By the end of the week Showtime followers will know who gets the rare opportunity to have a record deal with music giants, EMI of the United Kingdom. The curtain will finally come down on the four-month long television show modelled around the popular idols show. It has been a lucrative show for Mascom as well, generating around 112, 000 SMS votes in its first year.
While it will certainly be the climax and the end of the show this year, Friday will also mark the beginning of a dream come true for the lucky and talented winner when he or she earns a recording, marketing and distribution deal in the UK with EMI records.
It is a rare chance for any African musician. Not even Idols winners in South Africa have had this opportunity before, as they have only been limited to signing with South African records companies.
The five remaining contestants last Friday were reduced to three when for the first time in the show two contestants were eliminated simultaneously. Both Gorata and Thandie will be proud that they went out with their heads held high after some impressive showing.
When it comes to sheer talent Gorata proved that she is up there with the best on Friday and Smarh must have felt very lucky to beat such a competitor. The lad is gifted when it comes to stage act where he gets really crazy, causing the women to go wild in the process.
That's one characteristic of a pop star, you must charm women so they buy your music or attend your shows, just to look at you and scream.
When the women folk at the Big Five Lodge recording learnt that Smarh had escaped they screamed like he had won the competition. Thandie felt the judges had already killed her off by the top five stage with their continuous criticism over the last two weeks.
Everybody cheered when they heard she was on the list of those with the least votes, and they cheered even louder when she was eliminated. But the lass has character for the show business. She moves her waistline like any top singer and has enormous confidence that you would think she were under the influence of something. If there was someone who seemed to have gone all out to prove a point at the last show it was Tshepo. All the judges showered her with praises this time, after bashing her over the last two shows.
She simply proved to them that she remains the best she has always been from day one of the show. Matlho celebrated his appearance in the Grand Finale in an amazing way as he put up the performance of his life.
He told Showtime after the show that now that he is in the grand finale, he feels the dream of singing at the world stage is so near.
It would indeed be a dream come true for the man who has been in wheelchair since birth after he was born with disabilities.
Along with Tshepo they won automatic places in the Grand Finale when they escaped the elimination, which for the first time saw three contestants called on to the stage to fight it out in a song contest. No one was saved by the judges this time and the trio had to compete with two songs.
That was when Gorata's performance left Smarh's supporters holding their breath. However, judge DJ Sid did not hesitate to tell Smarh that he was the weakest of the lot when it came to singing but was also quick to point out to the tall singer that when it came to stage act he was sensational.
The Grand Finale, which will be graced by EMI South Africa gurus, will also feature Minister Youth, Culture and of Sports Moeng Pheto, who is scheduled to crown the winner. Master D, who is the judge and organiser of the Btv show, told the television audience on Friday that he would fly to London for the recording of the winner in two weeks' time.
The finale would also see all the top 10 pop stars performing, and they include Kitso, Eunice, Nonofo, Gorata, Naledi, Thandie, Michael, and the three finalists, Tshepo, Matlho, and Smarh.
Entrance fee is P250, while the prizes include a high profile dinner as well. Master D said it would be a long night of song and dinning and urged Batswana to come in large numbers and honour local talent.
By the end of the week however information reaching Showtime indicated that companies and the public at large were dragging their feet in buying the tickets, while a rough survey by show presenter Thabiso Nasha on Friday showed that most people were put off by the high cost of the ticket.
