Congratulations to the Shoprite Jonge Studente on being crowned the winners of the Top 10 competition at the Bellville Velodrome on Saturday.
This is the second year in a row that Studente have been crowned the champions of Malay choir singing, which is a tribute to the hard work they’ve put in over the past few years.
Boeta Ahmad deserves much praise for the achievements of this choir, he has been the backbone of the Studente and is respected by every single member of this choir.
The Studente also walked away with the first prize in the moppie category, for a song which was penned and sung by Ishmail Fagodien.
It was the first year that Fagodien was given the opportunity to write the moppie for Studente and under the guidance of his mentors, he created a gem for his well-deserved first prize.
Fagodien said on Facebook: “For seven years I have been under the guidance of a great comic legend boeta Ishmail Jackson, showing me the route and styles of writing moppie. This was the year where I had to step up and do it myself as boeta Mailie passed away.”
Well done, Ishmail Fagodien, I am sure your mentor would be proud.
In this category in particular, the Studente have proven that in order to reach greatness, you need to remain open-minded and open to other people’s skills and ideas.
This moppie took more than just Fagodien’s lyrics and tunes, it also took the coaching and musical creativity of Ashur Petersen, the son of the late, great Taliep Petersen.
It was also Ashur’s first time coaching, and he posted on Facebook: “I was given the opportunity to arrange, compose and coach the moppie song for Shoprite Jonge Studente as they saw me fit to do so.
“I put my fear aside and did it with pride and to the best of my ability. So much so that for my first year of coaching and with the brilliance that is SJS, we brought home the first prize.”
Petersen and Fagodien have to be the finds of the season with regards to creating new moppies that are of a high standard.
Well done, ouens, and thanks for winning with such humility.
People cry about this item with statements like a moppie king is the singer alone.
I beg to differ.
CHAMPS: Jonge Studente won the Top 10 at the Velodrome on Saturday
The only time you can claim this title of Moppie King is when you have written, sung and won the moppie.
Anyone can stand in front of a brilliant singpak under the guidance of a brilliant coach and mumble or make actions and win.
But lead singers only contribute about 10 percent to the moppie song.
This does not make you creative or “one of the best”, it makes you a good lead singer.
With that said, welcome to the club, Ishmail Fagodien.
The Studente also took first place for the Nederlands song.
For one of those teams who usually stick to the basics, the Studente have been the one team to push innovation on this item this year.
I have to say that there were a few other lead singers who sparkled over the season, like Asheeq Carelse who won the Nederlands in the Presidents Cup for Parkdales.
The Shoprite Jonge Studente once again proved on Saturday that it takes a collective of a good lead singer and a pak to win an item.
However, winning a first prize in your section does not automatically mean you deserve a first prize in the Top 10.
Studente came second in their section, fixed their mistakes, came back and won.
This is how the game works.
On another note, congratulations to the Ottomans Singkoor for continuing the legacy of Boeta Boy (ragam) by winning the combine chorus, under the guidance and coaching of Ameer Williams.
The win is a huge tribute to a great man who was loved and admired by so many in the fraternity and I’m sure he would have been proud of his team, so hats off to the Otties.
At times this sport can become ugly and in the age of social media, where everybody is a judge, it can get even uglier.
We must remain conscious that this is a gentleman’s sport and we should take a loss with grace.
To the rude and negative commentators on social media, with your ugliness and bad remarks you are causing more harm and pushing people away from our beautiful culture.
And finally, slamat to the Cape Malay Choir Board on a competition which once again showcased some of the best in our culture.
It was not easy as quite frankly the Velodrome does not work for the Malay choirs, but this was not by your choice.
You did your best and in the end delivered us a full season of Malay choir singing, and now we are looking forward to the marching.
In addition, congratulations to Riverside Roses for winning section two of the Keep the Dream competition at Athlone Civic on Saturday.
Nizaam Singe took the moppie song and also received a standing ovation for his senior solo song.
Riverside won combine, moppie, Nederlands and 2nd prize juvenile.
This is the sixth year in a row that Riverside Roses have won the combine under the guidance of Yunus Richards.
Well done!