ANY musician would lick his lips at the chance to be on stage to showcase his work. But not Thabo Mdluli, the former Joyous Celebration member who went solo a few years ago. He performed other musicians' songs.

No doubt the man has a voice and can deliver any song, including the late King of Pop Michael Jackson's Heal the World or Luther Vandros numbers.

No wonder his debut album fared well in the market. And he is working on his second album. All the best!

On Saturday Mdluli was given an enviable opportunity to be a supporting act to Tony Rich Project at Gold Reef City in Johannesburg. If my calculations are spot on, he had more than half an hour on stage.

This was an opportunity to sell himself to music lovers. He could have seized that moment to sing tracks from his upcoming album, which we were told by the emcee he is working on.

Instead, Mdluli, whose wife and another lady were his backing vocalists, sang only two of his songs, if I am not mistaken. If I lost count it must be because I was so furious to see this man wasting an opportunity to sell himself.

On the other hand everybody who attended would agree, the Grammy Award-winning Tony Rich Project rocks.

And I am not talking here about the quality of his good music but how the man renders them on stage. The professionalism, the charm and just how he engages his audiences.

Accompanied by an electric guitarist, a drummer and a bass guitarist, it was hard to comprehend this was a four-piece band that brought the house down.

I have never seen so many men trying to outdo women cheering and screaming, asking for more. And when he introduced one of his favourite songs and stopped, the crowd went ballistic.