The guest judge for the final leg of the Season 7 auditions was hip-hop legend, HHP, who said he was looking for “quirky”. “People have to fall in love with your personality before they even fall in love with your voice,” the singer and rapper advised.

People certainly do fall in love with 22-year-old Freddie VAN-dango. They fell in love with him last season already, when he entered under his real name Freddie Moss and made it all the way through Theatre Week before falling at the final post, just before the Top 14 cutoff. “I was maybe a bit of an arrogant boy then,” Freddie admitted at the Montecasino auditions in Johannesburg this time around. But now he’s back, with a new attitude and a new stage name: Freddie VAN-dango!

Randall thought that putting Freddie through again would be wasting an opportunity for another potential Idol so he said no, but three yesses from the other judges was enough to get him a second chance at Idols glory.

For the first time ever, this year Idols also went to Soweto to audition at the Dobsonville stadium – an opportunity that self-described “musical hustler”, Mandla Simelane, aka 'Power', has been waiting for all his life. “There is a lot of talent in the townships,” Power explained, “but we don’t have the budget and the outlets to get our music out there.” Mandla (27) is a corporate DJ and MC who has, as he puts it, “been providing upbeat entertainment for corporate brands” for years, but now wants to promote his own brand, “Power”!

Fortunately the judges agreed that the foray into Soweto was worth it and that Mandla does, indeed, have “the Power”. Gareth was particularly impressed with his confidence. “I wish more people who have great voices would come in and have the confidence you have,” he said, and Power walked away with four enthusiastic yesses.

22-Year-old Justin Serrao from Johannesburg entered after losing a bet with one of his young guitar students, who challenged him that if he didn’t yet have a single on the radio with his band by the time the Idols auditions started, he would have to audition. Justin is a professional musician who teaches children to, as he puts it, “rock ‘n roll”. Being a guitar teacher worked out well for Elvis Blue last year and apparently the same magic held true for Justin – three yesses were enough to get him a Golden Ticket pass to Sun City.

In total 98 Golden Tickets were handed out in the Idols Season 7 audition tour: 34 in Gauteng, 30 in Durban, 24 in Cape Town, and 10 in the first-ever Idols auditions in Polokwane. Now it’s time for the most daunting, most exhausting, most shocking phase of any Idols season: Theatre Week.

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 auditions from across the country, as well as exclusive contestant interviews.

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