# Idols South Africa season 15

The fifteenth season of South African Idols premiered on 7 July 2019, 17:30 SAST and concluded on 17 November 2019 on the Mzansi Magic TV. The season was won by Luyolo Yiba and the runner-up was Sneziey Msomi.
ProVerb remained as the show's host and an executive producer, while Somizi Mhlongo, Unathi Nkayi and Randall Abrahams also remained as the main judges, with guest judges at each of the four audition cities. The next season was showcasing on 2 August 2020.

## Preliminary auditions

| City | Venue | Guest Judge | Date |
| Pretoria | State Theatre | Rebecca Malope | 26 January 2019 |
| Durban | North Beach Amphitheatre | Vusi Nova | 9 February 2019 |
| Cape Town | Century City Conference Centre | Dj Fresh | 2 March 2019 |
| Johannesburg | Ellis Park Arena | Lady Zamar | 16 February 2019 |
Pop-up Auditions :
| City | Venue | Date |
| Bloemfontein | PACOFS - Performing Arts Centre of the Free State | 2 February 2019 |
| Polokwane | Meropa Casino & Entertainment World | 23 February 2019 |
| Port Elizabeth | Dolphins Leap Conference & Events Centre | 23 February 2019 |
A total of 86 golden tickets were issued at all four stops including pop-up stops this season. Season 15 came with many surprises defying the history of the show, rules changed a bit during theatre week, back up singers were provided, with no backing required from the contestants, each contestant had to out-perform the other, and for the first time, 17 contestants were selected for the next round instead of the traditional 16 to accommodate twins Viggy and Virginia Qwabe.

## Finalists

| Contestant | Age | Hometown | Place finished |
| Luyolo Yiba | 25 | Qonce | Winner |
| Sneziey Msomi | 25 | Umlazi | Runner-up |
| Micayla Oelofse | 18 | Port Elizabeth | 3rd |
| Nolo Seodisha | 26 | Soshanguve | 4th |
| Viggy Qwabe | 22 | Stanger | Withdrew |
| Virginia Qwabe | 22 | Stanger | 6th |
| Mmangaliso Gumbi | 24 | Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal | 7th |
| Nqobile Gumede | 21 | KwaMashu | 8th |
| Dinky Swartz | 22 | Ennerdale, Gauteng | 9th |
| Innocentia Sibi | 30 | Khuma, Stilfontein | 10th |
| Craig Jordan | 21 | Elsie's River | 11th/13th |
| Treasure Mngadi | 23 | KwaMashu | 11th/13th |
| Zia Fielies | 19 | Mannenberg, Cape Town | 11th/13th |
| Andy Keys | 20 | Embalenhle, Secunda | 14th/17th |
| Louise Nicholls | 29 | Strandfontein, Matzikama | 14th/17th |
| Sizwe Hlatshwayo | 27 | Emalahleni | 14th/17th |
| Xola Toto | 21 | Cape Town | 14th/17th |

## Weekly Song Choice and Result
### Top 17

The judges' job was now over and it was now up to the public to vote for their favourite contestant to advance to the next level of the competition, two methods were introduced to the public, every contestant was allocated a unique voting number. Contestants could be voted either by SMS, the voting number remained the same as other seasons 37400, or voting could be done for free on www.idolssa.tv.

#### Group A Theme: Songs that Trended (25 August)

| Act | Order | Song | Result |
| Sizwe Hlatshwayo | 1 | "Tigi" by Sands | Eliminated |
| Dinky Swartz | 2 | "Get You" by Daniel Caesar | Safe |
| Mmangaliso Gumbi | 3 | "Egoli" by Mlindo the Vocalist | Safe |
| Louise Nicholls | 4 | "Without Me" by Halsey | Eliminated |
| Andy Keys | 5 | "Girls Like You" by Maroon 5 | Eliminated |
| Virginia Qwabe | 6 | "Themba" by Kelly Khumalo | Safe |
| Viggy Qwabe | 7 | "Mgodi" by Zahara | Safe |
| Nolo Seodisha | 8 | "Talk" by Khalid | Safe |
| Xola Toto | 9 | "Come With Me" by Black Coffee | Eliminated |

#### Group B Theme: Songs that Trended (1 September)

| Act | Order | Song | Result |
| Sneziey Msomi | 1 | "Ewe Getsemane" by Sbu Noah | Safe |
| Nqobile Gumede | 2 | "Love Theory" by Kirk Franklin | Safe |
| Luyolo Yiba | 3 | "Say You Won't Let Go" by James Arthur | Safe |
| Zia Fielies | 4 | "Better" by Khalid | Eliminated |
| Treasure Mngadi | 5 | "The Middle" by Zedd feat. Maren Morris & Grey | Eliminated |
| Craig Jordan | 6 | "Dancing with a Stranger" by Sam Smith feat. Normani | Eliminated |
| Micayla Oelofse | 7 | "New Rules" by Dua Lipa | Safe |
| Innocentia Sibi | 8 | "Scars to Your Beautiful" by Alessia Cara | Wild Card |

### Top 10: Inspirational Hits (15 September)

| Act | Order | Song | Result |
| Dinky Swartz | 1 | "One Wing" by Jordin Sparks | Safe |
| Viggy Qwabe | 2 | "Phumelela" by Miss Pru feat. Amanda Black | Safe |
| Luyolo Yiba | 3 | "Set Fire to the Rain" by Adele | Safe |
| Nqobile Gumede | 4 | "Can't Give Up Now" by Mary Mary | Safe |
| Sneziey Msomi | 5 | "Heal My Soul" by Tshwane Gospel Choir | Safe |
| Virginia Qwabe | 6 | "Yebo Linamandla" by Benjamin Dube | Safe |
| Nolo Seodisha | 7 | "Modimo Ke Lerato" by Joyous Celebration | Safe |
| Innocentia Sibi | 8 | "Ave Marie" by Beyoncé | Eliminated |
| Mmangaliso Gumbi | 9 | "Ngangingazi " by Benjamin Dube | Safe |
| Micayla Oelofse | 10 | "Rise Up" by Andra Day | Safe |

### Top 9 (22 September)

| Act | Order | Song | Result |
| Virginia Qwabe | 1 | "Umsindo" by Durban | Safe |
| Sneziey Msomi | 2 | "Pakisha" by Dladla Mshunqisi | Safe |
| Dinky Swartz | 3 | "No Rush (Remix)" by DJ Tira feat. Prince Bulo | Eliminated |
| Micayla Oelofse | 4 | "Best Part" by Daniel Caesar feat. H.E.R. | Safe |
| Nqobile Gumede | 5 | "Malokazi" by Mduduzi | Safe |
| Nolo Seodisha | 6 | "Jika" by AKA | Safe |
| Mmangaliso Gumbi | 7 | "A Couple of Forevers" by Chrisette Michele | Safe |
| Viggy Qwabe | 8 | "Amaxoki" by Distruction Boyz | Safe |
| Luyolo Yiba | 9 | "Abangani" by Sjava | Safe |

### Top 8 (29 September)

| Act | Order | Song | Result |
| Sneziey Msomi | 1 | "Burnout" by Sipho Hostix | Safe |
| Viggy Qwabe | 2 | "Chandelier" by Sia | Safe |
| Luyolo Yiba | 3 | "Green Light" by John Legend | Safe |
| Nqobile Gumede | 4 | "I'm Every Woman" by Chaka Khan | Safe |
| Nolo Seodisha | 5 | "Mkhaya Lo" by Jabu Khanyile | Safe |
| Virginia Qwabe | 6 | "Titanium" by David Guetta feat. Sia | Safe |
| Micayla Oelofse | 7 | "Angifuni" by Paxton | Safe |
| Mmangaliso Gumbi | 8 | "Lady Marmalade" by Labelle | Safe |

### Top 7 (6 October)

| Act | Order | Song | Result |
| Nolo Seodisha | 1 | "Close the Door" by Teddy Pendergrass | Safe |
| Virginia Qwabe | 2 | "Yim Okhthandayo" by Linda Gcwensa | Safe |
| Mmangaliso Gumbi | 3 | "Be Without You" by Mary J. Blige | Eliminated |
| Luyolo Yiba | 4 | "I Love You" by Thami Shobede | Safe |
| Micayla Oelofse | 5 | "Run to You" by Whitney Houston | Safe |
| Viggy Qwabe | 6 | "Sthandwa Sami" by Thee Legacy | Safe |
| Sneziey Msomi | 7 | "Have You Ever?" by Brandy | Safe |

### Top 6: Showstopper (13 October)

| Act | Order | Song | Result |
| Luyolo Yiba | 1 | "Dance Till You Drop" by NaaqMusiq | Safe |
| Virginia Qwabe | 2 | "Khona" by Mafikizolo feat. Uhuru | Eliminated |
| Viggy Qwabe | 3 | "Hamba" by Zanda Zakuza | Safe |
| Sneziey Msomi | 4 | "Proud Mary" by Tina Turner | Safe |
| Nolo Seodisha | 5 | "Speed of Sound" by DaCapo | Safe |
| Micayla Oelofse | 6 | "Worth It" by Fifth Harmony feat. Kid Ink | Safe |

### Top 5 (20 October)

| Act | Order | Song | Order | Song | Result |
| Micayla Oelofse | 1 | "Lights" by Ellie Goulding | 6 | "Until the End of Time" by Justin Timberlake feat. Beyoncé | Safe |
| Nolo Seodisha | 2 | "Buza" by Letta Mbulu | 7 | "What Goes Around... Comes Around" by Justin Timberlake | Safe |
| Sneziey Msomi | 3 | "Black Sheep" by Gin Wigmore | 8 | "Drunk in Love" by Beyoncé feat. Jay-Z | Safe |
| Luyolo Yiba | 4 | "Learn to Love Again" by Lawson | 9 | "Cry Me a River" by Justin Timberlake | Safe |
| Viggy Qwabe | 5 | "Sinazo" by Amanda Black | 10 | "Apologize" by OneRepublic | Withdrew |

### Top 4 (27 October)

| Act | Order | Song | Order | Song | Result |
| Nolo Seodisha | 1 | "Let's Groove" by Earth, Wind & Fire | 5 | "The Lazy Song" by Bruno Mars | Eliminated |
| Micayla Oelofse | 2 | "It Must Have Been Love" by Roxette | 6 | "Dangerous Woman" by Ariana Grande | Safe |
| Luyolo Yiba | 3 | "Nightshift" by The Commodores | 7 | "OMG" by Usher feat. will.i.am | Safe |
| Sneziey Msomi | 4 | "Umuntu Ngabantu" by Brenda Fassie | 8 | "Superman" by Black Coffee | Safe |

### Top 3 (3 November)

| Act | Order | Song | Order | Song | Result |
| Luyolo Yiba | 1 | "Photograph" by Ed Sheeran | 4 | "Ikanyesi" by Mondli Nqcobo | Safe |
| Sneziey Msomi | 2 | "Save Me" by Thembisile | 5 | "Bhutiza" by Mobi Dixon feat. Nichume | Safe |
| Micayla Oelofse | 3 | "Fallin'" by Alicia Keys | 6 | "Suited" by Shekhinah | Eliminated |

### Top 2 (10 November)

| Act | Order | Idols Produced Single | Order | Song | Order | Song | Result |
| Sneziey Msomi | 1 | "Kungumusa" by Sneziey Msomi | 3 | "Through the Fire" by Chaka Khan | 5 | "Pakisha" by Dladla Mshunqisi feat. Distruction Boyz & DJ Tira | Runner-up |
| Luyolo Yiba | 2 | "Sunshine Through The Rain" by Luyolo Yiba | 4 | "Zanele" by Brian Temba | 6 | "Abangani" by Sjava | Winner |
* Before her elimination Micayla performed her single Tragic.

## Elimination Chart
### Colour key

| – | Winner |
| – | Runner-up |
| – | Wild Card |
| – | Eliminated |
| – | Withdrew |
Weekly results per act :
| Act | Top 17 | Top 17 | Top 10 | Top 9 | Top 8 | Top 7 | Top 6 | Top 5 | Top 4 | Top 3 | Top 2 |
| Act | Group A | Group B | Top 10 | Top 9 | Top 8 | Top 7 | Top 6 | Top 5 | Top 4 | Top 3 | Top 2 |
| Luyolo Yiba | — | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Winner |
| Sneziey Msomi | — | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Runner-up |
| Micayla Oelofse | — | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | 3rd place | Eliminated |
| Nolo Seodisha | Safe | — | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | 4th place | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Viggy Qwabe | Safe | — | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Withdrew | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Virginia Qwabe | Safe | — | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | 6th place | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Mmangaliso Gumbi | Safe | — | Safe | Safe | Safe | 7th place | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Nqobile Gumede | — | Safe | Safe | Safe | 8th place | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Dinky Swartz | Safe | — | Safe | 9th place | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Innocentia Sibi | — | Wild Card | 10th place | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Craig Jordan | — | 11th-17th place | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Treasure Mngadi | — | 11th-17th place | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Zia Fielies | — | 11th-17th place | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Andy Keys | 11th-17th place | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Louise Nicholls | 11th-17th place | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Sizwe Hlatshwayo | 11th-17th place | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Xola Toto | 11th-17th place | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |