The live gala show on Saturday, 1 November, also saw individual singers Avodah, Wandile, Eliezer, Gavin, Wandaboy and Jones, as well as groups Iziqhaza and FOUR, dazzling with their renditions of well-known R&B hits, complemented by slick staging, vocal accompaniment and choreography to showcase the acts at their very best.

From the start, the pressure was on Princess, one of Arno Carstens’ protégées, who had landed in the bottom two with MJ Scholtz recently. She was handed a lifeline then when Scholtz was shown the door, but she knew she had to pull out all the stops and impress to avoid being in the same predicament.

While the public’s SMS votes were being tallied during the results show that followed the live show, viewers were treated to a surprise guest performance by Grammy-winning R&B and jazz superstar Kirk Whalum. The accomplished American saxophonist gave a spine-tingling unplugged performance that showed the contestants exactly what having “the X Factor” is all about.

But the tension was palpable in the minutes leading up to host Andile Ncube announcing that Bubblez and Mikhail Jones, mentored by Carstens had landed in the bottom two. This led to a thrilling win-at-all-costs sing-off that ultimately saw Bubblez emerge victorious.

TV audiences can get an extra behind-the-scenes fix of South Africa’s new stars-in-waiting, and check out Whalum’s mentorship session with the singers and groups, on XtraFactor, which airs on SABC3 on Friday, 7 November at 20:30.

As for top eight … the heat is on and the competition is getting tougher than ever. To see who makes the cut, don’t miss the next chapter of The X Factor SA, which airs on SABC1 on Saturday, 8 November at 18:00. Vote for one’s favourite act on the SMS line 33121, and catch the results show at 19:30 to see if they made it through to sing another day.

The X Factor South Africa is brought to viewers by SABC1 in partnership with the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development and Tourism and Vodacom. The show is produced by Rapid Blue.

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