Best & worst of Durban Idols SA auditions
It was a case of something old, something new and something 'borrowed' (or should that be stolen?) during the Durban auditions of Idols SA.
Something old saw the infamous Vincent Jackson returning for the third time to try his luck. Michael Jackson's hugest fan belted out She's Out of My Life for judges, Unathi, Gareth and Randall. The passion was there, the talent not so much. Honest Abe, Randall, didn't waste any time giving him the thumbs down.
Unathi agreed that he was not good enough (an understatement, really, because he wasn't even good). Vincent, realising this was his last shot to become an Idols star as the cut off is 30, was clearly becoming emotional. Despite his plea, Gareth gave him a no as well - at which point Vincent lost it. Security had to be called in but not before he told the judges where to get off. "You can't sing," he told Gareth. To which the clearly agitated judge replied: "I'm not here to sing you idiot." Ouch!
Something 'borrowed' saw local artist Professor being accused of stealing one of the contestant's songs. Yes, Siyanda claimed he had an awesome idea for a hit song but before he could write it down, he heard it on the radio. Professor really should stop reading people's minds.
Before Siyanda could start his audition Unathi noticed that one of the strings on his guitar was missing - which would be a problem for any guitarist, but not for Siyanda who purposely removed the string. Why? Because he doesn't use it! This had Unathi in stitches. The best was yet to come though as after a not-so-impressive performance, Siyanda gave himself a standing ovation.
Something new saw a dog handler, an 'actress' and a contestant who couldn't make it past the bridge. 21-year-old Nkosinphile, who had practiced Rihanna's hit song Diamonds for four days, couldn't remember his lyrics. He kept repeating "Shine bright like a diamond" for a good few minutes. At one point we're sure he even messed the one line he remembered by singing: "Shine bright like a braai-man".
Gareth and Randall left to get coffee and came back to find Nkosinphile still on the same line. Needless to say he did not shine bright like a diamond.
Other highlights on the show included the return of 26-year-old Kyle Deutschmann (pictured, above left). He made it to the top 32 in Season 8. We loved his performance of Avicii’s Wake me up. But Mr Grumpy (also known as Honest Abe) said he wasn't very original and gave him a no. Luckily Gareth and Unathi saw the potential and put him through. We have a feeling he will prove Randall wrong and make it far in the competition.
By 11am, Durban had produced no golden tickets, but that all changed when Lihle Buthelezi from Mount Edgecombe walked in to face the judges. She impressed them with her performance of Jennifer Hudson's Love you I do. Gareth even declared she was his favourite contestant of the day.
While the show started off on a bad note with Pashasha's sad rendition of Will Smith's Just the two of us, it ended on a very high note. Former street kid, Vincent Bones, had us in tears with his heart-wrenching story of how he lived on the streets from when he was 12 after his mother and uncle died.
He took a train from Johannesburg and ended up in Pretoria as that's where the train stopped. He was homeless for three years and eventually ended up at Boys Town. We love how despite his hardships he managed to complete his education and learn how to play the piano, drums, bass and saxophone. He impressed the judges and looks like he will be one of Durban's strongest contestants. We're sure the rest of South Africa will be rooting for him too.
Idols SA airs on M-Net (101) and Mzansi Magic (161) on Sundays at 17:30.