Paxton Fielies was 16-year-old when she won Idols last year, but no one knows that she would inspire teenagers like Nosipho Silinda to put their hands up.
And so they did, Silinda entered Idols aged 17 last year, and was one of the contestants that dared to believe after watching Fielies go all the way and win last November.
Silinda, who turned 18 a week ago, is a Grade 11 pupil at Harvest High School in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal. She is in the Top 16 of the singing competition and is in the race to become South Africa’s top singing talent.
Silinda, who has a penchant for singing in Spanish and often post videos on her social media, said: “I decided last year after watching Paxton win that I would enter. I saw Paxton win and I saw that it’s actually doable, let me try it out,” she said.
Silinda performed Alive by SIA on the girls’ show on Sunday night.
Silinda said she had been working on her confidence on stage after judges encouraged her to own the stage.
“I have been told to loosen up a bit on stage, so on that aspect, I have been working on my confidence. Basically, they have been saying I have the voice, but I need to be more confident on stage, so I am working on that,” she said.
Silinda said her school and parents had been supportive of her since she entered the Idols House two weeks ago.
She said her teachers had sent her schoolwork for the next two weeks and a special exam schedule would be put in place were she go all the way to the finals of the Idols season.
When Silinda turned 18 last Saturday, her follow contestants sang for her and bought her perfume and teddy bear, and of course, they had cake.