Idols SA crowned their Season 15 winner 17-year-old Yanga Sebetwa on Sunday night – and it was a finale to remember.
The singing competition has had 15 (or rather 16) winners in the past and with so many winners over the years it can be easy to forget some of the former crowd favorites who were also successful in winning the competition.
Here are 7 Idols SA you may have forgotten over the years.
Heinz Winckler, 2002
Heinz Winckler who is now also an actor was the winner of the first season of South African Idols. The musician who has so far been awarded three South African Music Awards (SAMA), recently released a brand new single in collaboration with Loyiso Bala and Nelville D which is titled It’s time.
Jody Williams, 2007
Jody Williams was only 17-years-old when she was crowned the South African Idol for season seven, making her the youngest Idol at the time. She has since gone on to work in collaboration with artists such as Sean Kingston and turned into an overnight sensation after she launched her debut album Just gonna be.
Sasha-Lee Davis and Jason Hartman, 2009
Idol’s South African season five for those who can remember was the most memorable season and not just because of the music but the drama that transpired in the end.
Musicians Sasha-Lee Davis and Jason Hartman were part of the top two for the season finale but Sasha-Lee was later crowned the winner with 52.77% of the votes in her favour. Idol’s later announced that this was in actual fact incorrect and that Jason had received 200000 more votes than Sash-Lee, making him the official winner3.
It was then later declared that both Sash-Lee and Jason would be awarded identical prizes and jointly crowned the official winners for season five.
Elvis Blue, 2010
Elvis Blue whose real name is real Jan Hoogendyk, was crowned South African Idol’s winner for season six in 2010 against runner up Lloyd Cele.
Even though Elvis won the competition with 67% of the votes, he decided to split his cash prize of R500 000 at the time with Lloyd.
So far Elvis has three platinum and two gold selling albums.
Dave van Vuuren, 2011
Dave van Vuuren was titled the winner for Idols season seven, winning with a total of 50.49% of the votes. The singer who was 21-years-old at the time later went on to form a rock band known as Southern Wild.
Vincent Bones, 2014
Vincent Bones who won the tenth season of the singing competition was formerly homeless and the first thing he said he wanted to do with his prize money was purchase a home in Sunnyside, Pretoria. Vincent won the many hearts of South African’s with his touching story and eagerness to preserver against all odds despite his circumstances.
Noma Khumalo, 2016
Noma Khumalo was a teacher when she entered season 12 of the singing competition not knowing that she would soon be crowned the winner. Noma also debuted her album Joy just a few weeks after being titled South African Idols winner.
