Idols SA contestant Kabelo admits that he saw his elimination coming on Sunday night as he had ran his course in the competition.  

While the show is arguably a popularity contest, for Kabelo his strategy was different –  focused on growing and learning as a novice musician.

The 25-year-old believes that his elimination was "expected yet fulfilling" as he wasn't one of the show's crowd-pullers. 

“My journey has been quite insightful and character building. My time on Idols was a learning curve and I’ve realised how much interest I had for a lot of things even when social media would go crazy for their favourites, I remained grounded and wasn’t waivered,” he said.

“I realised I don’t know a lot of things and that’s the beauty of it. I learnt about how much work goes into a three-minute performance which a lot of fans know nothing about… in this process, I learnt to be kind to myself and my process as a singer. I had to remind myself a few times that I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t possess all the qualities.

“I don’t believe I should be sad or anything like that for being evicted. More than anything I am feeling grateful… my heart is filled with gratitude for all that I managed to achieve. It wasn’t necessarily about the destination but more about the journey.

“Somehow I just felt it and I knew I’d be the one who’d get eliminated. I remember feeling content and okay with the result as I knew it was God-led… you could even see with the reaction on my face.”

During his time in the singing competition, Kabelo was often described by the judges as one of the “introverted” contestants, who often got it right the one minute and missed the mark completely the next.

“My performances would fluctuate with the judges, there were times where I couldn’t give my all and that would reflect on stage but I believe everything was meant to happen the way it was meant to… there’s nothing I could’ve done to change the inevitable,” he said.

Kabelo said that two hours before Sunday night’s show, he and Thapelo (who he was competing against for the last spot in the top six) held a prayer regarding their fate on Idols.

“I remember saying to God, ‘thank you’ no matter the verdict, whether I’d go home or I continue to sing another week, I just thanked him for allowing me to reach that far and to leave with my head held high.”

Going forward, Kabelo plans to cement his name in the music industry, specifically the R&B and amapiano genre. He hopes to collaborate with rapper A-Reece and amapiano titan Kabza de Small.