Idols visiting Polokwane was even a big enough deal to warrant an official appearance by Miss South Africa, Bokang Montjane – herself a Polokwane native.

Even the local herbalist, Dr Silvertor Hlaiti, showed up to predict with absolute confidence that South Africa’s next Idol will definitely hail from Limpopo Province!

And in keeping with the historic nature of these auditions, the special celebrity guest judge for Polokwane can only be described as a living legend: “The Princess Of Africa” herself, Miss Yvonne Chaka Chaka!

But once the fanfare died down and the judges settled down to business, it was a slow start to Idols’s first Limpopo audition. Until, finally, along came Keo... 20-Year-old Keorapetse Sepobolodi had always dreamed of a future in showbusiness and had indeed finished one year of Drama studies at the University of the Witwatersrand. But then his funds ran low and he had to put his dreams on hold… until Idols came along to offer him another shot at the limelight.

Randall said he thought Keo had a great voice and Mma Yvonne thought that he would be able to handle anything. And so, four Idols yesses later, Keo collected the North’s first Golden Ticket!

That seemed to open the floodgates and the next Golden Tickets were awarded to two young singers who both come from a musical tradition – local heartthrob 24-year-old J.P. Zeelie’s Dad had sung in a Country band and even recorded two albums in his day, and 22-year-old Jessica Lunique’s grandmother was a professional opera singer. Her interpretation of Sarah McLachlan’s “In The Arms Of The Angel” moved Yvonne Chaka Chaka to tears.

But there were almost tears of another kind on the judging panel when Coldplay savant Kenton Govender turned up! Try as they might, the judges could not catch him out on any Coldplay song – Kenton could sing them all. But none of them well, unfortunately.

In the end Kenton was not one of the ten singers from Polokwane who went home with a coveted Golden Ticket.

Next week the Idols audition tour moves on to sunny Durban, with celebrity guest judge Kurt Darren and a death-defying stunt from Gareth Cliff!

As with previous seasons, fans will be able to catch 24-hour Idols action this season on the Idols Extra Channel 199 on DStv, with full coverage of EVERY audition from across the country, as well as exclusive contestant interviews. 24/7 Idols coverage on Channel 199 starts at 19:00 this Sunday, 5 June, immediately after the broadcast of Episode One on M-Net at 17:30.

Get all the lowdown on Idols Season 7 on the official Idols South Africa Facebook page, on Twitter @IdolsSA and on the official Idols Season 7 website at www.mnet.co.za/idols