The judges have had their turn – now the public has spoken for the first time, using their voting power to determine the five guys who will continue their Idols dream in this season’s Top 10 Idols SA Spectaculars. The five guys who received the most votes are, in alphabetical order:
BENJAMIN TAINTON (19) from Noordhoek in Cape Town,
BRENDEN LEDWABA (19) from Graskop in Mpumalanga,
INNOCENT MABUSHE (27) from Phalaborwa in Limpopo province,
MUSA SUKWENE (26) from eMalahleni in Mpumalanga,
SONKE MAZIBUKO (21) from Soweto.
Musa was the first Top 10 contestant to receive the good news in tonight’s Results Show live from the State Theatre, followed by Sonke and Benjamin, who jumped so high for joy that he fell flat on his face on the State Theatre stage!
Then it was Innocent and 20-year-old PHILIP DUBE from Kempton Park’s turn to hear their fate, and sadly Philip became the first Top 16 contestant to have to bid his Idols dream a farewell. Idols judge Gareth Cliff admitted that the fans’ votes took him by surprise. “I’m shocked,” he told Idols host ProVerb.
With only one spot left for a guy in the Season 9 Top 10, the nailbiting tension in the State Theatre was relieved by award-winning, chart-topping South African singer/songwriter and Season 5 Idols contestant Daniel Baron, performing his mega-hit “Not Here” with ProVerb.
But then it was time to find out which of the three guys left would round out the Season 9 Top 10, and sadly LEE-RON MALGAS (18) from Kensington in Cape Town and the youngest contestant in the competition this year, 16-year-old JONO JOHANSEN from Glenwood in Durban, did not receive enough votes from the Idols fans to make it to the Top 10.
“There were certainly a few surprises but ultimately the public voted and we have five great guys,” commented Randall Abrahams, from Universal Music who will be producing the Idols Season 9 winner’s album. This Sunday it will be the girls’ turn to sing for their spots in the Top 10 when they perform for the public vote for the first time in the Top 16 Girls Group show at the State Theatre.
Voting for the girls will open at the start of the broadcast on Sunday [22 September] at 17:30 and close on Monday [23 September] at 22:00. The five girls who end up in the Top 10 will be announced in Tuesday evening’s live Results Show [24 September]. Then the Top 10 action moves to the stunning 6500-seater Moreleta Park Auditorium in Pretoria, where the Idols Season 9 Spectaculars will unfold over the following ten weeks. Tickets for the Season 9 Spectaculars are available at Computicket.
