As the Idols SA grande finale takes place, Luyolo Yiba was on Sunday night the 17th day of November 2019 announced and crowned this season’s winner of Idols SA.
The music star from King William’s Town located in the Eastern Cape beat his closest rival Snenhlanhla “Sneziey” Msomi for the crown at a packed Carnival City in Boksburg.
Luyolo won a prize package worth over R1.5-million, including R1-million in cash, a Huawei Matebook X, GT watch, B525 Router, 20GB of Telkom Data, Ford Fiesta 1.0 Ecoboost, R100,000 Truworths voucher, R80,000 Yahama music instruments and a record deal with Gallo.
The show opened with this seasons’ eliminated contestants performing a powerful collaboration. There were screams of excitement as the final two burst onto stage singing John Legend’s Preach.
There was also fire performances by Sho Majozi, Samthing Soweto, Boity, DJ Zinhle and last year’s Idols SA winner Yanga.
Sneziey and Luyolo entertained fans to a feast of music with show stopping renditions alongside the Mzansi Gay Choir, Vusi Nova and former contestants of the season.
More than 36 million votes were cast in the week leading up to the final, with 186 million votes cast over the course of the whole season.
Judge Randall Abrahams admitted the competition was the toughest he had ever witnessed.
Ahead of the finale, Luyolo told TshisaLIVE he would dedicate the award/victory to his family, community and fans.
“In view of the thousands who entered the competition, to meet up to the final stage is a massive accomplishment. It won’t be a big deal if I don’t win but I will give it my all. I will keep pushing my music career and winning Idols SA will open so many doors for me,” he added.
Just minutes after scooping the title, Luyolo said: “It doesn’t feel real. I just want to thank those who supported me.”
“I really appreciate the spot I have been put in and I feel great.”
Next season’s auditions kick off in February next year.