South African #Idol must compete Globally

Globally Competitive #IdolSA

I have been following the popular Reality music show #idolsSA for a few years now, witnessing some of South Africa’s raw talent being unearthed from all corners of Mzansi. My basic understanding of the objective behind a talent search production such as idols is that it is aimed at launching unknown, raw talent to the top of the music charts; however when it comes to idols South Africa it remains unclear to me as to whether this is only limited to local charts or not.

Ever since I started watching this show, I have witnessed nothing but sensational singing by the contestants, which are predominantly young people. However I find it very odd that off the entire pool of contestants (well at least those who can sing, say top 30 or so), at least 90% seem to disappear off the music scene (Local and International) before we can even witness the beginning of the next season. So I ask myself, if it is possible that in the minds of these talented young people “idols is the beginning and the end”, well I hope not. But if it isn’t the case then where do they disappear to, does anybody (Music Promoters, Recording Companies, Media, Business or even Government) care to look for them to offer them support and encourage them to continue with their music even after losing the competition (Because it is cristal clear that they are talented), or are they in anyway restricted by certain rules when entering idols (maybe a clause that says they must stay out of sight if they don’t become an idol), again I hope not. Or could it be that these young people are just not resilient enough to stick it out, push harder and pursue their dream of becoming music stars even after idols, are they simply quick to lose interest and look elsewhere, I ask myself. My point here is, if a person can make it to top 20 or 30 on idols, that person can definitely sing and has the potential to become a super star, why aren’t we seeing these guys flourishing in the music industry, be it local or international because vocally they have proven themselves.

At some point during my thought process I considered the possibility of the current Idol (meaning the ultimate winner in the same season) being a dominant force and centre of attention (especially given the Media coverage they get), as a result overshadowing the other finalists even if they didn’t ultimately win, therefore diminishing their chances of success after idols. But it seemed rather unlikely to be the case because even the ultimate idol to me doesn’t seem to become as popular as one would imagine and my view is that the pop genre that they are introduced to after winning is not doing them any good, we are simply not getting it right (Khaya and Loyd are a perfect case in point).

 

Khaya Mthethwa was supposed to be a pop star by now, however we are seeing him leaning more towards Gospel, why. My view is that the pop genre is just not his thing, he won mainly based on his R&B performances during season 8, now because R&B is not South Africa's strongest genre, Gospel seems to be the best route.

This brings me to my second point, a view I formulated during the last few performances by Musa, Brendon, Sonke, Bunny and Zoe in the current season (season 9). I’m no expert in music, nor can I put together a music-note to save my life but when listening to the contestants performing especially R&B songs by international acts such as Maxwell, Anthony Hamilton, Usher, Beyonce, Chris Brown, R-Kelly etc, I seem more convinced that these guys need to take the R&B route and compete head-on with international acts, they seem to be performing these songs even better than the original owners.

On Sunday October the 6^th, Brendan performed one of Anthony Hamilton’s songs and the country was blown away, the guy was trending on Social Media platforms, getting rave reviews all over the show, a week later Anthony Hamilton performed the same song during the MACUFE Jazz Festival in Bloemfontein, personally I was not sold, I felt Brandon performed that song much better.  

My point is, given the fact that these guys are predominantly judged based on their R&B performances during the competition, why don’t they go into R&B rather than an outright Pop approach, our producers and song writers are clearly not cutting it given that the past idols have really not done as well as we would have expected them to. We are almost certain that once they win the competition, they are going to work primarily with local producers and song writers therefore meaning the type of sound they were mainly judged on will not form part of their offering upon releasing the first Album (and highly likely never to be). Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with our local music, however we have never been good producers of R&B either, we have had a number of artists giving it a try to no avail, and I would like to believe that it is mainly because our producers and songwriters are just not equipped for it, so logic would dictate that there is a need to outsource international song writers and producers to help us out, this I believe is the road to success for a South African idol.

It remains my view that we have talented song birds that can compete globally; our song birds can give the world a run for their money if the correct resources are made available to them. At this stage the likes of Brian Themba and Kabomo are holding the fort, one gets a clear sense of how powerful our R&B genre can be if the right tools are made available, I pray that the current Top 5 remain in the music industry even if they don’t win the ultimate prize, and to the next idol and the producers of the show, the recording company and everyone involved, I pray that they push for an outright R&B idol, get the right people in the production team (preferably international producers), join forces with those that are doing well in the R&B space, think outside South Africa because any of the current top 5 can compete with the best in the world………..

Well, that’s just my opinion, use it, don’t use it

 #MeditationsOfTheHeart