July Winners Of The #SingWithSundowns Competition Announced
from the thousands of entries that were received since the #SingWithSundowns launched in June, eleven finalists were announced on Friday, 31 July as voted for by the public.
The below names are all in the running for the ultimate 1 Million Rand grand prize to be awarded at the Mamelodi Sundowns 50th anniversary Gala Dinner this coming December.
- Kamogelo Msimango – Setswana language category winner
Kamogelo is a 19-year-old student from Tshwane, Soshanguve. He describes himself as a creative person who is passionate about music.
“Music has always been a great part of my life. During my school days I was known for singing solos and acapella as well as for being in the school choir. Lyrics can also come to me at any time and then I immediately write them down. When I heard about this competition on radio, I immediately thought this was the opportunity I had been waiting for and decided to go for it.”
Kamogelo dreams of one day building a home for his family therefore participating in the #SingWithSundowns is one step closer to achieving his goal.
“As the first-born son I needed to make use of this opportunity which could change things for the better for my family.”
- Lufuno Maliga – Venda language category winner
35-year-old Lufuno is from Dzimauli village in Limpopo. He remembers seeing the Mamelodi Sundowns team for the first time when they came to his village to play football.
“The Mamelodi Sundowns FC is not only confined to the cities – seeing it go into Africa and playing good football has been inspirational.
The team is for everyone, the players and supporters are full of love that can be seen at stadia during their matches. It is not a surprise that in celebrating their 50th birthday they chose to include everyone and not just their fans and supporters for competition.
What is even more inspirational is how they chose to celebrate our different cultures through music – this is where I got the inspiration to create my song and enter the competition.”
Lufuno is not a full-time artist and this was his first attempt at entering any competition out there and striking lucky – winning R30 000 in the Venda language category.
I am very happy for the R30 000 that I have won, I thank the Lord for it as it came at the right time. This will help me and other people who depend on me. This has also inspired me to take my music talent forward.”
- Hlohonolofatso Abraham Mahate (Hloni & Faki) – Sotho language category duo winners
Hlohonolofatso, who is affectionately known as Hloni, entered the competition as a duo with his friend, Faki, a recording gospel artist from Sasolburg in the Free State.
The two met on idols during season 10 in 2014. They have always wanted to work together and when Roodepoort, Johannesburg, based Hloni heard about the #SingWithSundowns competition as a football supporter and a former Wits University FC player, he wrote the song and went to Faki in Sasolburg where they recorded it.
“I have always wanted to enter the music industry but there is a specific sound I want to pursue, and this is my beginning, this is a big deal for me.” Said Hloni.
The duo hopes that this win will not only help them brush up on their musical skills but will open more opportunities for them in the music industry as they hope to have a record deal one day.
“We are going to share the R30 000 winnings between ourselves and we will also give some to our keyboard player who has helped us through this journey.
Should we win the 1 Million Rand, will be a great head start – this would change our lives forever, including that of our families. We would give some back to the community who supported us. – I will invest some of it in a small business – like chicken farming.”
- Jeffery Zukile – Xhosa language category winner
Jeffrey hails from a small town called Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape. The inspiration behind his song was Themba Zwane aka Mshishi whom he believes is one of the best players in the country.
In his song he pays tribute to the president of the club as well as the technical team.
Jeffrey hopes to inspire other people in his community and province to enter the #SingWithSundowns competition.
Should he win the 1 Million Rand grand prize, he wants to assist young and aspiring musicians in his community as well as to assist his community by contributing to a local soccer club called Dribblers FC.
“They are a good team and win various tournaments, however they lack financial backing and I would be honoured to help them out.” Jeffrey hopes that winning the R30 000 will bring him a step closer to the grand prize,
- Nqobile Mbandlwa – Zulu language category winner
Nqobile, 28 years old from Chatsworth KZN was inspired by his passion for football and music to participate in the #SingWithSundowns competition.
“I am still in disbelief that my song was chosen, and I won R30 000 because I know that there must have been many people that had entered the competition however, I’m excited that Mamelodi Sundowns has given musicians an opportunity to be creative in our own languages.”
Nqobile hopes to be crowned as the ultimate winner of the 1 Million Rand as he wants to build a home for this family as well as a music studio so that he can progress with his passion for music.
- Obed Malahla – English language category winner
Obed from Midrand Gauteng has been a fan of the team since 1989 as a child. He grew up in the village where they did not have TVs to watch the games and he remembers how they used to listen on the radio with family and friends.
In his spare time, he records Sundowns supporters’ songs and sells them to the fans during matches.
He plans to use some of the R30 000 winnings to buy food parcels for those who are in need in his community.
“Should I win the 1 Million Rand I will give a portion of the winnings back to my community by opening up a shelter for those in need and homeless. I am inspired by Mr Motsepe and would like to help out in my community in whatever way I can.”
- Jim Ntuli – Ndebele language category winner
Jim from Witbank Mpumalnga has been the biggest fan of Mamelodi Sundowns FC since he was a child, his late brother introduced him to soccer.
The inspiration to write the song came when he and his friend were walking to fetch fire wood for his mother.
“The harmony came through a divine intervention, we were walking and then suddenly we were humming a melody and it hit me that we needed to compose a song for the #SingWithSundowns competition. Immediately when we got home, we put the words on paper.
The song is inspired by our love for the game, this also reminded me of the good old days with my late brother.”
Jim believes that this is an opportunity that struggling artists should grab, especially during this current period where gigs are scarce.
Jim and his partner will invest a portion of their winnings and use some to buy proper equipment and ultimately purchase their own studio. Should they win the 1 Million Rand. Their dream is to create commercialized stadium music.
- Hazel Rammone – Afrikaans language category winner
Hazel from Mamelodi together with a group of friends took a chance with Afrikaans to change the narrative that the language is difficult, especially for black people. “This was difficult but worth it.” She says.
Hazel and her friends are not professional singers, they were encouraged by a local DJ to take part in the #SingWithSundowns competition as she has watched them sing at stadiums during soccer matches.
“We have not thought about how we will spend the R30 000 yet, by winning in the first round of the competition has proven to us that we do have the talent, we would like to pursue it further and see where it takes us.
Should we win the 1 Million Rand, we would use some of it to create more music and invest the rest.”
- Esai Shivambu – Tsonga language category winner
Esai 22 from Makhado in Limpopo believes that the inspiration for his winning song came from the fact that Mamelodi Sundowns FC team are the African Champions and that is why he titled his song Sundowns Ya hlula which means we are winners.
“My sister in-law asked me if I can sing and I said yes, and she said let us record a song for Mamelodi Sundowns. We came up with the lyrics “Sundowns Ya Hlula in Tsonga, we went to a small studio and recorded the song.
I was dancing Makwaya when I found out I was a winner – I still cannot believe it, I am excited.
I’ve always wanted to invest money, so I will invest it and see what I do with it.”
- Lawrence Makhubedu – Sepedi language category winner
Lawrence is a 39-year male from Marbel Hall, Limpopo.
His love for the Mamelodi Sundowns is what motivated him to participate in the competition.
Lawrence has been trying to get into the music business for a while now, financial difficulties have caused a long-time dream of making it big as an entertainer.
“I chose to sing the Ayabayaba soccer anthem as its always a favourite during soccer matches and it gets the crowd hyped up without fail. This was a great choice for me as the very same song led me to win R30 000, I feel like I am on cloud nine, excited and happy about winning. I have boys at home, so I will buy them the Mamelodi Sundews jersey and put some of it away towards my recording studio.”
- Nontuthuko Lekhuleni – Swati language category winner
Nontuthuko, 37 is a DJ from Hazyview Mpumalanga while her partner, Mr Chillax is a vocalist.
“Our goal was to include everyone in the song, no matter their language or where they come from. We wanted to create a Sing along anthem for people to sing to when they are at stadiums, watching their favourite teams.
The KaBo Yellow song inspired us, we know the song even though we are not soccer fans or supporters.”
The recording of their song came from listening to other songs that they found on the Mamelodi Sundowns website.
“We sat down and decided to put all those songs together, we then went to the studio and started recording, we had to be creative enough to come up with something exciting using existing songs, this was a challenging exercise and we were rewarded in the end.”
11 voting winners have been chosen for the month of July and they each walk away with R7 000 each.
Those who missed out in July are encouraged to submit their songs as the August entries are now open. Participants are urged to visit the Mamelodi Sundowns website, www.sundownsfc.co.za to submit their songs before the entry date is closed, who knows August might just be your month.
