The top 16 was just revealed on the 12th season of Idols SA and it sure is an extremely talented bunch!
The competition was narrowed down to the top 37 and over these past two weeks, the judges – Randall Abrahams, Unathi Msengana, Gareth Cliff, and Somizi Mhlongo. – have cut ten singers and sent them home.
The live shows are set to begin this Sunday, September 04, 2016 at Sun City and at that point, South Africa will have all the say in who stays and who goes home every week.
The top 16 of SA Idols 2016 are…
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| Amanda Kunene (22) |
Amanda is from Durban North where she lives with her mother, twin sister and younger sister. She’s currently studying towards an Honours Degree in Music at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She hopes Idols will help her land a recording deal and a in the entertainment industry.
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| Bevin Samuels (19) |
Bevin is from the friendly city of Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. The youngest of all the contestants, he has taken a gap year to pursue his music career.
He is also the baby of his family and lives with his parents and two older brothers and a sister. “I plan to be a full time musician and with the platform that Idols has given me, I will hopefully be able to take it far and get my name out there”.
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| Keegan Martin (23) |
Keegan is from Gauteng and left his job as a senior consultant at an insurance company to give Idols a try. He lives with his parents and younger sister and plans to be involved in charity work while pursuing his music career.
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| Lucia Jakeni (26) |
Lucia is currently unemployed and plans to go back to school after Idols to study music and social services. Born in Everton North, Vereeniging, she lives with her dad, younger brother and two sons. #IdolsLuke
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| Lusanda Beja (25) |
Lusanda comes from a home full of women. He lives in Gugulethu, Cape Town, with his mother, grandmother, aunt and two sisters. He has just completed his national diploma in marketing management at MSC Business College.
After Idols, Lusanda would like to pursue music full time. “I would like to host more music seminars, more gospel events and go into the business aspect of music because of the opportunity that Idols has presented to me”.
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| Nomalungelo Noxolo Khumalo (22) |
Noma is a student teacher from Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal who lives with her parents and younger brother and hopes to land a recording deal. In the meantime, she looks forward to completing her Bachelor of Education at Unisa. #IdolsNoma
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| Nontobeko “Luke” Ntombela (27) |
Luke hails from Escort in KwaZulu-Natal and lives with her pastor and his family. She is a waitress at Primi Piatti and regardless of whether she wins or not, she hopes a producer will spot her talent and be able to help her become a force to be reckoned with in the music industry.
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| Nosihe Zama Zulu (28) |
Nosihe quit her data capturing job to pursue music. Now studying music at the University of Durban at the Howard Campus, she lives alone in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, and hopes Idols will catapult her future music career. “I plan to continue making and writing music and eventually release an album – and just be amazing”, she says. #IdolsNosihe
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| Sanele Simphiwe Mkhize (21) |
Sanele is from Ntumaza in KwaZulu-Natal and is studying Ecological Tourism at Durban University of Technology. He lives with his mother, cousins and aunts.
This year, he’s taken some time out of his studies to pursue his passion in music and to compete in Idols. If he doesn’t reach the final, he plans on going back to school to study law and eventually start his own business.#IdolsSiyakha
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| Sgherdeed Ross (28) |
Sgherdeed has miraculously been able to fit her passion for music into her busy schedule and now that the Reiger Park, Boksburg, singer has made it on Idols, she plans to make the most of that. “Whether or not I get far in the competition, I will pursue my music career because of the platform created for me”.
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| Thami Shobede (28) |
Thami is from Mtubatuba in KwaZulu-Natal lives on his own and is a full time musician, actor and presenter. He will continue with his entertainment industry career regardless of the outcome of his Idols journey.
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| Siyakhanya Tshayela (23) |
Siyakha is the first of four siblings. This full time musician from Vosloorus in the East Rand hopes to open a musical organisation for upcoming musicians where she can give vocal lessons, and do the same for her church and former music school.
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| Tebogo Louw (24) |
Tebogo is from Stellenbosch and lives with his mother and sister. He is a full time musician and hopes that he will land a recording deal from his experience on Idols. #IdolsTebogo
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| Tersius “Terra” Cox (28) |
Terra hails from Eden Park, Alberton in Gauteng and is a part-time singer and songwriter. He lives with his older sister, aunt and her two sons. He hopes that Idols will give his career a boost so that he can become a major player in the music industry. He is currently a singer at Katzy’s Grillhouse in Rosebank, Johannesburg.#IdolsTerraCox
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| Thamsanqa Vuyo Thabile Mathonisi (20) |
Thamsanqa’s spur of the moment decision to enter Idols turned out to be one of the best decisions he’s made yet. This second year music and drama student at University of KwaZulu Natal forgot his original audition song but he still managed to bag three yeses and a spot in the live shows. #IdolsThamsanqa
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| Valentine Mathe (20) |
