In a shock result last night Thokoza’s own Tshidi Tenyane (29) failed to get enough votes to stay in the competition this week, and since the Judges’ Save was no longer in play, she had to bid her Idols dream a dignified farewell.

House DJ Black Coffee and Tumelo opened the show to rousing applause, but the festive atmosphere didn’t last long last night in the Home Of Idols, the Mosaïek Teatro. There was serious business at hand and before long Idols host ProVerb had to start breaking the bad news.

Pro divided the Top four into the two duet pairings from this Sunday’s Top 4 Spectacular: Monde and Tshidi, and Khaya and Melissa. At this stage Randall thought Tshidi would be the one to go home, Gareth Cliff would not hazard a guess, and Unathi Msengana refused to predict on the record which contestant she thought was guaranteed a spot in the Finalé on Tuesday, 2 October.

Judge Randall Abrahams, the MD of Universal Music, who will sign the winner to a recording contract, said any one of the Top 4 would be a pleasure to work with. “They’ve been really good, consistent and hardworking,” he said approvingly.

This week’s Top 3 Spectacular will be recorded at the Mosaïek Teatro, on Friday, 21 September, and broadcast on M-Net, M-Net HD and Mzansi Magic at 17:30 on Sunday, 23 September.

Tickets are available from Computicket.