like giving up on my dreams.”
Heyns said the lockdown experience led to her performing one of her original songs, Gaining Ground, live and filming it in her lounge.
“It seemed to be a song that people really connected with, with many people feeling the same way I did – just like giving up. It really gave me courage knowing I wasn't alone in this, and that my song was starting to give others hope and courage.”
The song was nominated for Song of the year in the Durban section of the awards, called the 031 Awards.
Next month she is scheduled to release another song called