Anyway back to my point, I saw some of the acts and fell asleep...and happened to wake-up half-way through one of the most passionate, fire-filled musical performances I’ve ever seen. It was that guy from KZN that everybody's been talking about, who started singing in church and has shared 'classical' gospel stages with the likes of Mthunzi Namba. Yes you know him, I won't name him because everybody will start thinking that my blog is a partisan blog created to influence the constitutionality and democratic process of the South African Idols. But it was a powerful performance, not one of the best, but with a great amount of dedication, fire and passion that I have witnessed in a while.
The man took us to church, transformed an 80's version of Otis Redding whopping 'Try a little tenderness'. He gave meaning to the song, 'stretching' and 'pulling' his voice to the maxim. Part of it was probably the desire to be voted in to the top 3 or 5 or whatever stages they are in. Another part of it was sheer passion, to transform himself, to pour himself and to 'forget about' himself for the sheer purpose of his art. And that was what made it a great performance.
The one lesson for me, from that one performance is that Mr. Joyous-Celebration-Guy-From KZN is dedicated to his craft and willing to pour his heart and soul out for its full expression. That's a trait that is really hard to come by these days. A complete and utter dedication to an art, a go big big OR home type of performance. Look I don't want to be drawn into the Idol-Politik, I am not part of any political camp or faction, but I do just want to say that Mr. Joyous-Celebration-Guy-From-KZN got me fired up about my art, and since then I've been thinking, "If you're not going to do it with oomph, with umjunju, with gusto, with passion, with fire then rather leave it undone. Don't waste your time and don't waste the time of the people who are depending on your deliverance.”
