Taking it back to the very FIRST Mzantsi’s Pop-flop Stars

After a few years of absence the South African Pop stars that were originally known as the Coca Cola Pop Stars returned to the scene last year. As usual with yet another nation-wide search for the Country’s next Pop Stars. The aim of this search was or is to find untapped and raw singing talent and flair to give the youth a platform to showcase their musical talent.


Some of us or me in particular actually had a lot of questions in terms of whether it was going to be a success or not this time around, because some of their previous groups/winners just vanished into thin air and we never heard of them again.

101 Coca-Cola Pop Stars

I remember the first Pop Stars group that was introduced to us was a group called 101 (The five finalists of 2002 Coca-Cola Pop Stars), and it was very exciting to have them around and their music was quite cool for back then.  Now, just when things were cool, these guys disappeared just like that and until this day many of us don’t know what happened to them except for Pam Andrews of course who tried to go solo, but failed and then went into acting.  She is now popular for acting the part of a Radio DJ on Etv’s Rhythm City ( at least she is still famous) and as for the others, I don’t know if they still even exist on the face of the earth.

Then just after that, we were introduced to another group that goes or went by the name of Adilah. They more or less had the same impact on the listeners as 101, because their music was just as nice to listen to. They somehow gave me hope that they would last and they sounded promising too, but boom, then they also disappeared into thin air. What’s wrong with these people mara? Thembisile (The one with the hat) had it going there even after the break up and she was doing quite fine as a solo artist. She even performed with the likes of Ringo Madlingozi. Just when it looked like she was going BIG too, this lady left us hanging just like that. I still wonder where she disappeared to.

Jamali Coca-Cola Pop Stars

AND

Then there was ghetto Lingo and Jamali, the battle of the sex’s mhmmmm... Now this particular season of the stars was quite interesting as they had another angle of going about doing the show, where they had two groups battling it out for the number one spot. Both these groups were fabulous I must say and both of them deserved to win but because there had to be one winner, Ghetto Lingo took the title. Now did they live up to that title? Sigh, They also were just on fire in the beginning and then the flame burnt out like all the other groups and then they disappeared as well BUT not so long ago they made a comeback and then disappeared again bleh!

The lady group (Jamali) however, did not give up just like that. Even though these ladies weren’t the Pop Stars then, but they never gave up and they have been doing their thing ever since Pop Stars and I must congratulate them as they have been doing quite well for themselves and they actually have a brand new album out, BiG Ups to them.

It's Time For Nne Vida

Last year the show returned with a BANG as I’ve said above it then came back after a few years of absence. This was very exciting, as there was another chance for aspiring music artists to show the country what they’ve got. According to etv as well as Pop Stars this is what the new season promised (to bring more twists, turns and stings in the tail when aspiring singers compete for the ultimate prize: celebrity status as a POPSTAR). Question: Where’s Nne Vida? I can’t answer this question as I also have no clue where they’ve disappeared to in a matter of months. Apparently they have completed their debut album and shot a video as well, for one of their tracks called “Back Up” of which I find boring.

Instead of them being all over the place they themselves have been very scarce in the public eye, aren’t they suppose to be celebs kanti? Shame…

What I have noticed about the Pop Stars is that either they never really wanted to be stars or their promoters and managers are very lazy to do their work OR could there be a curse on this show, like seriously? Well, I hope Nne Vida succeeds or we might as well rename the show and call it FLOP STARS! With that said, maybe it’s high time the makers/sponsors of this competition focus on artists’ own individual capacity and nature that…

By Rodney Witbooi Follow Rodney on twitter here