The SA's Got Talent semi-finals kicked off on e.tv on Sunday (18 October) and delivered the season's first two finale acts.
Dance crew Street Stylers and 12-year-old singer-songwriter Henno Williams won themselves a shot at the half-a-mil prize and now they're waiting in the wings to suss out their competition.
The second two semi-final stages are happening over the next two week's, in the same format as Sunday's show:
18h05: The seven semi-final acts perform,
19h00: 30 Minutes to vote,
19h30: The live results.
The four acts who make it through will join Henno and Street Stylers at the finale on Sunday, 8 November.
Here's a look at who's performing when:
Sunday, 25 October 2015
Team Gravity Core
Street workout. 18 - 40 years old. Alberton, Gauteng.
Team Gravity Core was born out of a need to challenge the way people train.The group of Smith, Siyamukela, Katlego and Nkululeko defy gravity with their stunts.They have been at it for 5 years and are Members of the World Street Workout and Calisthenics Federation (WSWCF) and the South African Street Workout and Calisthenics Association (SASWCA).
The group has been recognised by WSWCF as the only sports team in S.A to compete in the first and second World Street Workout and Calisthenics Championships that took place in Latvia, Russia in 2013 and 2014 respectively. They were recently recognised on BBC World news which has sparked international interest in them.
Confidential
Boy Band. 18 - 19 years old. Grassy Park, Western Cape.
Brent, Herschel, Faeez, Junaid and Niyaaz all met each other in high school and decided to put together their individual talents to form the group. In 2010 Niyaaz made it to the semi-finals of SA's Got Talent as a solo singer before being eliminated from the competition.
In 2013 he returned again, with a band called Niyaaz and the Soul Unit Gents but fell out of the competition during the deliberation round. This time around he believes that Confidential has what it takes to go all the way.
Will Rayz
Musician and vocalist. 28 years old. Randburg, Gauteng.
Will started singing when he was young but never believed that he could become a musician even though he knew that he had the ability. His greatest accomplishment has been starting his musical journey. It took him years to believe in his abilities and it took him a while to find the courage to share the music with strangers.
Genevieve
Singer. 41 years old. Cape Town, Western Cape.
Genevieve was living her dream as a professional singer and actress but has been out of the entertainment industry for approximately 12 years. She lost everything and wants it all back. She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder during her first year at UCT and the medication made her put on 45kg’s. She lost all her confidence as a result. She ended up living in a shelter.
She has just recently moved out of the shelter, into a backpackers lodge and is slowly picking herself up. People have been encouraging her to enter SA’s Got Talent for years but she didn’t feel confident enough. She now believes that she is ready.
Genevieve received a Golden Buzzer to advance to the semi-finals.
Isabella Jane
Ventriloquist. 16 years old. Johannesburg, Gauteng.
Isabella was inspired by the 2007 winner of America's Got Talent to try ventriloquism. She is completely self-taught. She also sings and creates a performance out of her ventriloquism. Her dream is to make people feel something and connect with an audience on an emotional level.
Mike and Jamal
Dancers. 19 and 29 years old. Johannesburg, Gauteng.
Mike, born in the DRC and Jamal born in Durban, have come together to create their own dance style.They met each other on Instagram. Mike used to like a lot of Jamal’s uploads. One day he sent Jamal a message and a few weeks later they met up in a dance studio and started dancing together. It was a year ago and they've been inseparable since.
Jamal has brought the hip hop element and Mike has infused it with an Angolan dance style called Kuduro to create their own fusion dance style. Kuduro is a traditional Angolan dance style that Mike learned while he was there. Jamal saw Mike doing it and wanted to try something unique.
Wian
Magician. 22 years old. Frankfort, Free State.
When Wian saw a magician on TV for the first time when he was young, he was blown away and started his own journey into magic. He has been doing magic for six years and is completely self-taught.
He's shy and has found confidence in his magic and mostly performs in the streets. His dream is to become a professional magician and travel the world.
Sunday, 1 November 2015
Tapcussionists
Tap dance and percussion group. 24 - 23 years old. Soweto, Gauteng.
Tapcussionists are Mduduze, Bafana, Kagiso and Mompati. The group's sound is a fusion of western tap, traditional dance and percussion. Their intention was to be original. They wanted to bring something new, something that has never been done before. They believe that originality is what makes an act unique and special.
They perform at public events, weddings, church and corporate gigs. When they are not performing they are teaching art to students between the ages of 5 and 20.
K-N9ne
Rapper. 20 years old. Klerksdorp, North West.
Born and raised in Klerksdorp, K-N9NE has become extremely popular with the locals in his home town. Working as a wholesaler doing stock management, he dreams of breaking out into the music industry and entered the competition to do that. He has performed alongside artists such as Cassper Nyovest and KO but now dreams of becoming the headliner.
Double Blacks
Educational comedians. 21 and 26 years old. Ivory Park, Gauteng.
Mpho and Makunoji's act is educational and generally deals with social issues. They felt as if comedy would be the best way to share their message with the public. They desciribe what they do as; “We educate through entertainment. We do edutainment.”.
They perform in communities, on trains and in correctional facilities. They see themselves as peer educators and want to make a difference in people's lives.
Grace
Musician. 21 years old. Hout Bay, Western Cape.
This 3rd year art student entered SA's Got Talent with a 'nothing to lose' attitude which paid off when she impressed the judges. She's been performing for seven years and has recently been writing and performing her own original material. She has secured herself slots at major festivals and is attracting a fanbase in Cape Town.
DJ Arch Junior
DJ. 3 years old. Alexander, Gauteng.
AJ was given an iPad when he was 9 months old. His parents bought it for him so that he could learn numbers and other educational things. While playing on it he found a DJ'ing program that his father had loaded on it and started playing with it. His father realised that he actually can count beats and the rest is history.
They uploaded a video of him playing when he was 2 and it went viral. He now plays at radio stations and kids’ parties but he also likes to play for older people. DJ Arch Jnr. was one of the three contestants to receive the Golden Buzzer.
Gudfellaz
Acapella Group. 20 - 24 years old. North West and Free State.
All four members are from rural areas in North West and Free State and have developd a fanbase in both provinces. They met in Rustenberg while they were at school and have now been together for four years.
They write their own music and describe their sound as Afro-pop. They say that there are a lot of acapella groups popping up in SA and as much as they love The Soil, they want to do something different. They believe that their sound is fresh, entertaining and from the heart, and that they have what it takes to go all the way.
Hizi-Hizi
Belly dancers. 19 - 30 years old. Johannesburg, Gauteng.
Hizi-Hizi is Cassidy, Tarryn, Julia and Melissa. Tarryn's mother started taking belly dance classes when Tarryn was just 11 years old and Tarryn decided to join in on the fun. Two years later she started performing professionally.
Tarryn later started teaching belly dance, the rest of the girls were her students and they formed the group under Tarryn’s leadership.
Julia started classes 10 years ago, Melissa started 8 years ago, Pavia started 5 years ago, and Cassidy started learning from Tarryn at the age of 4 - on and off over the years - and joined the advanced group this year. As a group they perform every weekend and have represented and won for South Africa internationally.