Idols East Africa 2008 - The Story So Far

With just 8 contestants left in the Music Talent Show Idols East Africa, it’s is finally taking shape and Africa is proving to have such amazing talent. The contestants are getting better and better by the day. Gone are the circus days of the likes of Kevin Munyi who was there to change the world and Samuel Njuguna of the blond wig. I remember calling this same show a comedy in a past article. It was indeed a comedy then but now we have some real musical stars in the making.

Eric Moyo is a great singer by all standards. Other than having a great voice and a wide vocal range, he’s also a darling performer on the stage. But he’s getting too confident and he has been warned by Scar not to cross the thin like between confidence and cockiness. And Scar could be right. Eric tends to butcher his songs a lot by inserting one too many ‘come on’ calls to the audience in the middle of the song. Maybe he should just belt out and the audience will love him anyway.

Samantha Tirivacho has greatly improved and even though she does not win the competition, she’s a very powerful entertainer all the same and has the ability to build a musical career for herself. Her performance was quite impressive as compared to Adiona Maboreke whose lower register and overall performance as a whole was not up to scratch. Adiona’s performance was just blank with no emotion at all, something all the judges described as disappointing.

Cynthia Kuto’s performance was simply dismal. There are no sugar coated words to mask it with. Even Angela Angwenyi who is always trying to be sweet had a tough time on this one. She advised her to give herself 1 year before trying to sing again. But Angie if she does not have the talent, where will she get it from even in 10 years? She’s just not a singer and as Scar advised, she should just quit singing. There’s a lot more she can do. Someone mentioned modeling for example. How did she even get to the top 10? Cynthia is surely on her way out and unfortunately with her goes Kenya’s representation in the show.

Mkhululi Bhebhe sang really well as usual but was noticeably lacking in his usual charisma at the beginning of the performance. The judges were not impressed with him either but Scar handed it to him for effortless delivery. He’s a natural. Mkhukuli has a good lovable personality and with the likes of Cynthia still in the competition, he’s safe and has time to improve on his performance.

Nicollete Kiiga’s somber performance which she delivered kneeling on the floor can only be described as smashing. She’s a very emotional singer who makes the listener really feel the song. The girl is already a star and her confidence and voice control shone through for her. Her voice wavered a little bit towards the end but that was easily masked by the beauty of the song. All the judges, the audience and I’m sure the viewers were really impressed. Scar thought she set the roof on fire. Way to go girl!

Amarra Brown – If I was asked to describe Amarra in one word, musically or not, I’d call her sizzling. This sister knows where she’s at and she’s very confident about it. And she’s quite eloquent too. She loves what she’s doing and it shows. She blew Scar’s and I’m sure other viewers’ socks off with a riveting performance of Celine Dion’s ‘I Surrender’. Yesterday was the first time this all rounder attempted a ballad if I’m not wrong. Angela said something like only Mariah Carey has ever hit a higher A note in musical history. Was she implying that Amarra did something that has only ever been done by Maria Carey? If so then the girl will go more places than even she can imagine.

Trina Chisanga – They say dynamite comes in small packages and Trina is living proof. In a performance that Angela Angwenyi described as out of this world, the singer delivered an emotional performance straight from the heart. Scar advised her to avoid the habit of screaming her performances to conserve energy in case she’s in concert and has many songs to do. But if her vocal cords are powerful enough to belt out like that and still have energy left for more performances then why not?

Idols East Africa is obviously heating up and I’m sure fans can hardly wait for next week. Overall it seems that although Scar may be mean and all, his advise is spot on. Just like Simon Cowel.