James Bhemgee isn’t a man of many words. A 44-year-old former street sweeper who rose to stardom after winning the 2010 South Africa’s Got Talent competition, Bhemgee lets his music do all the talking.
Since being crowned the most talented person in the land, this opera singer is finally set to release his debut album, Vincero – My Victory.
It’s an apt title for his road to fame, as the victorious singer, whose album will be released early next month, says he knew from the start that he would take home the competition’s crown and the cash (R250 000 prize money).
“I was positive from day one,” he smiles broadly. “I’m used to singing in competitions here in Cape Town. I’ve won more than 20 first prizes and I’ve sung against every good singer who lives in Cape Town.”
How did he know, though?
“The confidence I had,” he tells me, “comes from knowing the standard and the quality in the country. I’ve listened to the great tenors of the world, so I know what to do so that I can be like that.”
Bhemgee, who grew up in Kalksteenfontein, says he didn’t always know he was a tenor.
“I grew up singing in church,” he shares, “and when you sing in church, it’s all a competition. Everyone wants to be better than the next person.
“At the time, I was used to copying Sha Na Na and that guy was a bass singer. I was probably a tenor voice even back then, but the Sha Na Na guy would open his mouth like this,” Bhemgee’s lips open wide and he stretches his hand so his fingers look like a growing spider before he bursts into laughter.
But he eventually found his voice, thanks to using the New Apostolic Church choir as his foundation.
Bhemgee says: “With the church choir you are developing your voice all the time. That’s when my voice developed into that type of voice. Church music is near to opera, it’s just that the church (notes) control the voice more. Opera is like being a bodybuilder, you see: you have to constantly build the vocal chords.”
Having grown up with a lot of Elvis’s music playing in his childhood home, Bhemgee laughs when I ask whether he imitated The King’s dance moves back then. “No,” he laughs. “I don’t dance, that’s not me.”
What is more Bhemgee’s style is flexing with the Cape Flats Tenors, a trio that is well known in the Mother City.
Bhemgee says he chose the popular arias Ave Maria and O Sole Mio to be featured on his debut album because “I knew the songs very well and I love the selection. We recorded the album this month and in, like, two days, two half-days, actually.”
In terms of original compositions, Bhemgee says: “I only write my own Afrikaans words because when you’re part of the Malay choirs you have to sing in Afrikaans. But in classical music, there are already lots of songs that are written for us. Hundreds of years worth of words written for us and no one is the boss of those songs. But if someone writes me a nice ballad then, yes, I’ll put it on the next CD.”
• James Bhemgee’s debut album, Vincero – My Victory, will be in stores next month.