In the most brutal day of theatre week history, 66 Idols SA contestants saw their journey to stardom cut short on day one as the judges picked the best from the good.
The open audition for season 17 had seen more than 100 Idols hopefuls make it to theatre week, but the jubilation was short-lived as the pressure took its toll on the contestants. Judges Randall Abrahams, Somizi Mhlongo and Unathi Nkayi made it clear that lukewarm performances were not going be tolerated.
Day one of theatre week comprised of chorus line auditions accompanied by a pianist, with the Idols hopefuls divided according to the song they had selected. The audition songs included Kelly Khumalo’s ‘Uthando’ and Amanda Black’s ‘Separate’.
“Too many people forgot their lyrics and the arrangement of the song,” said Unathi, reflecting on day one of theatre week’s performances. Randall was equally disappointed. He said, “One song, that is all everyone had to learn and yet so many of them failed. If you fail at that, you deserve to go home.”
Fortunately, some contestants managed to impress the judges one more time to make it to the next round. This included Duhlu kaDlamini, Sinovuyo, Faith, Karabo and Siyabonga, who had brought the judges to tears at his initial audition.
The next round proved to be a better day for the remaining contestants. In this round, the class of season 17 got a selection of songs by male and female bands of the 90s and early 2000s.
“It was an interesting challenge as they had to learn the words of songs they possibly have never heard before, as well as learning the choreography. And, they had to do this in 48 hours,” said Somizi.
The first group to appear before the judges consisted of Kevin, Aveesono and Ceejay, singin