Pop Stars Fumble

By Gasebalwe Seretse
Staff writer | Monday June 16, 2008 00:00

 

Pop Star judge Sidney Baitsile, better known as DJ Sid, has shed his trademark long dreadlocks. Spotting a small Afro hairstyle, DJ Sid was at his nastiest telling off those contestants who failed to impress.

And, of course, another shocker had to do with the show as Elizabeth Ramaeba, who had excelled in two consecutive weeks, received the least votes together with Miriam Robanyane. Caroline Chilufya, who had been called forward with the two other girls, was told that she was safe.

Ramaeba performed Mariah Carey's Touch My Body and the task song while Robanyane did the Jennifer Hudson's song she sang last week and the task song. All the judges decided to save Ramaeba with Keabetswe 'Master Dee' Sesinyi pointing out that her (Ramaeba's) delivery on Touch My Body was 'bumpy and flat'.

Robanyane, who attributed the fate that befell her to God, walked away with Mascom merchandise, P 100 airtime and a P 900 cheque.

The lass from Serowe, Mmapula Rakgole, took to the stage first singing a Leona Lewis song followed by the task song.

The judges were divided as far as Rakgole's performance was concerned with the first judge to comment, DJ Sid, saying that offering was 'the worst singing' he has ever heard. As if that was  enough, the DJ went on to trash Rakgole in the process insinuating she was still in the show only because she is either spending a lot of money voting for herself or her fan base is both strong and blindly voting for her despite her below par performances. On the other hand, Kgomotso Tshwenyego was more lenient, saying that her singing has remarkably improved.

Osi Phuthologo, otherwise known as 'Diva' or The Flower Girl' did a beautiful rendition of Whitney Houston's Greatest Love of All. Tshwenyego complimented the young woman saying: 'You did very well.' Master Dee begged to differ with Tshwenyego, saying her performance on the task song was disappointing.

Lazarus Kajane, the 'lady-magnet' came on stage and offered J Holiday's Suffocate and the task song. Surprisingly, Kajane's fans gave him a lukewarm applause and this might have somehow affected his performance.  DJ Sid rightly pointed out that the lad is used to wild cheers and that since he got less that night, his 'weaknesses were beginning to show'.

Chilufya, who has been hailed by DJ Sid as 'the most consistent' contestant, followed Kajane. It must be said that Chilufya was a winner in the fashion stakes and other aspects. She did justice to a Faith Hill song and the task song. If the lass works harder, she will most certainly go places.

Ramaeba came after Chilufya and it was apparent from the onset that she had not worked as much as she did in the past two weeks. Again it is safe to assume that the fact that she was among the contestants who got the least votes might have demoralised her.

DJ Sid harshly told Ramaeba that her performance was 'terrible' while Tshwenyego accused her of 'screaming'.

The DJ said that he had hoped that she would rescue the night as far as the task song was concerned and that he had been greatly disappointed.

This did not go down well with Ramaeba, who pointed out that the problem came from the technicians whom she claimed did not balance the instruments, leaving her with no choice but to 'scream' as Tshwenyego insinuated. Ramaeba left the stage in a huff after a serious tongue-lashing from the judges.

It is worth noting that in the past two shows, Ramaeba has been doing exceptionally well and she had been expected to surpass those performances, hence the tongue-lashing.

Last to perform was Tebogo Tlhagadigora, who did a breathtaking rendition of You Raised Me Up. Tlhagadigora sang the song with great gusto and most people were pinning their hope on him to save the night with the difficult-to-tackle task song but were disappointed.Last Friday's Pop Star Botswana show can be summed up as a night of disappointment for a lot of people.

Equally disappointed by the performances of the wannabe pop stars was the young Tumisang Galetshoge of Phase II who had earlier told Showtime that he was Tlhagadigora and Ramaeba's fan. Galetshoge has been following the show on television and  had come to witness it live for the first time only for his idols to spoil the night for him.

As mentioned before, most, if not all the contestants were struggling with the task song. In the task song, contestants are given beats and lyrics and are expected to come up with their own melody.

The outspoken DJ Sid stepped on the toes of both the contestants and his Pop Star boss Master Dee when he suggested that it is either there is something wrong with the contestants or the task song. Although some people thought that judge Tshwenyego was harsh when she told off one contestant that she should put more focus on the task song, as when she goes professional, she would be expected to sing her own songs not other artistes' songs, this could not be far from the truth.

One can only hope that the contestants will redeem themselves by working hard on the task song for the next show.