SA's Got Talent explained

Genre:Interactive reality television talent show
Creator:Simon Cowell
Presenter:Anele Ndoda
Rob van Vuuren
Tats Nkonzo
Mongezi “Mo” Mahlangu
Judges:Jamie Bartlett
Shado Twala
DJ Fresh
Country:South Africa
Language:English
Runtime:60 minutes (inc. comms)
Company:Rapid Blue (Season 1 - 8)
Network:SABC 2 (Season 1 and 2)
e.tv (Season 3 - 8)
Num Series:8

SA's Got Talent (also known as South Africa's Got Talent or shorten to SAGT) was a South African television show that aired on e.tv and part of the Got Talent series. It was presented by Mo Mahlangu, popularly known as Tol Ass Mo. Singers, dancers, comedians, variety acts, and other performers competed against each other for audience support. The winner of each series received R500,000 (R250,000 in Seasons 1 to 5). The first series of the talent show began on 1 October 2009 and was broadcast weekly with a live semi-finals and final on 12 November 2009.

Format

The auditions take place in front of the judges and a live audience at a different city across South Africa. At any time during the audition the judges may show disapproval to the act by pressing a buzzer which lights that lights a red X near them. If all the judges press their buzzers, the act ends immediately. To advance to the second round, auditionees needed to get at least two yes votes or they would be sent home.

After the auditions the judges have to whittle almost 200 successful acts down to just 21. All of the performers are called back to discover if they have progressed to the semi-finals.

The remaining acts perform across a number of live semi-finals, with the two most popular acts from each semi-finals winning a position in the final. Unlike the American version, judges may still end a performance early with three Xs in the finals, as with the American version, the judges cannot buzz an act after the semi-finals. The judges are again asked to express their views on each act's performance.

After all acts have performed, phone lines open for a short time. After the votes have been counted, the act that has polled the highest number of public votes is automatically placed in the final. The judges then choose between the second and third most popular acts, with the winner of that vote also gaining a place in the final. All other acts are then eliminated from the competition.

From Season 6, the golden buzzer was added, which if pressed would send the contestant straight to the semi-finals but it can only be press once so when press the judges can't hit again and if it they don't need to vote yes or no. The first contestant to get the gold buzzer was Henno William when he sang the song 'Let it be' in the 3rd episode of season 6.

Series overview

SeasonPremiereFinaleWinnerJudgesHostsPrize amount
Judge 1Judge 2Judge 3
11 October 200912 November 2009Darren RajbalRandall AbrahamsShado TwalaIan Von MemertyRob van Vuuren
Anele Mdoda
R250,000
216 September 201028 October 2010James Bhemgee
330 August 201218 October 2012Botlhale BoikanyoKabelo MabalaneTats Nkonzo
429 August 201317 October 2013Johnny Apple
57 September 20149 November 2014Tholwana MohaleLalla HirayamaDJ Fresh
69 September 20158 November 2015DJ Arch JNRR500,000
74 September 20166 November 2016Kryptonite Dance AcademyJamie BartlettMongezi “Mo” Mahlangu
810 September 201712 November 2017AnecNote

International versions

External links