Idols South Africa
Idols is a television show on the South African television network M-Net, based on the popular British show Pop Idol. The show is a contest to determine the best young singer in South Africa. It was presented by Candy Litchfield, Matthew Stewardson and Sami Sabitiin in Season 1 and by Colin Moss and Letoya Makhene in Season 2, Colin Moss has gone solo for season 3.
In the show, people first audition but eventually the performers are narrowed down to 12 finalists, with each contestant performing live. There are four judges (Randall Abrahams, Dave Thompson, Marcus Brewster and Penny Lebyane in season one; Brewster and Lebyane did not return for the second season and were replaced by Mara Louw-Thomson and Gareth Cliff) who provide critiques of each competitor's performance. Viewers have several hours following the broadcast of the show to phone in their votes for their favorite contestant. On the following night's episode (live again), the contestant with the fewest votes is sent home.
In the first season, Heinz Winckler won, with Brandon October coming in second and Melanie Lowe in third. Anke Pietrangeli won the second season contest, with Poseletso Sejosingoe placing second and Jacques Terre'Blanche placing third.
The semi finals of Season 3 includes contestants singing two songs during the round instead of one, as seen in previous formats of Idols