IS THERE LIFE AFTER SOUTH AFRICAN IDOLS?

Yes they’re back for Season 9 and soon we will be able to watch the rise and fall of wannabe singers simultaneously on MNET  and Mzansi Magic  on Dstv . Auditions are already under way and the dates for broadcast have yet to be announced. But what about those who tried in the past and failed; and those who won? Are they still around? What are they doing now? As Julie Andrews once sang in The Sound of Music: “Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start……..” we need to go back to Season 1 of South African Idols.

Season 1 started in March 2002. The winner was Heinz Winkler , with Brandon October  (2^nd place) and Melanie Lowe  (3^rd place) as runners up. Ten years down the line Heinz Winkler has appeared in musicals such as “Rent”, and although I cannot find any proof on Google, I seem to recall him playing the part of a doctor in a local Afrikaans drama on TV. Perhaps someone can confirm that. He also performed the song “Chasing Shadows” for the South African release of the Disney movie “Treasure Planet”. He got married in 2006 and has two children. From the resume on Wikipedia, I can’t see much info about him after he got married. Even Brandon October hasn’t done much to become a huge star. Melanie Louw on the other hand has a Facebook page and can be followed on Twitter.

Season 2 was a year later in 2003 and was won by the 20year old Anke Pietrangeli AKA “The Kimberly Diamond”. According to “Entertainment TV” in an article written in 2010, she has virtually disappeared from the music scene.

Season 3 aired in the middle of 2005 with a final between Karin Kortjie and Gift Gwe  taking place at Gold Reef City. Karin Kortjie walked away with the prize with 62.58% of the viewers votes. She was one of Idols most controversial winners. She disappeared from the music scene after her then boyfriend was charged with murder. Nowadays she sings mostly in churches.

Season 4 was back on Mnet in 2007 after a two year absence, during which time their sister channel KykNet, aired Afrikaans Idols. The winner for season 4 was a 17 year old from Cape Town, Jody Williams . Apart from having a fairly successful career, her one claim to fame was in 2010 when she represented Africa in the song “Everyone” the Official Theme song for the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games. She collaborated with four other artistes, one of whom was Sean Kingston.

Season 5 in 2009 saw Jason Hartman  and Sasha Lee Davids  becoming joint winners after a mix up with the viewers’ votes. Jason is very active to this day in the music business and has also become an activist in conservation projects such as Conservation Guardians which he started in 2011. Sasha Lee Davids however is probably better known for her reality TV show on VuzuTV: “The House of Davids”, which aired last year.

Season 6 in 2010 was the turn of Elvis Blue  from George in the Western Cape, with KZN singer Lloyd Cele  being the runner up. Both have been successful to date having won a few awards between them.

Season 7 aired in 2011 after controversial judge Mara Louw was given the boot and replaced with Unathi Msengana, a local radio personality and musician. Dave Van Vuuren  from Johannesburg was declared the winner. I might add that after Seasons 5/6 it is too early to tell whether theses Idols winners will survive but they seem to be making waves.

Season 8 and 2012 was another controversial year for SA Idols, as contestants who should have been in the top 3 got voted off before they even made the Top 5. Khaya Mthethwa  from Durban came out tops, and became the deserved winner in the end.  

But what of those contestants that didn’t make it to the Top Three? Where are they? Are they still singing? As a build up to Season 9 of SA Idols I’ll take a look at what they are up to. Most information used here can be found on this Wikipedia link:  Idols (South Africa) , whilst other links are to the artistes Facebook pages. You may wonder whether there is life after Idols, but as this summary of Idols shows you have to keep working at your singing talent. After you've won, it's no use to sit back and enjoy the ride. Let's see what the future holds for these winners.       

DEAR OSCAR..........

After reading all the comments on Facebook and Twitter, I feel sorry for both families for what they've had to go through this past week. And things don't look at all good for the "Blade Runner" either. With conflicting reports floating around on the social networks, we as citizens should allow the law to take it's course and not convict him before the case has even started. I am of the opinion that Oscar should not be granted bail, not because he is guilty but for his own protection. People may want him dead now that Reeva is no longer with us, even though it may have been an accident. There is one thing I can't get my head around and that is the fact that you never called out to Reeva in the bathroom, to find out if she was okay before you fired the 4 shots. It's something I really don't understand, and it's not as though you were alone in the apartment. Reeva was not with you, where was she? She had not left the premises. This fact and the fact that you carried her down the stairs, makes the mind boggle. How long did it take you to put your "legs" on before you went to the bathroom? Were you sleeping with them on? I think you really have not thought your affidavit through before giving it to the authorities. The ANCWL don't make things any better for you either. They are demanding that you get "No Bail" from the magistrate, even though when Jacob Zuma allegedly raped one if his house guests they did not demand the same. Double standards! As the bail application continues today, the eyes of the world will be on South Africa. We will just have to wait and see what happens next...........

TO BE OR NOT TO BE.......

The youth TV show, Hectic Nine-9  should be congratulated. After yesterday's brave attempt at discussing sexuality amongst the youth on their youth show, and after reading most of the comments on their Facebook page, it became clear to me that South Africa still cannot move into the 21st Century. People still must use the bible to try and prove that humans cannot be born homosexual, and fail miserably I might add as the words contained in the bible have been handed down, translated and even re-written in so many forms that they literally get lost in translation. Personally I believe the bible and religion should be left out of this discussion as sexuality is not a choice; you do not suddenly decide that you want to be gay! The only choice you make is whether to come out of the "closet" or not. As I am no expert on  this matter, I probably do speak from experience. For years I did not reveal my sexuality to anyone, I suppose it had something to do with the "old" South Africa where being gay was a taboo. I think religion is still in the "old" South Africa too! I might as well add that I just turned 60 years old, and to date have not been struck down by lightening from heaven above for being who I am.  It sickens me to see how some youth get taught to hate those who are different to them. On the other hand it is wonderful to see how youths are embracing their sexuality amd not really caring what other people have to say. Even though gay and lesbians are supposed to be protected by our constitution, some of them still live in fear of their lives in the townships and rural areas just because they have decided to "come out" to those around them. Lesbians get raped to make them straight, and young gay men are murdered for being too feminine. What a sick society we have become. It doesn't matter who the so-called christian has murdered or raped, he has sinned in the eyes of God! But back to discussion that was held on Hectic Nine-9 , they were very brave to hold this discussion. And I was waiting for the barrage of anti-gay comments to be posted on their page by viewers who kept quoting the bible and other negative views. I was fairly amused because one of their popular presenters, Ayanda said on Twitter to someone who tried to make a negative comment about him........."I'm not going anywhere, I'm here to stay! Get used to it!" I applaud you Ayanda, to stand up to that idiot. Here's a message for those religious nutcases out there who happen to be reading this blog........ firstly please do not write negative comments here, I will delete them! LOL. And secondly did you know that there are people out there who bat for both teams? Some of them are your husbands and wives...........just saying!

NO MEANS NO!

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and whilst everyone will be sending Valentine's to there loved ones, we should spare a thought for those who were brutally raped and are not with us today. What causes a man to to be so cruel that he and his friends force themselves on a young teenager, rape her and leave her for dead? This time they never got away with it, as their victim named them before she passed on. It turns out that the one was her ex boyfriend. I hope he rots in jail for the rest of his miserable life. I'm angry, I think the whole of South Africa is angry! Enough is enough! Real men don't rape!

STAND UP! SPEAK OUT! (Part 2)

After my last post, I felt I had not really said what I wanted to say. It appears that bullying is fast becoming a national sport; children do it, some parents do it, and now even politicians are climbing on the bandwagon. The worrying factor is that some of us who stand by and watch someone get bullied are in fact just as guilty as the bully, and we don’t even realize it. I’m sure by that now after watching 3^rd Degree’s report on TV the other evening; many South Africans are shocked at what is going on in playgrounds across the country. But it doesn’t end there. I have heard of people who get bullied at work after getting a promotion. When they report the matter to their company’s HR department, it gets swept under the carpet. In other words it gets ignored. And the bullying carries on and on. It is said nowadays that children who were bullies at school, grow up becoming members of gangs who go around causing mayhem and often end up on the wrong side of the law. Politicians try to win votes by bullying the opposition so that their supporters will end up voting for them, against all odds. In my eyes politicians like these are trying to cover something up when they realize the opposition has uncovered something corrupt that they have done.  We also have the boyfriend/husband who is the bully to his girlfriend/wife, when he says that he doesn’t like the way she dresses. Is he her fashion consultant now? Surely he liked the way she dressed when they first met? Some husbands can be such bullies, that they do not allow their wife any freedom at all. It’s as though there is no trust at all, which is a shame considering that married for love. I’m no expert on marriage but if you cannot trust your wife, who can you trust? So if you are the victim of bullying whether it is in a relationship, at work or at school; it’s time to “Stand Up & Speak Out!”

BULLYING IN SCHOOLS MUST STOP

As founder of the South African Anti Bullying Forum, it is my duty to make it known to all South Africans and the world that bullying does exist in schools, and we intend to get the authorities to sit up and take notice! And that’s not all ……. we want action! It’s been far too long that parents and fellow students just ignore what’s happening, it’s time to stand up and speak out! Don’t say “I don’t want to get involved” when you see someone being bullied. Your intervention could prevent that child/victim from committing suicide, or worse still: he/she takes a gun and shoots the bully to make the problem go away. A young man recently asked me: “Where were you when we were bullied at school?” The answer is I just wish I could have started the forum earlier. We need to start getting South Africa and the world talking about ant-bullying! If you look to the right of this post near the top of this blog, you will see a link to our Facebook page which you can “like”. You can join in by commenting and posting anti-bullying matter whether it is a quotation or a link to a news item on bullying. All will help in making people aware! Everyone has been bullied, and if you haven’t you’re either one of the lucky ones or you are the one who did the bullying. I say this because I was bullied at school. When I was 5 or 6 years old another kid tripped me up. My glasses broke giving me a bloodied nose and 2 black eyes. I’m sure children get constantly bullied by their fellow pupils, just because they’re different. A child who excels at school can also be a victim of bullying just because they’re good at sport, or whose father is a Pastor. It’s not just about being the best any more; it’s what you choose to do. A boy who wants to do ballet instead of soccer is more likely to be bullied at school as others see it as a “girl’s” interest. It seems to me that after watching the report on 3^rd Degree on eTV last night, that I need to do another post on this very worrying subject. Why do people bully other people? We shall find out more next time!