Clash of the Choirs gets interesting

Team Tshedi

Team Tshedi

Published Jun 2, 2014

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Munya Vomo

No question about it, this was the most interesting episode yet of Clash of the Choirs. Playing around with nostalgia, the choirs were given the theme Waar Was Jy? and performed renditions of old classics.

As easy as that may sound, we saw yesterday that some choirs did a better job than others. The trick, as the judges always say, is to play around with the song as much as possible without changing it too much. This means that no matter how many layers of musical aesthetics you apply, a listener should still be able to hear traces of the original song.

THE ACE OF THE WEEK

Thanks to that Barry White stunt one of Moneoa’s singers pulled, she and her team were in the clear. While the others performed songs written not too long ago, Moneoa dug deep into the ’70s for Billy Paul’s Me and Mrs Jones. Acting out the adulterous message in the song, her choir was in their element and the judges loved it. There were no criticisms from the judges which was a boost for the R&B singer and her team.

THEY BARELY MADE IT

While Moneoa and her team did well by not changing much of the song they chose, Robbie Malinga’s team did the same, only theirs was an uninspiring showcase. They made an attempt on Charles and Eddie’s 1992 classic, Would I Lie to You? It is a great song so we won’t argue that they sang it well. What they didn’t do was spice it up enough to make it memorable. In fact, as time goes on it is becoming obvious the formula is one in which he has his group do a song and then switch to some traditional ditty at the end. It was a pleasant surprise at first, but now it seems Malinga is concentrating on the latter part of the song, neglecting the task at hand.

LIKE, WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT?

It was sad to see Tshedi’s team go because they had shown promise, but who will forget that uncomfortable confrontation between her and her team? Apparently they had a group chat off camera and Tshedi used foul language to describe her singers. One of the brave ones said they did not like the F-word being used and did not appreciate being called “goats”. While the Malaika singer admitted that she was in the wrong, that the incident happened in the first place places a question mark over her leadership skills. In fact, at some point she even threatened to quit during the confrontation. That’s wrong considering her choir needs her more than she needs them. Anyway, all is now well.

JUDGES’ NOTE

Out of the judges, Lindelani Mkhize is obviously the music guru, but it would be great if the man would simplify the music jargon. Ten bucks says half the viewers have no idea what he means when he gets so technical.

Anele Mdoda is really funny and gospel diva Rebecca Malope plays the maternal role really well.

DYING KICKS ROULETTE

It was no surprise that Tshedi and her crew found themselves in the bottom two. Up against HHP, it was obvious Tshedi would fall. They were given Michael Jackson’s song You Rock My World and HHP’s group performed well from the first note. Tshedi’s choir were not too bad but they took too long to get into it and, by the time they did, their allotted 45 seconds were up.

THE ROAD AHEAD

The weakest links are all gone and it’s time to see who is really talented at composition and presentation. Moneoa and Shugasmakx are the favourites, for now.

Clash of the Choirs airs every Sunday at 5.30pm on Mzansi Magic (DStv channel 161).

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