The competition is hotting up now as Idols said goodbye last night to The Pride Of Port Nolloth, 23-year-old Simphiwe Gwegwe, leaving only four singers in competition for the title of South Africa’s next Idol.

Idols fans were pleasantly surprised at the Top 5 Results Show tonight with a guest performance from 2012 Channel O Music Video Award “Most Gifted Newcomer” nominee Donald, singing his latest hit, “Denial”.

But the Top 5 were there for a sad duty, to say goodbye to one more contestant, and Idols host ProVerb very quickly focused everyone’s attention to the business at hand.

Idols judge Unathi Msengana speculated that the finalists left in the competition might be starting to lose focus now because their schedule is so busy. “With only three weeks left it’s literally a case of “last man standing”, but then they’re competing with the rest of the music industry!” she pointed out. “It hasn’t even begun yet,” she warned.

ProVerb divided the Top 5 into two groups: Simphiwe and Monde, and Melissa and Tshidi, with Khaya, the only Idol who had never been in the Bottom 3, left to wonder about his fate.

But ProVerb grouped him with Tshidi and Melissa, and that turned out to be the Top 3 group.

Poor Simphiwe and Monde had to wait through an agonising commercial break to find out which one would get another chance to sing in the Top 4 Spectacular this weekend.

This week’s Top 4 Spectacular will be recorded at the Home Of Idols, the Mosaïek Teatro, on Friday, 12 September, and broadcast on M-Net, M-Net HD and Mzansi Magic at 17:30 on Sunday, 14 September.

Tickets are available from Computicket.