Idols Top 10 survival

Thousands of fans cheered their Idols, jeered the judges and turned teary-eyed at 'Idols V's first Spectacular show.

For the first time this season, the Idols took the stage to entertain a crowd of more than 3000 people, accompanied by the 'Idols' band at the Mosaϊek Teatro in Fairlands, Johannesburg.

The Top 10 musical theme was "Greatest Hits" and Ntsepa Pitjeng (26) from Johannesburg chose one of the greatest. Her rousing rendition of the old Martha and the Vandellas classic, 'Dancing in the Street', got the show off to a rousing start. Dave said he couldn't understand why Ntsepa isn't already a big star and Mara was nearly speechless. "The good thing about having a big 'dairy' and nice 'Venter trailer' in the back," she teased the buxom Ntsepa, "is that your voice is equally big!" Gareth thought it was a good start but he didn't think it was Ntsepa's best performance. "Confident, consummate performance," Randall summed it up neatly. (086 2277711 or SMS "Ntsepa" to 34680)

Lendel Moonsamy (23) from Durban had a lot of fun putting a sexy, modern spin on the old Temptations hit, 'Lady Soul'. "Last week you were pretty dismal, but you bounced back well," Dave noted. Mara had some motherly advice: "Remember, this is a competition and you need to keep upping your game, you have to focus," she said. But Gareth said Lendel didn't need to worry about getting votes. As usual Randall was the pragmatic one. "You are focusing on the entertainment value, but you're going to be a recording artist," he pointed out. "You have to focus on the singing. This was like average karaoke singing." (086 2277712 or SMS "Lendel" to 34680)

Sasha Lee Davids (18) from Cape Town covered Lara Fabian's energetic remix of the old '80s Laura Branigan hit, 'I Will Love Again'. Dave said he wasn't convinced that she would even make it to the Top 10, but now that she's here, Sasha Lee shouldn't let the interaction with the fans distract her from her singing. Mara agreed. "Remember this is a competition," she cautioned. "There's someone behind you who wants to kick you off that stage." Gareth also reminded Sasha Lee to remember the audience at home. Randall said she improves every week and it's getting very hard to choose in this competition. (086 2277708 or SMS "Sasha Lee" to 34680)

Thembi Nkosi (19) from Johannesburg had to pull out all the stops to cover Mariah Carey's 'Always Be My Baby'. Dave said he couldn't remember anyone else who had transformed "so amazingly" and improved in such huge leaps. For Mara, Thembi was a rebirth of the late Brenda Fassie and she stood up to applaud her. "I love that song and you did it beautifully," said Gareth. "Apart from being a very good singer, you also have a very good ear — you're very musical," Randall complimented her. (086 2277701 or SMS "Thembi" to 34680)

Cameron Bruce (18) from Johannesburg pulled out his guitar for the Bob Seger classic, 'Old Time Rock and Roll', and even let fly with a little guitar solo. Dave said he's a fan and that he respected Cameron’s musical ability. "But you're in a tough competition, so you’re going to have to get your supporters to back you even more," he said, to deafening applause. "Baby, you can sing anything, any time, anywhere," Mara purred. Gareth was very impressed with Cameron's understanding of "that old music". Randall agreed, but he said Cameron should be careful of pigeonholing himself. (086 2277702 or SMS "Cameron" to 34680)

Daniel Baron (17) from Johannesburg also chose an instrument — he accompanied himself on the piano on Elton John's beautiful ballad, 'Your Song'. Dave was really impressed with how comfortable Daniel was on stage and he said the choice to accompany himself was a wise one, "because without the piano that song could turn into a cheesefest". Mara said an artist should never lose his stage fright and that she appreciated how good Daniel was despite his obvious nerves. "You know I didn't love last week," Gareth noted. "But I loved this week, well done." But he warned Daniel as well not to forget the camera audience who will be doing most of the voting. Randall said this Top 10 is "a field of thoroughbreds" and that Daniel maybe wasn't as good as the rest. (086 2277707 or SMS "Daniel" to 34680)

Lizé Heerman (21) from Durban gave her own interpretation of Leonard Cohen's moving 'Hallelujah'. Dave said it was like a "Tribute To Leonard Cohen evening at the Germiston City Hall". Mara was similarly unimpressed. But Gareth liked it. "Now, I'm not a religious man," he drawled, "but you make me wanna believe!" Randall said he was intrigued by the song choice, but that Lizé didn’t have the interpretive skill to really live that song. (086 2277709 or SMS "Lizé" to 34680)

Pixie Bennett (25) from Durban sang Phil Collins' '80s classic, 'Against All Odds'. Dave joked that it took Phil Collins twelve days to lay down the lyric tracks for that song because he kept falling asleep! "Sing something more fun!" he begged. Upon which Mara sang a bar from 'Old Man River' to him. "I liked it, you were good," she thought. "I took a look at you now and there was a bit of empty space," Gareth punned. He said Dave was right — "He's clever, despite the way he looks." Randall quite liked it, though, even though he said Pixie seemed to be concentrating hard on remembering the lyrics. (086 2277706 or SMS "Pixie" to 34680)

Jason Hartman (29) from Durban dedicated the Beatles classic, 'With a Little Help From My Friends', to his brother who had died recently, and he brought the audience to its feet. When Dave could finally make himself heard above the din, he said that was the performance of the night, and one of the top performances in 'Idols'. Mara asked the audience to stand up and pay respect to Jason's brother. Gareth said there was "such magic" in that performance. Randall refused to be swept away by emotion. He thought it was "an extremely good performance", but that Jason should also beware of pigeonholing himself. (086 2277710 or SMS "Jason" to 34680)

Graeme Watkins (26) from Cape Town closed the show with a very assured rendition of the Joe Cocker hit: 'Unchain My Heart'. He also thanked the audience on behalf of all the contestants for supporting them so enthusiastically. Dave thought it was a solid vocal performance but he asked Graeme to tone "the manic" down a bit. But Mara encouraged him to "gooi"! Gareth called Graeme a natural performer. "Who'd have thought a haircut could get you this far!" Randall joked. (086 2277713 or SMS "Graeme" to 34680)

Now it's up to the viewers to decide who will have to go home tonight (9 March). Voting lines opened at the start of tonight’s show and will remain open for 24 hours. Viewers can vote for their favourite contestants via SMS or landlines. A limit of 100 votes per telephone number is allowed for each contestant.

And just by voting, viewers are in line for fabulous prizes! One lucky voter can win a Citroen C1, a Truworths voucher worth R2500, Shure sound-isolating earphones and an Acer Aspire notebook!

For the first time in the history of South African 'Idols', the show can now be viewed in simulcast on Easyview as well as on the Magic World channel on DStv Compact. For South Africans who don't have M-Net, they can log onto the M-Net website and view all the performances online after the show. This season, the judges have absolutely no say in which contestants go through to the next round — the show's results are determined entirely by the South African voting public.

The 'Idols' Spectaculars are recorded at the Mosaϊek Teatro in Fairlands, Johannesburg. Tickets are available from Computicket for R40 seated, R20 standing.