Idols SA contestants' brutal wake up call

The group stages proved to be a serious wake-up call for most of the contestants, especially those who struggled to collaborate with other singers.

Before the singers even stepped on stage, the judges had made it clear that they had no intent of entertaining underwhelming performers at this stage of the competition, and they were not kidding.

Before they could even unpack, the judges already sent an entire bunch of singers home without even giving them the chance to perform. Heartbreak was an understatement as a number of contestants left with their heads low and dreams shattered.

Whilst the ones who remained stepped up to the challenge and managed to not fall under the pressure of collaborating with each other.

The first group which consisted of the likes of Thamsanqa, Amanda and Sbu did justice to Usher’s 90’s hit single “You make me wanna.”

Somizi was especially impressed with Amanda’s performance.

“You performed well as if it were your last chance.” He told the singer who was clearly shocked at his compliment.

However, what shocked us were not the great performances but the disaster that unravelled as more groups performed.

The most horrendous of all performances was that of Thato, Celine and Tebogo. The young trio saw themselves crumble under pressure as they failed to deliver The Fugee’s rendition of “Killing me softly" a song which the trio was not too familiar with. 

We saw 16-year-old Celine crack under the pressure as she struggled with the lyrics. Celine was so nervous we could barely hear her sing.

The performance was so underwhelming that Somizi wasted no time in telling the three to take their bags and leave.

“In the history of Idols…I don’t recognize this performance.” Said Somizi.