The thrills and tears of Idols fame

Berry Trytsman sat quietly as stylists began to prep her for another Sunday evening performance. It was the Top 4 Idols SA live show and Trytsman would be singing Ariana Grande’s No Tears Left to Cry. Having been away from her family for months, the mother of four was near breaking point but determined to win the competition. Whispering the adage “the show must go on”, she held back tears as the heat from the hairdryer scorched her scalp before her limp blonde hair was plied with products to keep the sleek style in place. In a short white dress, ruby red nails and lipstick to match, the singer secured her spot in the next round and was crowned the winner in November 2021.

“Constantly having your hair, nails and makeup done sounds like a dream for most people but I would often be holding back tears while getting my makeup done. There were a few low moments in the competition, especially from the Top 6 stage because I’d been there for so long. All I wanted was to be in my PJs eating junk food in bed with my family, but you have to be made pretty for people ... It was an overwhelming experience. I remember sitting in the chair and I wanted to scream. All I wanted was to go home. People think it’s a dream. It’s not,” Trytsman said.

The reality singing competition started on M-net in 2002 and after 18 seasons it was announced this week that season 19 would be the Idols SA swansong. Over the years the show has become synonymous with taking some of the country’s best unknown singers, catapulting them into the limelight and kick-starting their singing careers. For many hopefuls just being part of Idols SA is a dream that comes with a recording contract, music equipment and clothing vouchers.

From an apple picker in Grabouw to a first year law student, a police officer and a high school dropout, the show made dreams come true and produced stars in its 21-year run. For two decades, when Idols SA held auditions across the country snaking queues would form. Amateur singers would often camp out at the venues just to get their chance to showcase their talent to the panel of judges. In the debut season those were Marcus Brewster, Dave Thompson, Penny Lebyane and Randall Abrahams. Later Brewster, Lebyane and Thompson were swapped out for Gareth Cliff and Mara Louw. Abrahams remained but was joined by Somizi Mhlongo and Unathi Nkayi. Having been a judge for 17 seasons, Abrahams’s contract was not renewed for season 18, along with Nkayi's. They were replaced with rapper-producer JR Bogopa and actress and singer Thembi Seete, who joined Mhlongo.

Unforgettable moments included Nkayi’s outbursts of tears or laughter at Mhlongo’s “whoooo shem” or his creation of new words when a singer performed well, and Abrahams’s bone-chilling quips when they didn’t. For Trytsman, Mhlongo and Nkayi's reactions to her Top 30 performance carried her through the competition. She sang Zendaya’s Neverland. While Abrahams remained stony-faced, Mhlongo and Nkayi didn’t hold back their approval of her performance.

“I was in tears before going up to sing. While I was singing Somizi threw his clip board at me. Unathi stood up and applauded. I just kept thinking 'don’t throw up'. That moment was confirmation; it said you’ve got this, keep going,” Trytsman said.

For the Cape Town-born vocalist, whose parents are both opera singers, winning singing competitions was a norm. But she described Idols SA as the “mother lode of competitions”. It wasn’t until after the show that she realised what would be required of her to become a successful artist. She didn’t mind posing for selfies with fans while grocery shopping; in fact she was humbled and overwhelmed when fans would shake while posing with her. But she learnt quickly that once the competition ended, it was up to her to make a success of her singing career.

“The show catapults you into fame and then after you win it’s over. Then you need to look after yourself. The record label doesn’t do that for you. They’re focused on the music. It’s a big struggle. No-one is putting you out there. You aren’t on TV screens every week. After the show I became irrelevant,” Trytsman said.

Season one winner Heinz Winckler also had no problem with fans and admitted to revelling in the attention at times. But like Trytsman the first year Stellenbosch law student learnt that the voters weren’t necessarily buying tickets to shows after the competition. Winckler, who is now a pastor, had to resort to crowdfunding in 2015 to raise money to record an album. This was despite multiple awards, coming fourth in World Idol in 2003, opening for pop band Westlife for all their shows during their South African tour, performing alongside Christina Aguilera and Jennifer Rush and singing a Disney song on the South African release of the movie Treasure Planet.

“I also didn’t fully realise that I would essentially be on my own when the show stopped. In my day social media did not exist, so only traditional forms of media were available and very expensive. While on the show it paid for publicity and there was a lot of it. Afterwards, it was only organic or stuff I paid for myself. A few months in, the media reported that I was doing nothing with my opportunity, but I was working very hard and travelling all over. It was just not seen by all in mainstream media,” Winckler said.

Now the pastor admits he was unprepared for the real journey that started after winning the competition. He said the challenge was finding a way to make a living out of being a reality TV star singer, when talent accounts for 20% of success and the rest is hard work and tenacity. That often meant contending with being groped by tannies.

“It was hard when older women grabbed my behind with no warning. Nothing prepares you to deal with that,” Winckler said. 

Another Cape Town winner who believes she was not ready for the consequences of fame is season 13 winner Paxton Fielies. In 2017, the Bishop Lavis teenager dropped out of high school to enter the competition. After a two-year hiatus following her win, Fielies released her single Touch & Go on Friday, with an album due later in the year. As the youngest winner at the time, having entered when she was 16, she admits to not being fully prepared for what being in the competition would mean.

No-one is putting you out there. You aren’t on TV screens every week. After the show I became irrelevant

—  Berry Trytsman

“That two-year break was necessary. I entered the entertainment industry when I was very young. I couldn’t find the balance between myself as an artist and an individual. I needed that time and now I’m in the best space creatively,” Fielies said.

Describing herself as private and shy, Fielies said her biggest challenge during her season was having to overcome her stage fright and lack of confidence — a confession that’s hard to credit since her singing brought grown men to tears.

“I don’t come from much, not just financially. I knew I wanted to do music but at the time, before I entered the competition it seemed like this dream was unattainable. I had doubts. Idols showed me this is my destiny. I still have these random moments where I realise I won a singing competition and I’m living my dream. It’s these random moments and it still gets me emotional,” Fielies said.

The show changed her life and she says she’s still in shock and disbelief that she won. But her triumph at such a young age meant she needed to “ride the wave”, juggling performing and completing her matric. Ultimately she opted to put her schooling on hold to focus on her passion. The pressure of school and gigs coupled with the media attention was a lot to deal with for the shy young woman. She went from recording Instagram videos viewed by no more than 200 followers to having millions of people not only watching her perform but knowing her personal details.  

“It affected my mental health. I was thrown in the deep end and I struggled. During the show you have a lot of support but it’s different after the show. Even now, I’m still trying to find myself. I was so young back then, I really didn’t know who I was,” Fielies said.

There’s no denying that would not have been a Paxton Fielies on Idols had it not been for Karin Kortje. The applepicker from Grabouw was the third winner in 2005. At the time, Kortje earned no more than R400 a month. At weekends she performed with a local band in the Overberg, making R100 for a gig. Idols SA was an answer to prayer, but it meant she had to overcome her insecurity. Everything about the show was new for Kortje, from flying for the first time to the cameras and stylists. She found the experience challenging and terrifying but stuck to her mantra of “fake it till you make it”.

“I was insecure. I’d often ask myself do I belong here, am I the right package?  Every next round I cried. I was just so shocked every time when I made it through to the next round.  When I won, I remember crying the whole day because I didn’t think I’d make it that far; I didn’t think I’d actually win,” Kortje said.

But her tears of joy turned to sorrow in six months when her then boyfriend Cheslyn Williams murdered Renate Kellerman, a Durbanville guest house owner. Kortje and Williams had been staying at the guest house. The singer was performing nearby. When she returned to the guest house after her gig she discovered the owner had been stabbed. Williams was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison for murder, an additional five years for theft and eight years for attempted rape. He died of leukaemia in 2015. This was Kortje’s lowest moment and she considered giving up. Contractually bound, she was not allowed to comment in the media.

“I would search for articles online with my name in it just to see what was being said. At the time I was never allowed to speak to the media and tell my side of the story. I was told just to say no comment. Reading those articles I would cry because they always said such horrible things about me. I will never forget the one article I read where they said she had one chance and messed it up. It still haunts me to this day. That moment tainted my career; it held me back,” Kortje said.  

But Idols SA was the best thing that happened to her, she said. She’s established her own foundation, which hosts an annual talent competition in the Overberg for schoolchildren. She also still performs and plans to establish a music academy to develop young talent in the area.

For season one winner Winckler and season eight winner Khaya Mthethwa, staying true to their roots and doing gospel music has arguably made them the most successful.

Mthethwa learnt what Fielies is learning — that the best way to succeed is to know who you are and stay true to that. The Durban-born singer released an RnB album after his win, but reverted to his gospel roots. His upcoming album tour starts in March and will see him perform in Pretoria, Johanneburg, Cape Town, Bloemfontein and Mpumalanga.

Mthethwa had been a backing vocalist for Joyous Celebration before winning Idols in 2012. Afterwards, he mentored a 20-person choir from KwaZulu-Natal which won season one of the Mzansi Magic show, Clash of the Choirs.

“I’d be bluffing myself if I said I would have got the opportunities I did without Idols. We cannot comprehend how big the platform is, it was absolutely life changing for me. The biggest lesson I learnt was to figure out your voice and to be true to yourself. One thing I realised is that if you don’t know who you are, Idols will tell you who you are,” Mthwethwa said.