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From Melissa Mpofu in South Africa
After braving the long South African Idols audition queues, rigorous auditions and nasty comments from the competitions’ no-nonsense judges, Gareth and Randall, Pietermaritzburg’s Vincent Bones emerged winner of this year’s edition.The finale held at Carnival City Casino and Entertainment Centre, South Africa on Sunday evening saw records being broken as Bones received over two million popularity votes last week alone. For winning, the 30-year-old musician drove away in a Ford Fiesta Titanium valued at R247,300 with a cash prize of R700,000 from Telkom, M-Net and Mzansi Magic, a recording contract from Universal Music Africa Records, R80,000 worth of fashion from Truworths, R60,000 worth of Yamaha music equipment and a DStv Explorer from DStv among many other prizes.

Speaking on his victory, Bones said winning the competition was a big moment as he did not think he would make it this far.

“Being the winner will probably sink in later as it’s a big moment for me. I didn’t even think I was going to go through the first audition so I’m getting used to being the winner now,” Bones said.

He said his hope was to stay long in the music industry and make music which would touch people’s souls.

“I want to stay in the music industry so I’ve gathered as much information as I can in terms of the industry, material, equipment and know what I want to do.

“The plan that I have is to make good music. For me music is about what people enjoy, so that’s what I’m going to make,” said Bones.

Bones, whose music is broken, bruised and deep added that his debut album would mainly comprise soulful love songs.

“I’m drawn to soulful love songs probably because of what I’ve heard and been exposed to when I was growing up. This probably influences me, that’s what’s in my heart. Soul has African elements driven in it and that’s my direction,” Bones said.

Asked how he would spend his prize money, Bones said he would probably build or buy a house for his family.

“The first thing I need is a house, that’s the only thing that is on my mind right now. I want to get a steady place for my family, that’s all,” Bones said.

His counterpart, Bongi Silinda who settled for second position said she would focus more on live performances which are rewarding.

“I’m a musician, I’ve always been singing so from here, it’s going to be more and more gigs. I’ve gotten more exposure from the Idols platform and will get more gigs from that, which is good as they pay more,” the 24-year-old musician said.

Bones who performed a duet to Ariana Grande and Nathan Sykes’s Almost Is Never Enough with Bongi during Sunday’s finale said he would consider collaborating with her for his forthcoming album.

The two worked on their debut singles with the guidance of renowed producers. Bones released the catchy track Let Me Love, while Silinda released If I Got You. The tracks are already being rotated on South Africa’s airwaves.

But, Zimbabweans who want to have a copy of the music will have to download it on iTunes as Universal Records does not release music in Zimbabwe.

“The Idols contestants’ music goes out immediately on iTunes once it is ready. We don’t release albums commercially in Zimbabwe as our primary market is South Africa.

“Artistes have to do extremely well in their territory before we start exporting their music,” Randall Abrahams – Universal Records managing director said.

Bongi and Bones have already started working on their debut albums with music videos for their singles already complete. Bones’ album will however, be released in April next year.

For avid followers of the contest, it was clear Bones would emerge as winner as his soulful performances had been consistent compared to his counterpart, Bongi who at times performed dismally.

Idols SA is a co-production between pay-television channels M-Net and Mzansi Magic and the channels recently announced that, as a result of the popularity of this season, Season 11 would commence shortly. Auditions are scheduled for early 2015.