It was another splendid weekend of Cape Malay choir singing at the Cape Town City Hall.
The final two sections of the competition took place on Friday and Sunday and the teams gave it their all.
On Friday night the Boarding Boys took top honours with Shameegh Kemp walking away with the first prize Nederlands- lied trophy.
The big surprise on the night was when the Cape Proteas bagged the first prize for combine, much to the delight of the audience.
The Starlites were also quite impactful, so much so that they accumulated enough points to qualify for the Top 8.
MOPPIE: Imo V performing “Die Spoek”. PHOTO: SUPPLIED.
On Sunday the competition was just as tough with Young Men, Young Cabelleros and Shoprite Jonge Studente going all out.
The Young Men came through strongly, with a brilliant Moppie, titled “ Die Spoek”, performed by the talented Imo V.
This young man is slowly, but surely building his legacy and is fast becoming one of the best in the business of Moppie.
This is now a proven fact, after he once again took home the first prize Moppie on Sunday.
The night, however, belonged to the masters of tone, the Shoprite Jonge Studente.
They won the two most sought after categories, the Nederlandslied and Combine Chorus.
Whenever I watch the Studente perform, I am always blown away by the control this choir shows, and their attention to diction and tone is mesmerising.
I also love the fact that they listen to each other and leave space for each voice to shine at a specific time.
This team is among the best in the world and certainly deserved to be the winners on the night.
I just sometimes wish they can be more creative with their Moppie; not the lead singer and his performance, but the lyrics.
PERFORMING: Jonge Studente Nederlandslied singer. PHOTO: SUPPLIED.
Overall it was a magnificent display of Cape Malay choir singing this weekend and we finally have the results for the Top 8.
The line-up includes Ottomans, Jonge Studente, Young Men, Boarding Boys, Primroses, Strelitzia, Starlites and Zinnias.
The Top 8 competition will be taking place at the Bellville Velodrome on Saturday.
The president of the Cape Malay Choir Board, Shafiek April, spoke to me about the challenges the board faces with regards to the Top 8 and the venue.
“They only recently told us that the City Hall can only accomodate 2000 people, so I don’t know what we are going to do,” he says.
This is a real cause for concern, because if you are a follower of this culture, you will know that the Top 8 competition draws up to 10 000 supporters.
So there will be many dissatisfied people who will not be able to get a ticket to see their favourite teams.
This kind of logistical nightmare should be brought to the attention of patrons much sooner than a mere month before their events.
This brings us back to an old problem, the Good Hope Centre.
When the City of Cape Town decided to hire out this venue to film companies, many of their old patrons, like the CMBC, were left in the lurch.
Sure, we put up a fight to get it back, but my question is, did we fight hard enough?
I think not.
TROPHIES: Mr April and board members with the prizes. PHOTO: SUPPLIED.
And I believe that the City has to relook its decision or try and accommodate our culture at least once a year at the Good Hope Centre to avoid issues currently faced by the Malay Choirs.
The Good Hope Centre was and is the only venue in Cape Town that is central enough for all the people and can seat the amount of supporters who love this culture.
With that said, I am looking forward to the Top 8 competition.
I’m sure it will once again be a magnificent display of the best in Cape Malay choir singing, complete with karingkels en kapdraaie wat skrik vir niks.
See you there!