The first contestant up on the stage was this week’s birthday boy, Bongi Mthombeni, with Cool & The Gang’s Celebration. Gareth joked that he was not old enough to remember the 70s, but “well done,” he told Bongi. Mara said it was amazing. “It reminded me of the good old days,” she laughed. “I really enjoyed your performance,” Tamara Dey said. She said she loved Bongi’s tongue-in-cheek 70s styling and she loved his disco moves. As always, Randall admitted that Bongi was a very good performer – “the crowd loves you” – but cautioned him to take his singing more seriously. To vote for Bongi, SMS 07 to 37400, or call 086 22 777 07 from your Telkom landline, or 083 901 0207 from your cellphone, or vote for Bongi on MXit.

Durban’s Lloyd Cele shook things up with his cover of The Beatles’ Twist And Shout. “Nicely done!” said Gareth. “You are a versatile performer.” “You’re such a talented young man,” Mara praised Lloyd. She said regardless of what happened in Idols, he would have a bright future. Tamara said Lloyd has a lovely voice, but that she would have wanted to see him “twist and shout” more. And Randall didn’t think this was Lloyd’s best performance. But, he allowed, “you are a great and sincere singer and even when you do badly, you are better than most.” To vote for Lloyd, SMS 12 to 37400, or call 086 22 777 12 from your Telkom landline, or 083 901 0212 from your cellphone, or vote for Lloyd on MXit

Pieter West, the shy accountant from Koffiefontein, covered Seal’s cover of Knock On Wood, a one-hit-wonder in 1979 for Amii Stewart. Gareth commented on Pieter’s opinion that the judges hadn’t liked him last week. He showed Pieter a series of messages on his phone from a rabid fan who thought the judges were wrong and said “even we if don’t like you, it doesn’t mean everybody doesn’t.” Mara once again wanted to know if Pieter was seriously interested in being a performer. “You seem to be dropping your guard all the time,” she worried. “You’re not on point.” Tamara loved Pieter’s choice of song. She said it was one of her favourites and she would also have chosen it. But she said he hit a plateau somewhere in the middle of the song – “I wanted more,” she said. Randall thought this performance was a lot better than he had expected. “But it wasn’t soulful,” he complained. “I miss you connecting with the soul.” To vote for Pieter, SMS 05 to 37400, or call 086 22 777 05 from your Telkom landline, or 083 901 0205 from your cellphone, or vote for Pieter on MXit.

Sindi Nene brought things back to this century with her cover of the Beyoncé hit, Sweet Dreams. Gareth “just loved it.” “You’re real and authentic," he shouted above the crowd’s cheers and he compared her once again to the late Brenda Fassie. But Mara disagreed. “Sindi, you’ve arrived,” she said emphatically. “You’re not MaBrrr, you are you and you are amazing!” Tamara also thought Sindi was amazing – “one hot package," in fact! And Randall said life isn’t always fair but “if life were fair, come November you’d be in the Final.” To vote for Sindi, SMS 03 to 37400, or call 086 22 777 03 from your Telkom landline, or 083 901 0203 from your cellphone, or vote for Sindi on MXit.

Elvis Blue put his own unique spin on a classic hit from the disco era, If I Can’t Have You, by 70s disco queen, Yvonne Elliman, slowing it down to a tender ballad. Gareth didn’t like it. First of all he though Elvis looked like “an Apartheid-era bureaucrat” in his black suit and he thought the performance was “deliberate and melodramatic, and just not you.” Mara as usual, was moved to tears by Elvis and Tamara thought it was “very elegant.” “It’s lovely to see that song done in such an tender way,” she remarked, but she did note that she would have wanted to see Elvis connect more with the audience. Randall disagreed with Gareth. “I thought it wasn’t melodramatic enough!” he criticised. Randall said that Elvis really needed to come out more, to “overflow,” if he wanted to win this competition. To vote for Elvis, SMS 10 to 3740, or call 086 22 777 10 from your Telkom landline, or 083 901 0210 from your cellphone, or vote for Elvis on MXit.

Adeline Mocke, who certainly has the look to be a Pussycat Doll one day if she wanted to, covered the Pussycats’ hit, Hush Hush – with a surprise I Will Survive disco mash-up in the arrangement! “Whoah!” Gareth exclaimed. He said it was a great song choice and that for the first time the audience got an idea of how powerful Adeline’s voice is. Mara said she liked it very much, and Tamara said that Adeline has “a lovely, sexy voice,” and that she looked great – “really hot!” Randall said that Adeline and Sindi “brought a degree of hipness to Idols that’s been missing before.” He said that Adeline was very good with her powerful voice when the song ebbs, but that she needed to “bring it” when the song went up-tempo, too.
To vote for Adeline, SMS 13 to 37400, or call 086 22 777 13 from your Telkom landline, or 083 901 0213 from your cellphone, or vote for Adeline on MXit.

Jess Yallup rolled out onto the stage on rollerblades to perform the delicious Scissor Sisters hit, I Don’t Feel Like Dancin'. “I’m having a lot of fun tonight!” Gareth admitted, but he thought Jess’ timing was off. “It got better towards the end,” he allowed, “but the inconsistency bothers me.” “You have a lovely voice but you threw it all away,” Mara said, “concentrating on standing up!” But Tamara thought the whole thing was “very entertaining.” She said Jess was very brave to perform on rollerskates – “I would never have done it!” But Randall thought Jess’s tone didn’t match the fun of the skates. “Disco’s supposed to be fun!” he reminded her.
To vote for Jess, SMS 04 to 3740, or call 086 22 777 04 from your Telkom landline, or 083 901 0204 from your cellphone, or vote for Jess on MXit.

Boki Ntsime beatboxed his way through the Justin Timberlake hit, Love Stoned, and Gareth said that with that sleek Timberlake sound, “it would have been nice to see some choreographed moves, instead of just bouncing around on stage.” But Mara loved it. “Djy gooi nca!” she raved. Tamara agreed with Gareth that she would have liked to see choreography, too, “but you make walking look cool!” she praised Boki. Randall had mixed feelings. He thought it was a very good song choice, but “the beatboxing was the best part.” “A lot of the performances tonight missed out on the funkiness of disco,” he noted. “To me it sounded like Model C singing…” To vote for Boki, SMS 06 to 37400, or call 086 22 777 06 from your Telkom landline, or 083 901 0206 from your cellphone, or vote for Boki on MXit.

Jamie-Lee Sexton closed the show and perhaps summarised the evening with Murder On The Dance Floor, by Sophie Ellis Bextor. “Vocally it wasn’t bad at all,” Gareth allowed, “but there was something of a disconnect with the performance.” Mara didn’t like it. “I don’t think you need Idols,” she advised Jamie-Lee. “You need to go out there and do your thing.” Tamara thought it was “very sassy and sexy,” and she enjoyed Jamie-Lee’s dance moves. But “there is a fey, cute sensuality to that song that I think you missed,” Randall criticised. He said Jamie-Lee does that quite often – ”miss the essence of the song.” To vote for Jamie-Lee, SMS 08 to 37400, or call 086 22 777 08 from your Telkom landline, 083 901 0208 from your cellphone, or vote for Jamie-Lee on MXit.

Voting opened at the start of tonight’s broadcast and will close at 22:00 Monday evening.

There will be murder on the dance floor this Tuesday when tonight’s guest judge Tamara Dey performs with Flash Republic at the Mosaïek Teatro and one of the Top 9 gets sent home! Tickets are free of charge and available at the theatre!

Visit www.mnet.co.za/idols to get to find out all the behind-the-scenes gossip from the Top 9, and follow the show on Twitter (@idolssa) and join the Facebook group (Idols VI) for more exclusive Idols content!