Forget Uyanda Mbuli and Anele Mdoda’s much-publicised twitter war at the weekend; that’s quite irrelevant at this moment, or is it? Mzansi’s Twittersphere is once again exploding with the unexpected announcement that Mdoda is to take on the ropes as The Voice SA’s newest host. This morning, both Mdoda and M-Net confirmed that the ever effervescent South African broadcasting personality has landed her dream job as the host of the third season of ‘The Voice South Africa‘, following two successful seasons.
The self-proclaimed super-fan of the popular television franchise will take over one of TV’s hottest seats when the show’s Blind Auditions kick off later this month. Along with the new host comes a new venue for the pre-recorded rounds of ‘The Voice South Africa‘ Season 3. The Blind Auditions, Battles and Knockout rounds will unfold at Urban Brew Studios in Randburg, where more great surprises await the phenomenal talent.
‘The Voice‘ franchise is among the highly rated singing television competitions worldwide, thanks in part to its most compelling “blind audition” format. It’s no wonder the former 3 Talk presenter finds it hard herself to believe she’s been entrusted with such a big responsibility. “Since 1992, when my parents bought our first decoder, I’ve been dreaming of seeing myself on my favourite television channel. Best of all, talent shows, especially those that give South Africans a time to shine, are my thing!”
M-Net’s Head of Publicity, Lani Lombard says Mdoda’s extraordinary gift to “make anyone feel at ease” is what resonated well with the show’s producers. “She can chat up a storm, she’s a good listener and she makes people laugh – and shed a tear – without even trying. And she’s spunky and fun. She does it one way, and that’s the Anele Mdoda way.”
So far ‘The Voice SA‘ appears to be one of the few versions that has succeeded in living up to its promise of making winners actual breakout-stars, that’s if the 2014 Billboard cover story and 2015 Forbes magazine article are anything to go by. While in the reports, it was revealed that only half a dozen winners from the 11 seasons of the American reality show have managed to chart six top 40 hits on Billboard’s Hot 100 ranking combined – except for 12th season winner Chris Blue, whose single debuted at No.1 on the Hot Single Charts last year – it’s arguably a completely different story for SA.
Many would remember the 2016 season 1 winner Richard Stirton, who has since topped several iTunes Charts with three singles from his 2016 debut, Middle Ground. He was also voted as the #1 Voice Choice artist world-wide when Talpa Global, the company that produces The Voice pitted the most recent winners from 23 countries against each other in an online poll.
Last year’s winner, Craig Lucas, released his debut album last year, Restless, which landed a SAMA (South African Music Awards) nomination for best pop album category, and still continues to enjoy attention with radio hit singles, ‘Hearts Exposed‘ and ‘I Said This‘.
As to whether the South African version will continue its winning streak remains to be seen. Stay tuned for more revelations, and the soon-to-come announcement of ‘The Voice SA‘ season 3 coaches next week.
