In a first for M-Net, the South African pay-TV broadcaster did a live crossing from the final episode of its locally produced version of the hit reality format Idols, to its long-running magazine programme, Carte Blanche.
The Carte Blanche link occurred straight after the end of the Idols final at 7pm on Sunday, 3 May in Roodepoort’s Mosaiek Teatro, just minutes after 18-year old Sasha Lee Davids beat 29-year old Jason Hartman to become South Africa’s newest Idol.
Some 3,000 screaming fans had watched the two-hour live show, which executive producer Carl Olen described as “a massive production’, with numerous roving cameras, a Jimmy Jib, dolly and tracks, as well as a live band and intricate lighting design.
“Idols is one of the biggest live TV productions in South Africa and it involves a huge amount of challenging logistics. I need to acknowledge the contribution of my director, Gavin Wratten, who has done several of these series with me. The success of the live broadcast shows is largely due to him,’ said Olen.
In a press conference following the show, M-Net’s head of Local Development & Production said that her team would do a post-mortem of this, the fifth series of Idols, before determining whether or not to do another one. “This is a very expensive show as you can imagine. However, we couldn’t be more pleased at how Idols has panned out for us. It proves if you have a great format and lots of talent, then a show will perform well. The voting, done over sms and telephone lines has been phenomenal. In the last two weeks alone we have had three million votes. This is a great testimony to the power of Idols.
“If M-Net decides to go ahead with another series, we will look closely at American Idol. We may well incorporate one of their elements which is “The Judges Vote’, in which each judge has one vote.’
The outcome of the Idols V might have been a surprise to many in the audience at the Mosaiek Teatro, as there was virtually a blanket of “Jason’ posters and a mere smattering of “Sasha-Lee’ posters, seeming to indicate that Jason was the big favourite, at least with that crowd.
In a new move for the show, three of the four judges performed on stage, with only real-life singer Mara Louw hitting the right notes, while Randall Abrahams, although displaying good piano-playing technique, showed why he and fellow judge Gareth Cliff don’t sing for a living. However, the crowd really appreciated their courageous efforts.
At the press conference it was revealed that the fourth judge, Dave Thompson of Sony Music Entertainment, which awards a contract to the winning Idol, emigrates to Australia this week.
Sasha-Lee’s new single, True Believer, will be available for download on the Nokia Music Store (www.nokiamusicstore.co.za), while visitors to www.mnet.co.za will be able to relive their favourite moments from the series.
