Cape Town - Elsies River will be celebrating tonight after Craig Lucas, 24, won season two of The Voice SA.
Lucas and coach Khan were crowned the winners of the star search reality show.
Andrew Robertson of the Weekend Argus spoke to his mother Jenny Lucas earlier this week.
She said that at the age of three, Lucas lost his father and grew up in a small household in Elsies River with her and his older brother in a crime- and drug-infested community.
He had no adult male figure for guidance but his mother was stern in moulding him into the man he is today.
A young Lucas sheltered himself indoors and began writing music.
“He was an introvert, he was very quiet, mostly on his own writing music and at night I would tell him, ‘please, Craig, keep quite, I want to sleep’ because he would be up until 10 or 11 o’clock walking up and down singing,” Jenny Lucas said.
“As a young child, Craig was exposed to gangsterism and drugs on a daily basis. One day we had a chat with Craig and asked what does he wanted to become in life and he said: ‘Mommy that is not a life I want to have, I don’t want to be like them, I want to make a difference in my life’.”
“I believe Craig has touched many lives. He can and he will make a difference in the lives of many of our children,” she said.
At Elsies River High School, where Lucas matriculated at the top of his class, the young musician participated in various talent shows, which would help him build his stage confidence for The Voice SA.
While music was always a passion for Lucas, he chose to pursue a degree in economics and politics at UCT before kickstarting his professional music career - after a promise to his mom.
With no formal musical training, Lucas auditioned for The Voice SA without telling his mother.
“He didn’t actually tell me. He told me two or three days before The Voice SA blind auditions started. He said, ‘I entered and I am through to the blind auditions and I want you to come with me to Joburg,’” she said.
“I was ecstatic, I was glad. I said: ‘Now, I can at least fly for the first time in my life.’”
The 62-year-old grandmother-of-two has attended every show since the blind auditions and was there again tonight.
“I am his most loyal supporter. You will see me on the TV every Sunday, sitting there shouting for him. It’s been the most amazing journey of my life.”
Meanwhile, M-Net’s Lani Lombard said M-Net would disclose the voting figures next week for the finalé. This comes after the singing talent was hit by yet another voting scandal last week.
M-Net was alerted about alleged paid-for marketing efforts on some entrants’ personal social media accounts. Paid-for marketing is against the rules as it can cause voting spikes.
The network decided that none of the five entrants would go home last week. In addition, M-Net has also invited formerly axed contestants Luke Lovemore and PJ Pretorius, who received the fewest votes in the previous two weeks, to return to the show.
When Weekend Argus spoke to Lucas during his rehearsals this week, he said he was happy about the network’s decision to allow the contestants to return.
“Nobody could really help what happened if something went wrong I thinks it’s fair that they were brought back.”