IT’S been an exciting 10 weeks featuring some of the best of South Africa’s singing talent as M-Net’s hit reality and talent competition, ‘Idols’, scoured the country to find the person who will be South Africa’s next ‘Idol’.
The battle will be fought between the two ‘old men’ of the show, both of whom are fathers and husbands, Lloyd Cele (28) and Elvis Blue (30).Sadly, the petite and powerful Sindi Nene lost out on a place in the finals on Tuesday night, during the last elimination show of the season.More than 1,3 million votes were cast between Sunday night’s top three performances and Tuesday night, an indication of what the judges say is one of the most tightly contested ‘SA Idols’ shows.Sindi (22) has been compared to the late Brenda Fassie, and was ‘saved’ by judges Gareth Cliff, Mara Louw and Randall Abrahams in an earlier round, and the following week made the top half of the voting.All three judges have said, on more than one occasion, that this year’s top three are the best ever.And the trio have said that they believe that Nene, Cele and Blue all have a shot at making it in the South African music industry with or without the ‘Idols’ crown.The departure of Durban’s golden girl had Idols judge Louw in tears as she became the final contestant to bid the competition farewell before the Finalé. ‘I believe all three of them were absolutely fantastic on Sunday and all three deserve to be in the top three,’ Louw said before Nene took her final bow. ‘Whoever is left behind is going to make it, maybe even bigger than the winner.’THE FINALISTSThe results saw Elvis become the first contestant to secure a place in the final. From George in the Western Cape, Elvis Blue, real name Jan Hoogendyk, is actually an Afrikaans Gospel singer with two albums out, ‘Diep Riviere’ and ‘Ontskemer’. The name Elvis Blue was adopted by Jan after a friend of his, an 11-year-old boy, died of HIV-AIDS last year. Apparently the little boy dreamed of becoming a rock star and, after his death, Jan took on the stage name and went on to pursue his dream by entering ‘SA Idols’. Elvis has serenaded fans and showcased his versatility with a wide range of songs from ‘Play that Funky Music’ by Wild Cherry to ‘Broken Strings’ by James Morrison and Daughtry’s ‘What about Now’. Graphic Designer, Lloyd Cele is from Phoenix, an Indian township in Durban. From the start of ‘Idols’, Lloyd said his motivation for entering the contest after watching it for five seasons, was to give his one-year-old son Levi a better life. Worship Pastor in charge of all music related issues in his church, Lloyd grew up with his single mother and grandmother. He plays the piano, guitar and a little bit of the saxophone and has won fans with his clear voice and interesting song choices over the weeks. One of his most notable performances was the hit ‘Push Me to the Floor’ by South African band, The Parlotones. He has also showcased a hipper side with more urban performances of Taio Cruz’s song ‘Dynamite’ and Usher’s hit, ‘OMG’.THE FINALEThe finals show, according to www.mnet.dstv.com/idols/, will be broadcast on Tuesday, November 2. The ‘Top 2 Spectacular of Idols Season 6’ will be recorded at the Mosaïek Teatro in Fairlands, Johannesburg, on Friday, and will include performances by last year’s joint winners, Sasha-Lee Davids and Jason Hartman. Fans can also expect an appearance from Season 4 winner, Jody Williams. Both Lloyd and Elvis are talented musicians and both seem like really nice guys too. I like them both so I can only imagine how difficult a decision this will be for fans across South Africa. May the best man win!For those of you who are also rugby fans, Lloyd and Elvis are also scheduled to perform at the Currie Cup final in Durban on Saturday.
