Press Release
Top 3 Spectacular
Three Times an Idol
Unfortunately this week’s historic trip to London for the Idols 10 Top 4 marked the end of the Idols dream for the man who took his stage name from that historic city – 24-year-old performer London Louw.
London found himself in the Bottom 3 every week that there was a Bottom 3 this season, and this week was no exception – he was in the bottom half of the votes along with Stellenbosch’s Lize Mynhardt (21).
Lize now advances to the semi-final of the competition next week, along with Nelspruit’s Bongi Silinda (24) and Vincent Bones (30) from Pietermaritzburg,
Kyle “London” Louw originally hails from Mafikeng but these days he is based in Cape Town, where he studies performance arts after first obtaining a degree B Soc Psy degree in clinical neuropsychology “because my parents weren’t too happy about music as a career,” he explains.
The road to Season 10 Top 4 was a long and arduous one for London, who has studied dance since the age of 14 and first auditioned for Idols when he was only 18. “I have auditioned every year since 2008 and I’ve never made it past Directors’ Cut,” he says. “I’ve worked hard for six years to get here.”
And, after trying for six years and then departing only two weeks before the end, London was still philosophical about his Idols journey: “The only thing I would have done differently is I wouldn’t have worn those red shorts in my first audition,” a very composed London joked with Idols host ProVerb at the State Theatre tonight.
On their whirlwind trip to London this week the Idols SA Season 10 Top 4 got the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rehearse under the guidance of the British production team known as “Gorgon City”, comprising the two North London producers Kye “Foamo” Gibbon and Matt “RackNRuin” Robson-Scott.
The Top 4 each had to prepare three songs for this week’s Spectacular: one of their own choice, one from the year they were born, and one allocated to them by the Idols producers.
Only three of them got to perform their songs at the State Theatre on Sunday, though, as they had to bid farewell to London at the top of the show.
After blistering guest performances from the mega-group Mi Casa and Idols 6 winner Elvis Blue, Pietermaritzburg’s
Vincent Bones (30) kicked the competition off with his own personal choice: newcomer Sam Smith’s, “Stay With Me”.
For the second round the Top 3 had to perform hits from the year they were born. Vincent turned 30 just the other day, so he got to choose from the year 1984: the Lionel Richie ballad “Stuck On You”.
The judges did not comment after the first round but of this second performance Gareth Cliff said that it was one of his all-time favourite songs, “and you did not mess it up at all!
Unathi Msengana said she thought both of Vincent’s song choices were brilliant. “You’re tugging at the heartstrings of South Africa,” she said. “I loved your sensitivity on ‘Stay With Me’.”
“I’ll keep it brief,” Randall Abrahams said, “you’re on your way ... Last week you were in London, next week you’ll be in the Idols final.”
For the final round of Sunday's Spectacular the Idols producers selected a special song for each of the Top 3, and Vincent drew the John Legend ballad, “You & I (Nobody In The World)”.
“Well done,” Gareth said, and Unathi was pleased that he seemed to have taken Randall’s advice to heart and diversified his performances a bit.
“You’ve been tossed around in the Idols colander and you’ve come out the other side a completely different person,” Randall commented. But still very focused, he said, which is good since “winning is just around the corner but it’s not here yet.”
To vote for Vincent B fans can text his voting number for the duration of the competition,
09, to 37400, or dial *120*33033# Fans can also vote for free on WeChat or on the Idols mobi site or on the Idols X website at
www.mnet.co.za/idolssa.
For her First Round song Nelspruit’s
Bongi Silinda (24) chose the Drake hit “Find Your Love” and her second round choice was Phil Collins’s 1990 hit from her birth year, “Another Day in Paradise”.
Gareth said he had good news and bad news. The good news, he said, was that all three the judges agree that she is technically the best singer in the competition. “The bad news is I don’t think your song choices tonight are the best,” he said. “And I don’t think you measure up to the rest tonight. In fact you’re lagging behind.”
But Unathi thought Bongi had given of herself in this performance, and that’s what would get people to vote for her.
Randall could not disagree more, though. He pointed out the deafening silence in the auditorium following that performance and noted that he was completely unmoved by that emotional song. “I’m almost at a loss for words,” he said, “but that was really, really, really not good.”
And for her third round appearance the Idols producers selected Lana Del Rey’s “Young & Beautiful” for Bongi.
Gareth said she had ramped it up for the final round, and Unathi thought it was “very hypnotic”. Randall said maybe it’s a case that certain songs work well for Bongi, “so this was a really good choice of song, I hope that it’s going to help you,” he said. But he cautioned her about her phrasing.
To vote for Bongi fans can text her voting number for the duration of the competition,
01, to 37400, or dial *120*33033# Fans can also vote for free on WeChat or on the Idols mobi site or on the Idols X website at
www.mnet.co.za/idolssa.
And last but not least was
Lize Mynhardt (21) from Stellenbosch with her first round choice, the Leonard Cohen standard “Hallelujah”.
Lize was born in 1993 so she chose a massive hit from that year, “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” from the Scottish one-hit-wonders The Proclaimers.
Gareth said she had done “Hallelujah” better than anyone else had ever done it, and he was surprised by her stripped-down version of “500 Miles”.
Unathi agreed that Lize’s “Hallelujah” resonated, and she said this was the first time she understood the meaning behind the “500 Miles” lyrics.
“The reimagining of that particular song was very, very clever,” Randall commented, “because if you’d done the original version no-one would have voted for you.”
And Lize closed the show with the producers’ choice for her final performance: the Kanye West hit, “Church In The Wild”.
Gareth said that Lize’s first two performances blew them away but he thought this one was a bit monotonous. But it might just be him, he admitted ... Unathi thought that maybe Lize didn’t have the arrogance that it takes to perform Kanye and Jay-Z. “Don’t be scared to put on a persona,” she advised.
“It could have worked a lot better, I think you swallowed a lot of your words,” Randall agreed. “But tonight is not about any one performance, it’s about a combination of the three,” he consoled her.
To vote for Lize fans can text her voting number for the duration of the competition,
08, to 37400, or dial *120*33033# Fans can also vote for free on WeChat or on the Idols mobi site or on the Idols X website at
www.mnet.co.za/idolssa.
Voting for the Top 3 performances opened at the start of tonight’s show and closes at 22:00 on Tuesday, 11 November.
The results will be announced in next Sunday’s Spectacular [16 November], when one of the Top 3 contestants will be sent home and Idols 10 will be in the home stretch to the dramatic Final.