Idols
South Africa first launched in 2002, and eight seasons later, the South African
television show, based on the popular British show Pop Idol (the inspiration
for the U.S.’ American Idol), finally crowned its first black winner.
Khaya
Mthethwa, 25, went home with the top honors and a prize package
of 1 million South African rand ($114,000 in U.S. dollars) and a recording
contract with Universal Music South Africa. Mthethwa, who won over the
judges and the audience with his rendition of Nick Minaj’s “Super
Bass,” became the first black person to win the popular contest following years
of controversy over the voting for the show’s winner.
South Africa has an 80 percent black population, but for a show where
contestants rely on the popular vote to win, Idols had failed to produce any
black winner for seven seasons.
The black majority in South Africa has a lack of access to the subscription channel that airs the show, M-Net, broadcasted by private satellite company DSTv, whose subscription base is primarily white. This has been cited as another reason the show failed to produce black winners in the first seven seasons.
The black majority in South Africa has a lack of access to the subscription channel that airs the show, M-Net, broadcasted by private satellite company DSTv, whose subscription base is primarily white. This has been cited as another reason the show failed to produce black winners in the first seven seasons.
According
to the New York Times, Mthethwa, the son of preachers from Durban, who
grew up singing gospel music in church, said that he was proud to be the first
black winner but that his race does not define him.