Press Release
Avodah becomes third X Factor finalist to be sent packing
The top eight X Factor South Africa acts went all out to set the stage on fire while paying tribute to their musical heroes on Saturday night (8 November), but it wasn’t enough for the group Avodah, whose journey on the show came to an end.
Judge and mentor Arno Carstens was in the hot seat during the live gala show as much as any of the contestants, after two of his acts – in the under-24 category – were given their marching orders in the contest's first two elimination rounds.
In the end it was Avodah and Princess who landed in the bottom two after the TV audience had had its say, and then Avodah who ultimately fell victim to the judges’ axe after the high-pressure sing-off that followed.
It was another poignant exit, because all eight acts – five solo singers and three groups – had pulled out all the stops to literally sing for their lives with lively renditions of tracks by musical heroes, past and present.
The tributes ranged from South African to international classics, and included Wandaboy’s rendition of
Jik’Izinto by Zonke – and he was under immense pressure to do the song justice, considering that Zonke was sitting right there in front of him as a judge.
Viewers were also treated to Four’s interpretation of Zahara’s
Loliwe, Bubblez tackling Miriam Makeba’s
Pata Pata, Eliezer getting his groove on with Marvin Gaye’s
Let’s Get it On, Avodah singing
Shining Star by The Manhattans, Princess belting out
Titanium by David Guetta and Gavin taking on the evergreen
Burnout by Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse.
After SMS voting lines closed and while the votes were being tallied, local hip-hop sensation AKA performed his hit track aptly titled
All Eyes on Me, featuring Burna Boy – after which all eyes were, indeed, on the top eight X Factor SA acts.
Now, with Avodah sadly out of the running, the competition is getting tougher and the contestants and their mentors are under increasing pressure to win the hearts of the music-loving public as the countdown begins to the grand finale on 13 December 2014.
Check out The X Factor SA on SABC1 next Saturday, 15 November 2014, at 18:00 and be sure to SMS the number of your favourite to 33121 (SMS's charged at R1.50). Tune in for the results show at 19:30 to witness South Africa’s latest singing sensations inch closer to the grandd prize. Plus, exclusive behind-the- scenes footage can be seen on XtraFactor on SABC3 on Friday 14 November 2014 at
19:30.