Season 17 of Idols SA 2021 auditions will be completely different from previous seasons because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

To keep up with the spirit of ‘staying apart so we can be together again’ the show will not be hosting auditions in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town as usual.

Read more: Zama And Mr Music Through To The Idols SA Season 16 Finale

The competition has introduced a new online system where contestants will have to send their 30 second videos of themselves singing to the judges. The chosen contestants who are deemed as ‘potential singers’ will then be invited to perform in front the camera, the judges and receive golden tickets.
The singing competition which airs on Mzansi Magic will open tomorrow (29 January) and will either close by the 15 000th entry or on Valentine’s day midnight (14 February,00:00).

The great news for contestants this year is that everyone will have a chance to audition.

All eligible hopefuls from all corners of our country can enter without worrying about getting to the audition’s venue.

However, for contestants to have a successful submission for the online auditions, their singing videos must be 30 seconds long and not longer

Participants must prepare their 30-second-long clips and fill in all the relevant information before they log on to submit their entry.
The judging for the online auditions will only begin on the 1st of February and conclude on the 1st day of March.

Producer and director of the competition, Gavin Wratten had this to say about this year’s competition:

“Firstly, we need to ensure that we follow Covid-19 protocols and health and safety requirements. So, obviously, having thousands of contestants in queues would put everyone at risk, so now with online only auditions, we have eliminated the risk.

The second reason is that we want to reduce the barrier to entry on Idols. In the past some great singers may not have ben able to make it to the big city auditions, the new online system ensures everyone has an equal opportunity to enter no matter where they live in South Africa. We are very excited to see the new talents we may find, from contestants who have not been able to make it to the audition cities in the past.”

Wratten also stated in the interview that the online system has already been tried and tested to ensure that auditions run smoothly and that every video that goes through will be evaluated by the judges.