Idols SA Season 11 Top 16 Contestants

The Idols SA Season 11 Top 16 contestants were revealed on Sunday 23 August 2015.

Following a couple of weeks of whittling down contestants, drama, and heartache, the 29 contestants who had remained in the Idols SA race faced the judges in this week’s episode to find out their fate in the competition.

The four judges, Gareth Cliff, Unathi Nkayi, Randall Abrahams, and the newly appointed Somizi Mhlongo first called in all the male contestants one by one.

This unusual move from the judges caused persistent distress to the female contestants, making them wonder how this would impact them and perhaps the number of contestants advancing to the next stage of the competition.

However, the judges finally settled on a Top 16 but with one surprise awaiting the viewers.

After showing all the action from Sun City, it was announced that one of the contestants, 29-year-old Nonhle Mhlongo from Durban had withdrawn from the competition due to personal reasons.

Unanimously, all four judges decided to give her spot to 22-year-old Amanda Antony whom they had initially eliminated after it came down to choosing between her and 20-year-old Nadia Herbst from Paarl.

And with that being said, below are the Idols SA Season 11 Top 16 contestants;

Amanda Antony

Age: 22

Amanda for whom Idols SA has been a true rollercoaster ride is from Port Elizabeth.

In 2013 she famously made it to Sun City when Unathi gave her a Golden Ticket in PE after Algoa FM had spotted her great singing talent, but then she bombed out during Hell Week.

She has recently completed her Music Studies at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.

Amanda made it into the Top 16 after replacing Nonhle Mhlongo who withdrew from the competition.

Bridgitt Leahy

Age: 18

She blew the judges away with her original song at the Durban auditions.

She hails from Creighton in the Southern Drakensberg and currently lives with her mom in Pietermaritzburg, where she is being home-schooled.

Dineo Moseki

Age: 21

She lives in Vryburg with her sisters, nieces, and nephews, where she works as a full-time professional singer.

The pint-sized Dineo has been singing for all of her life, in school choirs and church choirs, and turned professional in 2012.

Elwira Standili

Age: 22

She is from Worcester and gave up her Management Assistance studies once she won that coveted Golden Ticket at the Idols SA auditions in Cape Town this February.

Karabo Mogane

Age: 24

He is from Nelspruit and studied Geoinformatics at the University of Stellenbosch before getting into the Idols SA Season 11 Top 16.

Loyiso Gijana

Age: 16

He’s from Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape and is the youngest singer in the competition.

Up until now, he was a learner at Muir College in Uitenhage.

Lungisa Xhamela

Age: 24

He is from Langa in the Cape and gave up his studies in medical bioscience at the University of the Western Cape to pursue his musical dreams full-time, for the sake of his two-year-old daughter.

Mmatema Moremi

Age: 23

She is from Limpopo and qualified as a professional linguist who speaks four languages.

Before she entered Idols she also worked as a part-time marketing assistant and worked for her church on the side.

Nadia Herbst

Age: 20

Nadia who’s a Business Management student from Paarl has already won the title of Miss Teen Cape Town and Miss Teen Western Cape, and now she has a third title in her sights: South Africa’s new Idol!

Nina Terblanche

Age: 17

She hails from Nelspruit, where she is a Grade 10 scholar who has Music as a school subject, and she also sings in the school choir and competes in Eisteddfods.

Phila Madlingozi

Age: 25

Phila is from Johannesburg and his name may sound familiar because he has starred in drama series like “Intersexions” and “Mutual Friends”, and has posted many of his own music videos on YouTube.

Rhema Varrie

Age: 21

He was encouraged to go into music by his father, a Pastor, who spotted his potential at an early age.

Rhema is currently a financial advisor who supports his extended family.

Ruan Grobbelaar

Age: 24

He is from Somerset West and was studying software development at the University of Stellenbosch when he got his Golden Ticket at the Cape Town auditions in February.

Shenay O’Brien

Age: 25

She is making history as the competition’s first drag queen in the voting rounds.

Prior to Idols SA, Shenay shared a home in Roodepoort with her creator, former Tshwane University of Technology drama student and performer Thiart Li.

Siphelele Ngcobo

Age: 24

Ngcobo is from Durban and has been making his living as a singer since 2012.

He studied classical singing in school and since matriculating he’s been focusing on gospel and jazz in his hometown of Inanda, near Durban, where he lives with his mother and siblings.

Thami Shobede

Age: 27

Thami hails from Mthubathuba but is currently based in Johannesburg, where he worked for Transnet before making it into the Top 16 of Idols SA 11.

He also plays the bagpipes, a skill he learned while being in the Defence Force.

---

ALSO READ:

› Here’s Why Nonhle Mhlongo Withdrew From Idols SA

› American Idol 2023 Contestants