Idols stage is surprising platform for gospel

From its very first South African season — won by Heinz Winkler — the Idols stage has introduced Mzansi, Africa and the world to some of the most gifted musical voices in the land.

God’s children have taken advantage of this iconic stage that forms part of our entertainment industry. Heinz, a born again, spirit filled child of God, husband of one and father to three has gone on to use the platform and the opportunities that he was exposed to from Idols to carve an international music career.

Idols is arguably the biggest music competition in South Africa. Once you appear on the show you are guaranteed an audience of millions of viewers, including decision makers in the entertainment and media industry.

Many musicians use Idols to launch their careers and to market their bands.

- Advertisement -

As we all know, many musicians have their start in the church. They are groomed over many years as part of the worship teams in their churches. Their musical talent is fine-tuned over years and when they get to Idols they have an advantage over many who did not have that start.

‘Of the world’
Christian parents sometimes look down on this competition and deny their children the opportunity to enter because they say it is “of the world”. What they do not realise is that the Idols competition is followed by millions of our young people. From entering the competition to watching the series over many weeks Idols contestants are followed by  millions of people — young and old. When you are on the Idols stage and you are known by many young people they follow you on social media. When a young person uses their social media platform for Christ and is very vocal about their beliefs, their posts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are read by many. They are able to draw in multitudes of young people and direct their focus to God.

When the youth see the contestant’s post saying “Lets go to church bazalwane (brethren)” they comment with approving statements agreeing with their role model.

- Advertisement -

Idols has just started the live shows this past Sunday and already one can see some of the contestants posting gospel videos. In the upcoming Mzansi Christian Awards four Idols winners and one runner-up have been nominated, proving once again how influential the Idols stage is. They have been at the forefront of the entertainment industry since they won and because of their exposure in the Idols competition they have gone on to be involved in many other media platforms.

Heinz Winkler, Khaya Mthethwa, Vincent Bones, Karabo Mogane and Mmatema Moremi have all been nominated in this year’s Mzansi Christian Awards (MCA) in different categories.

Karabo, Khaya and Heinz are all nominees in the Best Male Personality of the Year category while Karabo is also nominated in the Personality of the Year category. Mmatema is in the list for Best Female Personality of the Year. She was last year’s runner up.

Tugged at hearts
Many will remember Vincent Bones as a former street kid who rummaged rubbish bins for leftovers. After his mother and uncle’s deaths Bones found himself on the streets of Sunnyside, Pretoria where he lived until he was rescued by Boys’ Town. His life started turning for the better. At the time of going to Idols he was already a worship leader at his church. When the viewers heard of his past and his struggles, his story tugged at their hearts and they voted him through the rounds all the way to the coveted title.

Click to join movement

These Idols contestants have been part of this process before where week after week they relied on the public’s votes to keep them in the competition, this time they are asking for your votes as they want to win in the respective categories where they are nominated in this year’s Mzansi Christian Awards. The voting close on September 30, 2016. The Award ceremony will be at Springs Civic Centre on 01 October 2016