Idols Top 7

Love is in the air as Top 7 vie for Top 6.

Tonight, Idols was all about luurve as the Top 7 contestants were announced and competed for a spot in the Top 6.

While this season the girls have dominated, the two remaining guys have been getting some love and tonight was no different.

Both Nolo Seodisha and Luyolo Yiba made it into the Top 7 and displayed their soulful best – Seodisha with Teddy Pendergrass’s Close The Door and Yiba with Thami’s I Love You.

Randall Abrahams said there had never been a better combination of singer and song in response to Seodisha’s performance. Unathi Nkayi said it was his best performance yet, calling it phenomenal, while Somizi Mhlongo said it was effortless and smooth. “You killed it!” he exclaimed.

Yiba’s performance was equally well-received. He gave Nkayi goosebumps and had Mhlongo praising everything from his trousers to his vocals. Mhlongo said the performance was smooth and connected and said Yiba was born with charm.

Feedback for the girls was, however, mixed, with Mangaliso Gumbi and Virginia Qwabe not quite hitting the right spot with the judges. Virginia took on Linda and Zanda Zakuza’s Yim’ okthandayo and while Mhlongo said he enjoyed what he called a gentle and sensual performance, Nkayi was not sold on the performance. Abrahams wished she had connected with the audience a bit more.

Gumbi performed Mary J Blige’s Be Without You. Mhlongo and Abrahams felt they did not connect with her performance, but Nkayi differed, saying she could not take her eyes off her and loved that she was not intimidated by the greatness of the “Queen of hip-hop soul”.

There was no question, however, that all the judges were loving Micayla Oelofse’s rendition of Whitney Houston’s Run To You. Oelofse’s performance had Mhlongo close to tears and Abrahams channeling Mhlongo with “Whoo Shem”! Nkayi gushed that Oelofse was magnificent.

Viggy Qwabe’s performance of Thee Legacy’s Sthandwa Sam had the judges confident that she would be back next week, with Mhlongo saying she had found her forte. Both Nkayi and Abrahams also commended her performance.

Sneziey Msomi proved why she deserved to bag the last spot in the Top 7 with her performance of Brandy’s Have You Ever. The judges were unanimous in their praise, with Mhlongo taking the love a step further and advising her to record an album because “you belong up there with the stars.” He topped it up his praise with a “Whoo Shem”.

Unfortunately, not everyone can make to the next stage of the competition and this week we said goodbye to Nqobile Gumede who did not make it to Top 7. Next week, the remaining seven contestants will vie for a spot in the Top 6 and once again, it’s all up to the viewers to decide.

Tonight’s performances