My African Dream top 6, a thriller

GOTHATAONE MOENG
Staff Writer | Monday March 7, 2011 00:00

Before that revellers were treated to everything from dancers, Flexyville blowing fire on stage and performing heart-stopping stunts with chairs and Bollywood Girls throwing fake blood into the crowd, to ear-shattering screams of overzealous revellers. 

Titled the Battle of the Finalists - and consisting entirely of previous finalists from the show's last 15 years - the high energy show had no slackers in the talent department and aptly illustrated the maturity of all 15 performers since their last performances.

It was no easy task trimming them down to the top six, but at the end of the night the new judges settled on the Tenors, Kapambwe, Serite Flexyville, Mophato Dance Theatre and Jika Jive. The Royal Tenors have been entertaining crowds at corporate events such as the Botswana Diamond awards and Miss Universe Botswana. The trio impressed the crowd in both their performances. They performed sitting on stools, winning screams of the mostly women sitting in the front row.

It was no surprise when 14-year-old vocal powerhouse Kapambwe was chosen among the top six. In 2009, the year he first entered MAD, he was awarded the judges' choice and was singled out by judge Mara Louw as having a beautiful voice.

Having since performed at the Maitisong Festival and most recently in the Mandi Mash directed My Funny Valentine, Kapambwe shows much confidence on stage. 

For the battle of the finalists, he did great interpretations of two popular songs right now. First, he pared down Rihanna's What's My Name into a smooth ballad-y rendition, with just a guitar accompanying him. For his second performance, he sang Jessie Jay featuring B.O.B's Price Tag with great attitude, getting the fans singing along.

For her performances, vocalist Tshegofatso Serite stuck to two songs performed by Jennifer Hudson for the soundtrack of the movie Dreamgirls.

Serite was awesome in her first performance as she sang I am Changing. Serite commanded her voice perfectly and was just as capable of reaching the high notes and the low ones, which allowed her to show a vulnerability and fragility that was chilling. And I am Telling You I am not Going, always a tough song, and while Serite had the attitude and soulful voice to execute it, her performance was not as good as her first.  Hip-hop dancers Flexyville have always been a crowd favourite, and since their MAD debut have thrilled fans at shows such as Orange Xtreme Masters and Miss Botswana.

From their stunts, it was obvious the dance crew consisting of all boys and one girl were determined to make it a step closer to winning the mouth-watering P50,000.  In their black outfits, they cleverly used their white face-paintings, white gloves and white shoes to keep the crowd focused on their intricate moves.

The other finalists in the dance category Mophato Dance Theatre, who debuted on the MAD stage in 2010, have since toured internationally, performing in countries like the United Kingdom (UK) and China. Their high-energy contemporary and Afro-fusion dance moves were a refreshing change to the kwaito and hip-hop dances that have become MAD staples.  In the second performance that cemented their place in the top six, Mophato combined their contemporary dances with gumboot dances.

Fans would have thought it amiss, if the MAD top six was without kwaito dancers and in this year's top six, Jika Jive is that group.

They first performed in 2009, and for this event, they wore bright coloured stockings under their black shorts and bright t-shirts labelled Shy and Fokol. Halfway through their first performance, the boys went backstage to take off their shorts, and re-emerged in stockings and t-shirts.

Although they did not make it, the other performers were also great.  Valerie Ferguson, who had entered in 2001, was refreshing in her vocal performance backed by a live band.

Rosemary Hamoir, a 2008 finalist, has performed for the President of Botswana, but her performance of Celine Dion's Mama was ruined by a technical glitch.  Sharon Sebongwe brought something new in her performance of classic African song, Malaika. She started slow but reached the crescendo midway through the song.

Other participants were poet and vocalist Pearl Gauta, Quest - a rock band performing with Kaya Groth who first entered MAD as a solo drummer, and the Pepzotics, whose Boy Scout-inspired dance sequence was thrilling.The top six will next perform at the Maitisong hall on March 18, where the top three will be selected.