Season V of pay-TV channel M-Net’s talent search show, South African Idols, is set to make history in that the public will have 100% say in determining the Top 10 finalists. This means that the judges’ vote won’t count at all.
According to M-Net’s Head of Local Productions Helen Smit, the change was made because Idols is a show that is shaped by the South Africans who watch it. “We produce Idols for the enjoyment of our viewers so this season we want to ensure that there’s no doubt that the public’s favourite will come out tops.”
The new voting will shift the focus of the show from the judges to the contestants. As they whittled down the thousands of wannabe Idols to 14 only, the four judges – Dave Thompon, Gareth Cliff, Randall Abrahams and Mara Louw – have been attacked for their harsh comments and remarks.
On Sunday, 22 February the Top 14 Idols contestants will perform in front of a small studio audience to wow viewers and win their votes. Viewers can vote from when lines open at 17:30 via SMS or on their landlines. The voting numbers of the contestants will be revealed in the show on Sunday evening.
As in the past, the voting lines will be open for 24 hours and on Monday evening between 19:00 and 19:30, the results will be announced.
During the following week the same process will take place to whittle the Top 12 down to the 10 finalists who will perform in front of thousands of fans at the Teatro at the Mosaic in Johannesburg.
