Richard Stirton made history by becoming the first winner of The Voice South Africa. After a competitive few weeks, the singer from Cape Town took home the coveted title, a recording contract with Universal Music South Africa as well as prizes from Samsung, Dial Direct, Fiat and Truworths worth over R800 000. However, while Richard heads into studio to work on his debut single this week, the record label announced that they will also be signing Zoë Modiga and Thembeka Mnguni
The label’s Head of A&R, Kevin Grenfell, announced during the show’s live finale that the label is also interested in giving the two girls a recording contract and, naturally, the news shocked both contestants. Both Zoë and Thembeka made it through to the Top 8 but failed to make it to the show’s final round.
“Thembeka, to me, is the best voice I have heard on the show and Zoë is possibly the best performer I have seen on the show,” Kevin tells us. “From the beginning of the show, Thembeka did a cover of Beyoncé and I literally started crying. It was a weird emotional experience. The first time I saw Zoë I thought that if we get it right with her, she can travel internationally. Those two girls are just on another level. We made a call over the course of the show. It felt like the right thing to do.”
However, there is more good news as Kevin reveals that the label plans on signing more talent from this season of The Voice South Africa. “Zoë and Thembeka aren’t going to be the only two other people we sign,” he hinted. “The one thing with this competition is just that it really does nurture talent and it’s been such an amazing thing to be a part of this journey and seeing how all the guys have grown. It’s been interesting seeing Richard having a bit of a down week when he was singing something outside of his comfort zone and then coming back. I sit here every week and I am at the edge of my seat and I have never had that experience before. Over the next couple of weeks, we will reveal who we are going to work with.”
We love the fact that Universal Music South Africa is nurturing our local talent and we are so excited that so many contestants from this season have wowed the label to such an extent. We can’t wait to see which other contestants they add to their stable.
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