Image: Via Zozibini Tunzi’s Instagram
Forget Idols SA 2020, Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi has shut down the competition and again shown Mzansi that she has pipes for Africa.
The star has bowled over fans in the past with her renditions of Beyoncé’s Sandcastles and Amanda Black’s Amazulu, and this week had the entire internet mesmerised with another ballad from her apartment.
This time she left jaws on the floor with a version of Andra Day’s hit song Rise Up.
She posted a black-and-white video of her performance on Instagram and was flooded with praise.
Sis also quoted lyrics from the song, encouraging her followers to ‘“rise up”.
“We will rise up! It may seem and look bleak but it’s not over. We can and we will rise up! I brought out all the vibrato today for my Queen Andra Day,” she wrote.Idols SA judge Somizi was one of several famous faces to gush over the performance, telling Zozi to embrace her talents and shine even brighter.
“Use all your talents, babe. Winning Miss Universe should not be the ceiling for your future but the foundation. The start not the end. You were not born to be mediocre. Ignore whatever voices that want you to downplay your true potential so that they can be comfortable. You are a force,” Somizi wrote.
Minnie Dlamini said that she was so glad Zozi was sharing her voice with the world, recounting how shy Zozi once was about her singing.
“I’m so glad you’re singing. Your voice is incredible. More, more, more, please. I remember how shy you got when I asked you about your singing. Shine, baby girl,” Minnie wrote.
While stuck in her New York apartment during the Covid-19 pandemic, Zozi has used her Instagram page to inspire hope and courage.
She recently weighed in on the Black Lives Matter movement around the world, encouraging people to fight for the right to be heard and not discriminated against.
“At least twice a week I have to deal with comments or DMs [direct messages], about the colour of my skin and why I shouldn’t be where I am and why I’m not deserving. People would constantly call me ‘black girl’, ‘the monkey’, and all those derogatory terms,” she told the Sunday Times.