The Masked Singer enabled me to move out of my comfort zone – Makhadzi

Limpopo dance queen Makhadzi says learning discipline and trusting her talent were the biggest take away from participating in The Masked Singer SA.  

At the weekend, the Kokovha singer was unmasked as sunflower on the show after performing her rendition of Destiny by Malaika.

Previously unmasked was former Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi as robot, investigative journalist Devi Sankaree Govender as watermelon, political leader Mmusi Maimane as warrior and comedian David Kau as hippo.

Broadcaster Bongani Bingwa was also previously revealed as banana, football legend Doctor Khumalo as soccer ball, rugby star Victor Matfield as rooster and chef The Lazy Makoti as zebra. 

“I enjoyed disguising myself as sunflower because it speaks to who I am and what I do for a living, which is to bring joy to people’s hearts with my music,” she told Sowetan.  

“I said ‘yes’ to the show because I wanted to try something different... something that would allow me push the envelope of my craft and for the world to see my capabilities. Sometimes as an artist, you need to move from your comfort zone and see what you’re made of.” 

Makhadzi also enjoyed showing her range to her international fan base by taking on different genres like R&B and Afro-soul.

“I wanted my people to see that Makhadzi can sing R&B and other genres, which are way different from what I normally sing. I wanted to showcase another side of me so that people don’t think I am a one-trick pony, and now that I’ve been on the show, everyone knows that I can sing anything I put my mind to,” she said.

Having made it to the seventh week on the show, the 27-year-old musician added that singing in disguise was also humbling.

“I cried when I went to my first costume fitting... I couldn’t breathe, so that gave me a lot of anxiety but I then told myself to calm down because I really wanted to go ahead with my participation on the show,” she said.  

“I am the type of performer who moves a lot on stage, so having restrictions was quite tough but I had to learn discipline and trust in my talent as much as possible.”

Her favourite moment was getting to perform Blaq Diamond’s mega hit Ibhanoyi.

“I was also very curious about The Masked Singer [participant] who was next door to my changing room. I kept asking myself who could it be? But I won’t lie, I had fun on the show and how secretive everything was,” she said.

“I had to keep everything to myself; I couldn’t tell my parents or my friends about being on the show – it was a challenging experience that’s definitely one for the books.” 

Makhadzi is currently pushing her song My Life Is Like A Movie and is set to drop her latest album at the beginning of next month.