(Pic: Marketing Manager for Gateway Theatre of Shopping Hayley Jacobsen and event organiser Shelley McLean with senior runner-up Thobeka Mkwanazi and winner Amanda Kunene with junior runner-up Senzo Ngubane and winner Andrew Sutton)Amanda Kunene and Andrew Sutton win toughly contested talent search competition.
The toughly contested Gateway to Fame talent search competition reached a great climax with the final performance that took place at The Barnyard Theatre at Gateway on June 28.
The 21 singing finalists looked the part when they took to the stage courtesy Gateway Theatre of Shopping tenants Stuttafords who dressed them, while their hair was done by Scott & Wells. They performed one song each to backing tracks, while they were judged by a panel of experts consisting of local performers Evan Roberts, Marion Loudon, Pume Zondi, Londiwe Dhlomo and Vicky Goddard.
The junior (grades 1 to 6) winner was nine-year-old Andrew Sutton from Virginia Preparatory, who got a standing ovation from the audience after performing Justin Bieber’s hit Baby. The junior runner up was 11-year-old Senzo Ngubane from Umhlali Preparatory.
In the senior (grades 7 to 12) category, it was 16-year-old Amanda Kunene from Danville Park Girls’ High who wowed the judges and audience with Natural Woman. The runner-up in this category was 15-year-old Thobeka Mkwanazi from Ridge Park College.
There were big prizes up for grabs for the winners including the chance to showcase their immense talent again to a broader audience. Both winners will perform two songs each in Gateway’s Palm Court on July 18 at 14h00. In addition to this, they will both also make a cameo performance in a show of The Big Five show scheduled to take place at The Barnyard Theatre at Gateway between August 31 and October 10 with a live band.
Pre-show entertainment was provided by children selected in the Anything Goes category, while the dancing finalists showcased their talents on stage along with four budding compères who held the show together.
The inaugural Gateway to Fame competition has proven a huge success, with an overwhelming amount of entrants from schools throughout KwaZulu-Natal in all categories, and should pave the way for this to become an annual event. While the competition was primarily to find singing talent, the search also covered dance and other performance art, and the 58 finalists were provided with a week of invaluable workshops with local performers.
Other prizes included a Yamaha keyboard from Music Inc valued at R4,000 for the senior winner; a cellphone from Cru-tronics for the junior winner, and microphone systems from Gateway To Music for both junior and senior winners valued at a total R5,000. Additional prizes came from Gateway tenants Cru-tronics, Cherry Design Jewellery, The Barnyard Theatre, Wavehouse, Subway, ScienCentre, 4XD Cinema, Mr Funtubbles Fun Faire and Ster Kinekor.
Gateway to Fame was organized by local performer and teacher Shelley McLean whose expertise led to an unparalleled event of this nature for children. Shelley was backed up by Shelley Haggard and Sean de Klerk who oversaw the dancers and Anything Goes participants respectively.
Proceeds from the Gateway to Fame final event went to Bobbi Bear charity.
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