It was a case of youth versus experience in episode three of the Jive Culture Shock Jingles and Karinkels Klops and Malay Choir competition.
The Alchemy Entertainers were up against the Baicom Happy Boys on Sunday in the virtual competition.
The team of youngsters from the Alchemy Entertainers, who have now branded themselves as ACE, came out guns blazing with a Nederlandsled that skrikked vir niks.
The singpak performed choreographed moves upfront and they had two lead singers with beautiful Nederlands-singing voices.
It was easily the best performance in the Nederlands category for the entire competition so far.
The harmonies were perfectly executed with such ease and the arrangement was out of this world.
When the two lead singers harmonised, it confirmed to me that this is the new trend and will only become more and more dominant as the competition progresses.
The moppie song of ACE was high energy with choreography from start to finish.
The lead singer was confident and carried the moppie and still managed to stay focused despite all that was happening around him, which in my experience can be very difficult.
The English moppie of the Alchemy Entertainers was just as entertaining, this time with two lead singers on the moppie and when they were done I thought for sure they’d get the first prize.
But the Baicom Happy Boys came with all the experience in the world.
Their lead singer on the moppies held things together effortlessly.
He showcased what moppie was really about and had the crowd in stitches without trying too hard.
His facial expressions and body language was enough to win the votes of the judges.
The Happy Boys singpak had a beautiful manlike tone which also helped add value to their moppie.
But it was the Baicom Happy Boys juvenile sentimental who stole the hearts of the judges.
He is only seven years old, but sang the song with such sensitivity that it moved judge Terry Fortune to tears.
The young man is a definite star on the rise and will be around for a very long time.
The English moppie of the Baicom Happy Boys was also perfectly executed and placed enough doubt in the judges minds as to who is the winner on the night.
Any other day and any other cultural competition they would have won, and it was no different this time around.
However, in my opinion, looking at where the Culture Shock competition is heading, I would have gone with the youngsters from ACE on this one, just because of the style and production value they added, for me that is where the future of moppie lies.
It was the toughest section of the three and all the judges were in agreement that any one of these two teams could easily win the final, so the public must vote for their favourite to keep them in the competition.
So get your ticket on Quicket and you will have until Friday to cast your vote.
With that said, I would like to extend my heartfelt condolences to the family of Mr. Dennis Petersen who was the co-founder and one of the top directors of the Kaapse Klopse Karnival Association.
He sadly passed away on Monday after suffering a stroke over the weekend.
He will be dearly missed by all of us.