21 finalists were chosen for the SA's Got Talent semi-finals on Sunday (9 October) and now it's time for the first seven acts go into battle in this weekend.
The 21 hopefuls will strut their stuff over three weeks in a bid to win a shot at the R500,000 prize at the grand finale on Sunday, 6 November.
The two best acts from each semi-final will make it to the finale: one act will be decided by viewer SMS votes and the other by the judge's decision.
The semi-finals will be happening live at 18h00 on e.tv and the live results show will follow at 19h30 on the same night.
Here's a snack pack featuring profiles by the acts themselves and when they're performing:
Semi-final 1
On: Sunday, 16 October 2016
Chelsea
Type of act: Dancer
Location: Mahikeng, North West
Age: 17
Chelsea is a softly spoken and very shy matric student who transforms into a sassy, confident and explosive dancer once the music starts.
She's mad about dancing and although she enjoys doing hip hop and contemporary dance she does practice other dance forms with her dance mentor Erin Musson. She works extremely hard in everything she does and believes that if you put all the hard work in you will succeed no matter what.
The Professionals
Type of act: Dancers
Location: Langa, Cape Town
Ages: 21 - 34
The Professionals were formed in 2005 and grew up in Durban in a township called Lindelani. They moved to Cape Town in 2015 for new experiences and to find more opportunities.
Their dream is to be career performers and to take their dancing to the next level. They entered SA’s Got Talent because it’s a platform to share their dream.
Hlanganani Marimba Band
Type of act: Traditional music group
Location: Langa, Cape Town
Ages: 21 - 35
Hlanganani Marimba Band are from Langa Township and started up 10 years ago. Their main focus is on African, indigenous music and dance.
Some of the group members are still studying while a few are working and for others this is a full time job. They describe the music they make as a combination of cultures. They want to sustain African culture so that the next generation will also be exposed to it.
Michele' & Oleksii (Golden Buzzer winner)
Type of act: Variety
Location: Claremont, Cape Town
Ages: 29 (Michele') 34 (Oleksii)
Oleksii and Michele first met at a ballet company where Oleksii had the idea of the duo becoming a strength act. As trained dancers this pair would like to inspire South Africans with their passion for life through their strength act.
Mawonga
Type of act: Magician
Location: Mandela Park, Cape Town
Age: 24
Mawonga’s brother, Konzekile Gayiya, was the person who taught him magic until their mother enrolled him at The College of Magic. Mawonga hopes to impress in magic so that the scene in South Africa can grow. His big dream is to create a travelling show as big as Madam Zingara.
Maja Snyman
Type of act: Violinist
Location: Northcliff, Johannesburg
Age: 9
Maja started the violin when she saw her father playing it and it grabbed her interest. Her parents took her to a class and soon discovered how talented she was. Maja also plays other instruments including the piano and loves performing duets with her sister who plays the harp.
Phoenix
Type of act: Singer
Location: Manenberg, Cape Town
Age: 45
Bernadette started singing at the age of 8 but gave it all up when she got married to her now ex-husband. After her divorce the mother of 3 began singing but the piling debt from her divorce landed her in a compromising situation which led to time behind bars where she was rehabilitated.
She now refers to herself as a Phoenix as she sees herself rising from the ashes and uses this as her stage name.
Semi-final 2
On: Sunday, 23 October 2016
Derek Plaatjies (Golden Buzzer winner)
Type of act: Singer/guitarist
Location: Muizenburg, Cape Town
Age: 22
Derek comes from the small town of Saron where opportunities for aspiring musicians are very limited. He moved to Muizenberg to make his big break and his biggest moment to date came when Shado pressed the golden buzzer sending him straight into the semi-finals.
Eagan Feb
Type of act: Michael Jackson impersonator
Location: Macassar, Cape Town
Age: 21
Like Michael Jackson, Eagan is very shy but his act as Michael Jackson requires a full transformation of personality and appearance and getting into full character takes about two hours. Although he tries to perfect every MJ move, his favourite is the famous “lean”.
Chik Aljoy (Golden Buzzer winner)
Type of act: Ventriloquist
Location: Kensington, Johannesburg
Age: 20
Chik describes his act as the FUN in dysfunctional. He started his comedy career in 2014 and has been mentored by South African comedians Pule Skhothane, Nina Hastie and Conrad Koch.
Basement 8
Type of act: Music group
Location: Randpark, Johannesburg
Ages: 15 - 18
Basement 8 are all students at RandPark Ridge High school. They came together through their music teacher who entered them into a high school band competition which they went on to win. They would like to make music their careers and become runaway local and international successes.
Wilson
Type of act: Aerobic gymnastics
Location: Saulsville, Pretoria
Age: 25
Wilson specialises in aerobic gymnastics and competes in various competitions around the world representing SA. He is ranked number 1 in the country in gymnastics and represents SA in aerobic gymnastics internationally.
Kryptonite Dance Academy
Type of act: Dancers
Location: Centurion, Pretoria
Ages: 10 - 25
Team coaches Eugene and Zoyi formed Kryptonite Dance Academy to bring together youth from all walks of life with a common language - dance and music. Having secured many individual titles the crew have now firmly set their eyes on winning SAGT 2016.
Two O'Bodix
Type of act: Dancers
Location: Worcestor, Western Cape
Ages: 19 & 20
Jethro and Stefno met each other through dancing. They have been dancing together for 3 years. Their dance icons are Chris Brown, the Jabba Wokeez and Poreotics. They dream of becoming professional dancers.
Semi-final 3
On: Sunday, 30 October 2016
Nassi
Type of act: Singer
Location: Khayalitsha, Cape Town
Age: 18
Nassi’s big dream is to study opera at the UCT music school. She started singing at a young age as part of a choir. Her philosophy in life is, “Never give up because not everything is going your way, if you fail you have to push”. She looks up to opera singer Pretty Yende as her role model.
Manila Von Teez
Type of act: Dancer
Location: Goodwood, Cape Town
Age: 26
Veon is a fashion designer by day and a drag artist by night. He describes Manila as a Lip Synching Drag Performer who is energetic, passionate and driven to succeed. Veon loves designing and creating the garments that Manila wears and wants to win SAGT to gain more mainstream acceptance of the LGBTI community in South Africa.
Jesse Govender
Type of act: Singer/guitarist
Location: Nagina, Kwa-Zulu Natal
Age: 18
Jesse is a music student at UKZN and is studying towards a bachelor of arts in music. He picked up music at church and has been singing since he was 6.
He looks up to Pentatonix because they have shown him what you can achieve if you believe in your dreams. His philosophy in life is to seize the day and don’t die regretting the time you lost.
Corli Du Toit
Type of act: Variety
Location: Mowbray, Cape Town
Age: 31
A hedge fund accountant by day, Corli is a fun loving woman who lives by the motto “keep it playful”. This happy go lucky personality has seen her succeed and flourish as a modern Yoyo player. She says that yoyo playing has helped her overcome life’s toils.
Gurulogic Band
Type of act: Music group
Location: Johannesburg
Ages: 27 - 43
The band members grew up in different areas across the country and have been performing together for four years. They have a passion for all genres of music but enjoy performing Jazz the most. They believe that they ‘hypnotise’ any genre in to their own style and add the Gurulogic soul to any song they perform.
Toxic Turfz
Type of act: Contortionist/dancer
Location: Pretoria West, Pretoria
Age: 22
Khonani is currently studying mechanical engineering. He first fell in love with bone-breaking dancing when he watched a clip online. He definitely believes that he can go all the way because he has the dedication and discipline.
The Presbyterian Brass Band
Type of act: Brass band
Location: Thokoza, Johannesburg
Ages: 10 - 33
The Presbyterian brass band was started in the early 90’s and the current band consists of over 60 members though only 28 have entered SAGT.
Wetsi Moloi, the current conductor, leads the band of self-taught musicians as they rehearse at least 3 times a week. If they win, they hope to rebuild their church so they have a place to rehearse and a place to worship.