Cobus Bodenstein
Brenden Ledwaba, left, and Musa Sukwene will go head-to-head in the IdolsSA finale on Sunday night. Photo: Cobus Bodenstein
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Johannesburg - When Mara Louw labelled IdolsSA racist back in 2010, she immediately made herself an enemy of the show that she had been instrumental in building from its inception.
Some in the media crucified her, but her words remained a source for a huge debate that refreshed the darkest memories of the past. Several efforts from M-Net to avail IdolsSA to a black market thereafter appeared to have worked as Khaya Mthethwa, a young black musician from KwaZulu-Natal, won the competition two seasons later.
Now that Mthethwa’s time has come and gone, and the two finalists in this year’s showcase, Brenden Ledwaba and Musa Sukwene, are black, perhaps Louw has been vindicated and is owed an apology from all those responsible for her stoning in the media.
But before we have a 21-gun salute in Louw’s honour, it is important to asses if the current trend is not the reversal of what it was. Is there an obsession to get black winners from now on, or are we just looking for the most talented with each season?
“I must admit that last year’s voting pattern was an emotional one,” says record producer and musician Lindelani Mkhize.
Mkhize, who at the time was with Universal Music, a partner of IdolsSA, felt that voters in the 2012 edition desperately needed to make a statement in addressing the race issue – and they did.
Last year's winner, Khaya Mthethwa, says IdolsSA opened new doors for him. Photo: Cobuc Bodenstein
Cobus Bodenstein
“I am not taking anything away from Khaya, as I believe he is an amazing musician, but the time was right to have a different kind of winner to instil some confidence in the voters’ minds,” says Mkhize.
94.7 Highveld Stereo drivetime host Anele Mdoda, who watches IdolsSA closely every year, agrees with Mkhize’s sentiments.
“If, as a black person, you switch on a TV and you find Serena Williams playing tennis with a white person, I am almost certain that you will say ‘I don’t know what is going on here but I support the black one’. But this is not to say if her opponent is better and you can’t change your mind at say ‘actually I prefer her to Serena’,” she says.
For her, all the seasons before Mthethwa were designed in a way that did not appeal to the black market and that is why there was never a black winner.
“Black people were not buying into the performances. You would get a black singer belting out something from Katy Perry week in week out, that’s not necessarily what black people listen to.
“Black kids like black songs and now that the production people have widened song choices and allowed contestants to sing what they are most comfortable with, black contestants are beginning to sound authentic.
“Nothing beats an authentic performance,” says Mdoda.
For Mthethwa, the subject is a bittersweet affair that leaves him nothing short of a victim of circumstances. “I am a born-free and so I would like to think I represent the new, united South Africa. I don’t have any agendas from the past, so I hope everything I succeeded on was based on merit,” he says.
He was an accomplished musician before joining IdolsSA, and all Mthethwa needed from the experience was exposure.
“I am forever grateful for the doors that winning IdolsSA opened for me, but I would hate to think that I won because I was black. I would like to think I worked very hard, like everyone else, and people, regardless of their race, love what they saw me do.”
But race is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what appeals to voters on IdolsSA. According to Mkhize, other factors, which include the origins of the contestant, their tribe and their look, can all influence a potential voter in choosing a favourite.
“Unfortunately, you can’t ignore the information about these contestants that comes throughout any given season. Voting is about appeal. Some people will like the contestant with an interesting look, while others will relate just because they are from the same home town. You can’t tell people what to like, it is entirely their choice,” he says.
Mdoda agrees, pointing out that it would be a futile exercise to try to decipher why certain contestants get more favourable receptions from fans than others.
“We shouldn’t try to dissect how voters align themselves with the contestants, because no reason is wrong. I might like the big girl because I am a big girl and she makes me feel good about myself. Some young girl might like a contestant because he is good-looking and she sees herself with him.
“It all doesn’t matter really, because being successful on IdolsSA means having a combination of attributes that appeal to fans,” she argues.
“When you enter the competition and get as far as the top 10, you need to understand what it is about you that has got you that far. Some people think this is just a singing show. That’s far from it. It is an entertainment show which incorporates other things like dance and fashion.”
For Connell Cruise, a top 10 finalist from the Class of 2010 who is now signed to David Gresham Records, nothing else matters to fans but the music.
“I disagree with the thinking that South Africans look beyond the music. In my experience I found out that the voters are really loyal to the sound and so if you get that right, you are most likely to impress people from all walks of life,” he says.
“It is the worst thing to be blindly loyal and South Africans are nothing like that.”
As the fate of the remaining two contestants lies in the balance until the grand finale on Tuesday, it is questionable if there will be a chance for non-black contestants in the future.
“We should be cautious that we look for the best in any season and not let our emotions take over. Talent has no colour and so it is my hope that we don't get too carried away with the race thing, because that is unfair to the contestants and it will hurt the process,” says Mkhize.
Mdoda concurs, adding that there was a need to have contestants focus on impressive and diverse performances which speak to a variety of people.
“When we come down to the real facts, it is never about black or white, but instead memorable performance. Think of Dave van Vuuren’s cover of Sexual Healing. That was phenomenal and no one was going to take that away from him because he is white and Marvin Gaye was black. The same applies to the black kids. If they choose a song by a white musician they need to own it enough to make the public love them. We should really get past this black and white thing and just enjoy the performance,” says Mdoda.
While race is slowly becoming less and less of an issue on IdolsSA, the one trait that still remains is that every year talented contestants who do not make it to the top get lost in oblivion after the show wraps up.
As managing director of Universal Music, and judge on the show, Randal Abrahams feels it is up to the fallen contestants to rise and fight their way into the industry.
“They (contestants) need to realise that a platform like this can actually take you far, but you need to be willing to do the work. I always give an example of Madonna, who performed in front of clubs. She told people, ‘You don't know me now, but you will one day’, and look at her now,” he says.
Fellow judge and musician Unathi Msengana shares Abrahams’s sentiments, hinting that it was not enough to sit and hope for major recording companies to come and knock at the contestants’ doors.
“Here contestants have it easy compared with the hustling artist out there. You leave the competition with a ready market waiting to hear your stuff and you just have to work hard to make that a reality.
“We now live in digital times where these contestants have more than 50 000 followers each on Twitter before they even leave the show. That’s huge and if you are clever you can use that to your own advantage,” says Msengana.
The show’s host and co-producer, ProVerb, feels that the reason why most IdolsSA contestants do not succeed after their seasons is because the South African public abandons them.
“Let’s take some responsibility here. I am part of a team that works hard to unearth talent and showcase it on the biggest platform in the country. We polish them up and they are loved by the masses, but once they are out there doing gigs or releasing albums, no one supports them,” he says.
“Our show is supporter-driven and so is the future of the contestants, and so we can’t stand here and ask why (when) we don’t do anything to help these artists succeed.”
Gareth Cliff, who also forms part of the judging panel, is interestingly not bothered by the subject, saying that he feels failing to come tops on the show should be evidence enough that the contestants should do something else with their lives.
“Are you kidding me? Who cares what happens to them after the show? I think if you tried out and you didn’t crack it at least into the top 10, then forget about it, music is not your thing,” he says.
For Mkhize, who runs the recording label LME, it is hard to pick any ‘leftovers’ of the show because they are from a TV show which is a controlled environment.
“This is a popular show which survives on viewer numbers and so the producers’ job is to keep the viewers interested. This in turn means most contestants never get a chance to show off what they are really good at.
“When you sign someone you need to know what they excel in and develop that. Yet with the different tasks the contestants have to do every week, you can never tell what they are really good at, so you can’t take a chance with that.
“Also, you need to know their real personality and that, too, never comes out on TV, and so it’s hard to assess them,” he says.
On Sunday the remaining two contestants, Brenden Ledwaba and Musa Sukwene, go head-to-head in the finale with the results coming out on Tuesday. The winner will walk away with more R1 million in prizes and a recording deal with Universal Music.
*Sunday’s show will be broadcast on M-Net (DStv Channel 101) and Mzansi Magic (DStv Channel 161) at 5.30pm. The voting lines are open until Monday at 10pm.
Sunday Independent