Suzzi Goes Crazy On Mal Genoeg

Most say they get irritated by this girl... but man, you gotta give props to someone who's got the guts to do these things.

Top 100 contestant: Graeme Wicks "Wicky G"

Some of you might remember Graeme Wicks from Durban. Here's a very interesting Kodak moment of his.

Graeme "ADHD" Watkins

Will Graeme's performance this week be another debate, because of his song choice? I even overheard his girlfriend say that she told him NOT to sing "Beat It" and that it was a bad idea (after last Sunday's show recording in the m-net smoking room).

This week he's singing “Stop and Stare” (check above video for song choice reveals) by One Republic and he said he thought that it's the type of song that everyone likes... I'm not so sure about that. In my mind it comes off as a tad whiny. What interesting facial expressions can we expect from him this week?

Some things about Lize and Suzzi

One of my (few) fans mentioned that I should elaborate on the contestants' style.

Here's what Jozi had to say:

Hi Mamarazzi, Ya so glad to see an article on Lize! I think she is super talented. So I was just wondering what you thought about her style? Any Hints and tips? Also who do you think is the best dressed idol? and who will have the biggest style transformation? Maybe you could put it to a vote? Love your blog.




Now Lize does dress quite nicely and she doesn't really need fashion advice (all the contestants are styled by professionals now anyway)... I really liked the lacey number she wore (pictured in video above) during her performance of "Fever". One outfit of her that I did have my reservations about was the brown dress she wore (pictured in video below) during the Theatre Stage. She wore it when she did her duet with Daniel - I'm not a fan of earthy tones and even though the fit was quite sexy, it felt like it could've reeked of granny smells.




Her singing isn't bad either... However, when I heard that she was going to perform "Fever" at the Top 14 show - some alarm bells did go off. I've never seen anyone do well with that song on any Idols show - locally and internationally. It's almost like it's cursed.

BUT - after 10 seconds of her singing "Fever" at the Top 14 performances, I thought to myself "Oh my god, she's actually going to pull it off." It was probably the best performance I've seen of Fever on Idols, but it turned out my suspicions were pretty accurate when hearing out the judges' responses.


However, at the Top 14 show, I thought Suzzi was the best dressed - I know I'm going to get flamed for this. I loved the 80's pop flavour she had going there and I'm an avid fan of animal prints. So that was a good combo for moi. Quite a few peeps think she's loud and irritating, though i think she has way more personality there than most. Check this video, below. Just add some diamonds and a big Fourth of July hat to this girl and you've a blonde version of Krystle from Dynasty on your hands. I approve.



Suzzi's possibly also gone through the biggest transformation this far, except maybe for a few new hairdo's sported by the boys that could be donned by "40 something women with a bit too much testosterone."

Will post some more fashion thingies soon!

Is Cameron Winning This Shindig?

Almost all the boys think that Cameron is their biggest competition... clipped sentences and all... Or could it just be because of the possibly unfair media hype that the boy's been getting?

Lize (Sarita) Heerman, 4820, Durban

Lize prays when she feels any form of stress. She also believes in keeping it positive and brings up the Destiny’s Child song “Survivor” – “If you’re gonna do this, you better make the best of it”.

Lize expresses some sour feelings towards some of the other contestants when discussing the theatre stage, because someone practiced their singing/playing outside her window “’til, like, three in the morning”. “So that was a little bit frustrating.” Her and her room mates just resorted to chatting instead of sleeping, but no one in particular is “ticking Lize off right now.”

Mathew Moolman, 1032, Cape Town

Mathew’s coping mechanisms include eating, humming and closing his eyes.

When I asked Mathew whether there was anything or anyone that’s ticking him off during the theatre stage he said: “Yes, there is a guy from Jo’burg, that has not stopped talking. Since day one, on the plane, off the plane, he’s been talking. If he wants to sing, he feels like singing. If he’s not supposed to talk, that’s when he talks. I hope he falls out this round… But I’m a nice guy, I’m a nice guy.”

Cameron Bruce, 9078, Johannesburg

Cameron tries to cope with stress by focusing on what he has to do and “sort of just picture myself there and everyone else naked, you know? It works the best.”

He also said that the Theatre Stage was hard, because you had to perform in front of the people that you’re competing against and that’s tough.

Cameron is a young man of few words and has said that he does very little reading. However, Men’s Health was featured there somewhere.

I once asked him to describe himself in three words for the fans out there. “Three words? I don’t know if there’s any fans out there. I dunno, what have other people said?” Eventually he managed to muster “fun, creative, outgoing.”

His thoughts on the judges slashing the Top 24 to a Top 14 were a simple “It makes for good TV.”

Pixie Bennet, 4018, Durban

Pixie’s coping mechanisms include “hard booze and… haha I’m joking” she says. “No um, I guess it’s sleep. Sleep is good, some intense sleep when I’m stressed, breathing…” Right before a performance, Pixie tries really hard not to think about it and she doesn’t play what’s going to happen through her head, “’cause that makes you a bit nervous, you know? I just try breathe and just…ja.”

According to Pixie, no one at this stage is ticking her off and that she thought her room mate during theatre stage was really “sweet and she’s young.” “It took us all night to find each other, actually. And then we found each other and it was like love at first sight. The beds were really closely pushed together, so I’m glad that we’re friends. In the hotel it comes like that, I promise.”

Thuba Myeki, 9641, Port Elizabeth

Thuba sings when he’s stressed. “That’s the only thing that I actually do when I’m stressed.” And before Thuba goes on stage, he prays and does lots of panting. (View picture above) Thuba said “I sit in front of my dog a lot, just practicing (panting)… I do that a lot.” After all of that, Thuba reveals that “actually, talking is the best way (of dealing with stress) for me, ‘cause when I’m nervous and I’m quiet my head starts going crazy. So at least when I’m talking I use up that energy.”

Thuba also says “I’m the easiest person to be with… I think. I understand different personalities, so I would understand why someone would act in a different way. So I don’t really pay attention to anyone but myself, except if I’m having a good time.”

Krystle Temmerman, 4836, Durban

Here's a late addition to the durban auditions...

I came across this video on YouTube... let it speak for itself. Shot in front of a real classy brick wall, I wonder how many couches they moved for this shot...



Krystle was also one of Cliff Jennings' projects:

Ntsepa Pitjeng, 8600, Johannesburg.

“I don’t want to sound too confident, but I’d like to think that I’ve got such a lovely personality; I’m quite friendly and I will definitely carry it through to the competition.”

Ntsepa, would you go for a makeover to get the perfect look of an Idol? “Yeah that won’t be a bad idea actually, girl. You just gave me an idea – I would definitely have to lose just a little bit of weight firstly and just workout. Workout and stay healthy. I think I’m gonna go for those braids look.”

What genre influences you? “Gospel, but I’m really into rock these days. I’m loving rock a lot. I asked Ntsepa what would be her ultimate look. “Skinny jeans and let’s not forget the diamante!”

Suzzi Swanepoel, 8783, Johannesburg

I point at the scar on Suzzi’s nose – she makes a clawing gesture and says “Rrrrrr, it’s coming to get you”. She says about the scar “I was in a car accident in Cape Town, but it doesn’t define me, I think I learnt a lot from it.”

What can you expect from Suzzi: “Lots of funny moments, lots of focused moments I suppose, um yah, I’m a very vibrant person. I like socializing, I like singing, that’s what I do, you know?”

Who are Suzzi’s Idols? ‘I listen to a very eclectic mix of people. From Radiohead to Dodi… what’s that person’s name?” Dido? “Dido – that’s it!”

“I love Britney Spears – I think trailer trash is so the new pink.” Will you be wearing underwear? “Yes! Most of the time…”

Christiaan Kritzinger, 8919, Johannesburg

So, Christiaan, what will you offer us in the next round? “Cookies and milk? I dunno – what do you want to expect from me?”

On top of the fact that Christiaan is a constant joker, he also suffers from stress-induced insomnia, ADD and is “crowned off with hyperactivity”. Again, I tried to pry out of him what we could expect from him in the coming rounds and when he rambled down his list of disorders; he asked “what do you think I’m going to do?” Dance a lot? Christiaan said “Hulle het ‘n vuur onder my gat… onder my dinges warmgemaak toe ek gebore was” as some sort of explanation as to why he’s so disorder-ridden. Christiaan made some “Poena” and “leeuloop” reference which I didn’t get – he said that’s just sad. He then asked what I was doing Saturday night… I tried to avoid the subject (he was kind of weird looking). However, he was being persistent and said “See now you’re making me sweat.” (He does seem like a sweaty guy in general though...)

I asked whether he’s going to try and groom himself to look like an Idol. He then asked “do you have a problem with my beard? I condition it, would you like to touch it?”

Are you an undercover pretty boy? "No I'm not! I drink whiskey and growl!"

Cameron Bruce, 9078, Johannesburg

Young Cameron is a shy guy. I asked him to do a bit of serenading and his youthful and wholesome cheeks blushed unstoppably. As a bit of a joke I got him to hold my hand and sing a song to me – it took quite some convincing. He said that I should at least pretend that I’m not into his serenading. He also went with the most asexual song out there, can’t remember what it was, but it had nothing to do with girls.

Mara swooned during his audition and all the judges loved him. I asked whether he’d go for older women and with a shy smile he said “not as old as Mara”. Many are collapsing because of his “cute factor” yet I somehow still feel untouched by it. I think he’s almost too wholesome for my liking, which is not a bad thing… it might even be a good thing.

Rethabile Kgoroeadire, 8633, Johannesburg

Thabs has been on and off TV her entire life. She was on the first ever “House of Fun” Sparletta ad and her sister is also no stranger to fame either. If any of you watched the SA High School Musical program… you’d realize that Thabs looks a lot like Tshepi who made it to the final of HSM.

Thabs loves red high heels, talking and and being on the camera.

Matthew Lewis, 9504, Johannesburg

Matthew Lewis added a touch of holiness to Idols when he made it into the Top 100, because he’s a youth pastor. He entered Idols because he loves singing and because it would be a good platform to spread the word of God. We asked him if it feels like he’s entering a den of sin at Idols, he said he was quite unhappy about the fact that some of the production guys walked around “selling” golden tickets to any girls who were willing to “kiss other girls and like it” (the girls were just moved to the front of the queue instead).

When I asked him what look he was going to go for to stand out of the crowd, he said something along the lines of “God making that decision” – or a stylist, I added.

He’s one of those guys, who just want to reassure everyone that it’s “cool to love God and that when you talk to him, it should be like talking to one of your friends.”

Bolezlow Reynierse, 9244, Johannesburg

The youths in Johannesburg were very different from the other cities. There were way more “rockers” and “emos” than in Durbs and Cape Town. First up, Bolezlo – who loves Slayer and used to play in some metal cover band in London. When I confronted him about the fact that this is Idols and questioned what he wass doing here. He said “Now listen to me, this is Idols… not “Pop Idols”. Clearly the young 17 year old doesn’t realize it’s the same brand… Actually, the boy is a bit of a hippie. I can easily envision him smoking a few joints a day to go with the constant “awehs” and “dudes” in his sentences. He’s probably not the type whose eligibility will be discussed in Heat magazine.

His mother was holding his hand for most of the time and he'd make demands the whole time to which she gladly obliged. Bolezlow: "Jissie ma, ek het 'n sigaret nodig." Mom: "Ok, kom ons gaan rook gou-gou"

Bandile Maphinda, 4322, Durban

Bandile (the coconut) briefly entered my realm and we had a lovely chat. He was so proud that he made Mara cry. At first Bandile thought that it was a bad sign when he saw the tears running down her face and soon realized that it was a good sign when he managed to get four “yeses” from the judges.

When I asked him when last he went to Jo’burg he replied “I’ve never been to Jo’burg… I’ve never been on a plane! This is, like, awesome for me.” I also heard other golden ticket winner, Krystle Temmerman, call him “Mr King Kong.”

Badelisile Mthembu, 4202, Durban

Badelisile Mthembu showed up wearing a lot of beadwork at her audition. When I asked her what we could expect from her appearance-wise in the next round she said “Well I don’t like looking like a xmas tree and I like toning it down.” So wearing bright red and having as many beads as skin flakes on your body, is not a xmas tree? And again - “On a normal day to day basis I like dressing casually – I don’t like to draw a lot of attention. I don’t like too many accessories, I like the bling, but I try to keep it calm.”