The announcement of the season 17 “Idols SA” winner is fast approaching.
The last man standing, Kevin, was next to be eliminated, leaving only three women in the running to be crowned the winner.
Berry, Karabo and S’22Kile make history for “Idols SA” as the first all-women top 3 in the competition.
Who runs the world really? Women!
The guest judge run continued again this week, with legendary muso Judith Sephuma joining resident judges Randall Abrahams and Unathi Nkayi.
Last week saw 8 million votes cast to bring us the three contenders, who get to record their singles today with Kalawa Jazmee Records, including a VIP Cape Town trip and Christmas shopping.
Before Kevin’s exit, the four got to share the stage with Mzansi’s hottest gospel acts.
First on stage was Berry, who gave her shot at a Zulu duet with gospel singer and pastor Ayanda Ntanza on his banger song “Basuka”, which clearly went down well with the judges and the viewers.
Randall said their performance was a great start to the show, and Unathi said Berry was a beautiful representation of who we are as a people.
Berry continued to steal the show with her second song choice, the Righteous Brothers’, “Unchained Melody”, which Randall wasn’t so convinced on, and her third, Adele’s “Easy On Me”, which gained her rave reviews from judges and performer of the night from Unathi for all three rounds.
Second on stage, Karabo teamed up with Lebo Sekgobela to sing her hit song “Hallelujah Mdumiseni”, which clearly wowed the judges.
Unathi commented that she gets more powerful week by week, and Sephuma said her voice was an all-round carrier of genres.
Karabo gave her rendition of “Gold” by Beverley Knight. Sephuma felt her performance was a bit low-key and didn’t jump out, regardless of how good she sounded.
Randall thought she fell short by her song choice and that she sounded off on some parts.
Unathi thought she pushed herself out of her comfort zone and that was commendable.
Her third song choice, “Phakade Lami” by Nomfundo Moh, Karabo didn’t impress Sephuma, who asked for her to be more original, but Randall thought this performance was way better than her last.
S’22Kile sang with legendary singer Hlengiwe Mhlaba on her soulful gospel song “Mhlekazi”, with Unathi and Randall commenting that she did her best.
Sephuma said that as a singer, she fought and continued to fight on stage.
S’22Kile’s cover of Amanda Black’s “Mina Nawe” got the thumbs up for song choice in Randall’s eyes and also got best performance for the round from him. Unathi and Sephuma disagreed, saying she sang but didn’t perform.
She closed off the show with Doja Cat’s “Woman”, with Randall feeling that while she gave a performance, she swallowed the lower notes.
Unathi commended her for pushing and not giving up. Sephuma wasn’t sure if her best was good enough “today, because you are at that point whereon this is a moment where you need to get to the end”.
“To the finish line...that song was so beautiful...but I still feel you could have done better performance wise,” she said.
This week, another Idols contestant bites the dust, leaving two to fight for the coveted prize.