Idols SA top trio head off on exciting trip to UK

The top four were paired with former Idols contenders for their duet round on Sunday, which saw the return of season nine winner Musa Sukwene, Season 10 and 11’s Kyle Deutsch and Amanda Black (who reached the top 10) and last year’s runner-up Thami Shobede. Head judge Randall Abrahams predicted it was going to be difficult to find fault – the pairings were perfect, the song choices complementary and the performances impeccable.

Durban-born Phindy Dube and Sukwene took to the stage with We Can’t Be Friends by Deborah Cox, featuring RL. The performance earned Dube one of the best responses from the judges this season, with Abrahams commending the duo on great chemistry and the other judges concurring.

An emotional Paxton Fielies gave a stirring performance with Kyle Deutsch when they sang Stay by Rihanna, featuring Mikky Ekko, which judge Somizi called “flawless”.

Unathi Msengana said: “The sign of a good vocalist is when you can trust yourself to be vulnerable.”

An all-guy duet followed with Mthokozisi Ndaba and Shobe de singing Sam Smith and John Legend’s Lay Me Down. Somizi took a leaf out of Unathi’s book and opened the teary floodgates. Unathi said Ndaba had her speaking in tongues, and Randall applauded him for following advice and for a smooth performance.

The compliments kept coming when crowd favourite, Pretoria-born Bothlale Phora, paired up with Black to sing Sokwenzenjani by Naima K, featuring Robbie Malinga. “It seems you’ve travelled far and developed more. You’ve gone for the finish line,” said Abrahams.

With the halfway point reached, it was time for host and executive producer ProVerb to announce the contestant leaving the show. After 11 million votes were cast, Dube missed out on the flight to London as the top three made their way to the UK immediately after the show.

This week will determine who will battle it out in the finale on Sunday, November 19, at Carnival City.

– kgosim@citizen.co.za

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