Get to Know – IDOLS SA SEASON 19 winner Thabo M NDLOVU
As the South African Idols took its final bow this past Sunday, that marked the beginning of a hopefully lucrative career for 26 year old Thabo.
The Witbank born singer was crowned the ultimate rockstar, after competing for weeks on end and walked away with a recording contract from JR’s FeelGood Music, R1 million in cash, a brand-new Toyota Vitz, Truworths fashion vouchers including his entire Idols SA wardrobe.
And while he earned himself a squad of supporters, who fell in love with his sultry voice, Thabo shares that he has a lot to learn to continue building on what he has already built on the show.
Get to know the man behind the voice
How did you and music meet? I always say that I never chose music but something I naturally gravitated towards. Hence I can’t say when exactly I started with music. It is something that has been in my life, even before I could remember. What motivated me to pursue it is the feeling that I get when I sing or I am around music.
At the back of my mind, I knew that I wanted to pursue music but the reality of where I grew up meant that music wasn’t a realistic career to pursue. Which saw me pursuing Graphic Design and a career in Health and Safety. But when something is a calling, it has a way of bringing you back.
Growing up, who did you live with and what sort of child were you? I grew up in a small immediate family with my mother, father and my two siblings. I was an interesting child (LOL) in that I was troublesome. But not a bad child, but a normal child who made mistakes – although I might have made more mistakes than others LOL. Out of all of us, I was the toughest one to raise.
Where did you matriculate? At Greendale School
How was your entire Idols experience? With any journey that you take, there are highs and lows. Some of the highs for me were meeting supporters. After you sing, you get that DM that expresses how your performance touched them in a positive way, will always be cherished moments for me. Oh but I had a very tough time memorizing the lyrics. I remember I was singing Peru (by Fireboy DML and Ed Sheeran), that song was the most challenging song I had to do and I remember just before going on stage, I prayed asking God to remind me of the lyrics on stage and that performance turned out to be a great one.
Most favourite performance? Two stood out for me, the first being signed, sealed, delivered. I enjoyed that performance so much and even if I had left that day, I would have left knowing I had done my best.
The second was definitely I’m In Love with Another Man by Jazmine Sullivan. It’s not because I was heartbroken nor in love with anyone but the vulnerability aspect of it was just amazing. Being able to connect with the audience. It was magical.
Who do you think you will have a long-lasting friendship with from the competition? I love and respect everyone who was in the competition with me but the one person I grew really close to has to be Princess. And for us to have made it this far together was really special. Even when the winner was announced, there was no animosity and we always celebrated with each other.
What sort of genre/s do you want to dabble in? Gospel has always been a home-ground advantage for me, as it is something I really resonate with. But I do hope to also explore and grow as an artist, so afropop is also something I will pursue. In the same line of the music that Afrotraction and Kelly Khumalo produce. Those are my two genres that I am interested in.