South Africa is a hive of multicultural and multitalented individuals keen to express themselves and share their creativity with the world.
This is why, when short-form mobile video platform, TikTok - known for inspiring creativity and bringing joy to is users - launched its first-ever in-app talent competition, creators from all over the country jumped at the chance to showcase their incredible skills and talent.
On 16 July, the TikTok “SpiritsUP Battle” was launched to give locals the opportunity to discover and develop their unique talents across various categories including dance, comedy, fashion and sport, using the innovative in-app content creation and editing tools.
Creators were asked to create their specialised videos and post using the hashtag relative to the category that they wanted to enter into – either #DanceUP, #HumourUP, #SwagUP or #SportsUP.
In total, the four category hashtags generated over 186 million views in only four weeks.
Boniswa Sidwaba, Content Operations Manager, Africa, says that the creativity shown through the SpiritsUP Battle was incredible.
“It is a true testament to just how creatively diverse South Africans are and how varied their tastes are when it comes to the content they create and like to consume.”
Sidwaba explains that the final winners for each hashtag category were selected based on two entry categories, Most Popular Creators and New Rising Creators.
“Creators in these categories, who received the highest number of video views and engagements based on all their videos, were crowned the winners and each received an R5000 online shopping voucher as well as in-app exposure.”
Without further ado, the winners of the TikTok “SpiritsUP Battle” in their respective categories are:
#DanceUP
Popular Creator: @Kelseymaggot
@kelseymaggott Who remembers this video? ❤️❤️❤️ don’t let it flop 😉 dc @iamtheonlymanny ##danceup / insta: kelseymaggott
♬ The Bottle Beat - Ricky Desktop
Rising Creator: @Doyouknowkg
@doyouknowkg This is Africa🙌❤🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦 ##thisisamerica ##thisisafricachallenge ##doyouknowkg ##africa ##afro ##danceup
♬ #ThisisAfrica - markosx
#HumourUp
Popular Creator: @zaayan4
@zayaan4 y'all 😂##zayaanvids ##tiktoksa ##tiktoksouthafrica
♬ original sound - zayaan4
New Rising Creator: @hallebberry
@hallebberry My ##trending video ##spiritsup ##humourup ##1millionaudition ##dontletitflop ##comedy ##xyzbca ##trend @tiktok.southafrica ##dontletitflop ##viral ##fyp ##pranks
♬ original sound - hallebberry
#SwagUP
Popular Creator: @sandycorn_101
@sandycorn_101 It’s about how YOU feel in what YOU wear 💪![CDATA[]]>🏽 ##fashionstudio ##trendyyou ##tiktoksa ##mzansi ##fashion ##makeup ##swagup
♬ original sound - csa.global
Rising Creator: @Morganraymakeup
@morganraymakeup I know this video will blow up cz all the BARBZ got my back 💖 ##barbz ##swagup ##spiritsup ##battleup
♬ TROLLZ (with Nicki Minaj) - 6ix9ine & Nicki Minaj
#SportsUP
Popular Creator: @jeanmyburgh
@jeanmyburgh What should I do next 🤯![CDATA[]]>😂##comedy ##SportsUP
♬ The Boat Beat - Ricky Desktop
Rising Creator: @Noeldeyzel_bodybuilder
@noeldeyzel_bodybuilder Respect to anyone starting out🙌![CDATA[]]>🏻 ##sportsup ##gym ##fitness ##bodybuilding ##weightloss
♬ Originalton - mrs.anonym2001