“I want to unite the world. I want to unite Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom, Africa and the world.”
These are the words of 16-year-old Donel Mangena, The Voice UK’s 2018 runner-up, who fell short of the big prize that was won by 18-year-old Ruti Olajugbagbe. The young star visited South Africa this past week as a guest on ITV’s Choice Showcase held at Sandton City.
Donel has made great strides in a short period of time. He was the first contestant from the popular competition show to be invited to sing for the Queen of England following a request by Prince Harry after he had watched two of his performances.
Donel has also dropped his newest single, Bang Like a Drum, which has already received 1.4 million streams on Spotify and over 500 000 views on YouTube in just a month.
That for him is a win like no other.
“I'm super grateful right now. So grateful for the team around me as well. I'm working really hard so that the world hears this single and more music that I'm working on,” said Donel.
Donel was born in Manchester in the UK and was shipped back to Zimbabwe at only 6 months by his parents so he could learn his native language and culture. And now he feels the decision to be empowered with his heritage is partly the reason for his success on the show.
In his first audition performance, he remixed the lyrics to Major Lazer and Justin Bieber’s Cold Water in his native language isiNdebele, which not only tugged at the judge’s heartstrings but those of the viewers.
“I love representing Africa,” says the young star.