The Cape Malay Choir Board’s final recently took place at Athlone Stadium and it was the time for the Ottomans to shine.
They walked away with first prize for Best Dress, second prize for Best Board, second prize for Grand March Pass, and all this earned them the coveted Silver Fez trophy and the title of Malay Choir Champions 2019, much to the delight of their supporters.
A huge congratulations to the mighty Ottomans singkoor for their massive achievement.
Ottomans did this season what every team dreams of doing: they won their section, sweeping all the first prizes, did the same at the Top 8 competition and ended off the season with the Silver Fez.
I have always been a fan of the Ottomans, ever since my days at Violets.
For me one of the most memorable years was 2010 when the Ottomans had a whole Soccer World Cup repertoire.
TOP: The Ottomans took all the honours
They sang Die Wereldbeker to the tune of the Champions League anthem, scoring points with their supporters and soccer lovers from other teams.
The moppie that year was nothing short of outstanding.
They sang The Vuvuzela to the tune of the hit song, Papa was a Rolling Stone.
It went: “Ons almal ken mos die kwela, ons almal ken mos die macarena, maar het julle gehoor vannie vuvuzela, my papa het vir my vertel, daar kom ‘* ding, ‘* woelige ding, hy’s lank en maer, hy maak baie geraas, hy’s van plastic gemaak.”
That year I actually felt they deserved to win the Top 8.
I was always blessed to work with some of the best in this industry and Boeta Boy of Ottomans was one of them. He played a massive role in building their tone.
He would have been beyond proud of their latest achievement and I’m sure he is smiling down upon them.
This year, with regards to singing, a lot of the credit has to go to Ameer Williams who came up with some stunning content.
The combine chorus stood out for me because it was taken back to the old school style.
It was written to the tune of James Ingram’s song, How do you keep the music playing? and the harmonies were straight out of the mind of Ameer Williams.
This was his year, winning everything, first with Juvie Boys and following it up with Ottomans.
The Nederlands singer Rafeeq Domingo is also doing a great job and carries well with the singpak and this year in particular he showed just why he is their frontman.
The thing that I admire the most about this choir is their sense of brotherhood.
Even if you sit in the audience, you can pick it up, and I think that is what draws people to this team.
Evens al is jy nou nie ‘* Ottomans supporter nie, jy weet, daai brotherhood vannie Ottomans will drive fear into their opponents.
The management team of the Ottomans deserves much praise for this because there are many clubs who wish they could have that type of brotherhood.
Some strive for years, but cannot achieve it.
For me, there is a lesson in the Ottomans’ win - that one should never give up, make sabr because Rome was not built in a day.
It took them a long time to achieve this dream but they came year after year, trying their best.
With that said, I believe that this is the start of the Ottomans’ domination of the Cape Malay choir fraternity.
The other top guns are going to have to pull up their socks because catching the Otties now is going to be difficult.
Once again, a big slamat to the Ottomans and may your team continue to go from strength to strength.