Hey people of the New SA

Joburg weather ROCKS!! I love it!! Its a pity most of you have to sit in traffic and work and stuff.... HA just messing with you!! Yip we are really lucky us muso's.. I have always loved being a musician. Even if you have a really tough time, the minute you get on stage and start the show, everything just fades away and you are released into your purest form. It is magic!Music is actually quite a strange activity! I was watching a dvd of some concert and I muted the TV. It was so weird watching the musicians perform. I think there were five muso's, all playing different instruments, all doing different things and it all came together perfectly into a balanced, beautiful sound. Sculpting an invisible masterpiece!! Sculptors of sound!! Amazing! And I must tell those that have never experienced the true sense of freedom through this mysterious expression that there is nothing quite like it!! anyway just remember to look up sometimes!! Oh and please give someone a hug for me!!Good night!
J

AMAFULLTHROTTLE

Time for some good old homegrown! The show is gonna rock! We have just got back from sound check and everyone is sounding GREAT! I just have to say that Jonny Clegg is a living legend! I mean here is a white man who wrote the most amazing tunes, bridging the racial divide, dancing like a black man and at the same time painting awesome historical pictures with his lyrics! In the 80's!!! Full respect!! I hope he comes to the show!Well I am honoured to sing one of his anthems and I hope I give it the justice it deserves. I really do relate to his music and his messages. He has a special ability as a songwriter and performer to evoke raw emotion and to remind us of our ancient culture and heritage that we all share. Let us not forget that we are all Africans, maybe some more than others but none the less, that is what we are! So lets give it HORNS!!AMAFULLTHROTTLE!!!!J

Howzit!I hope you are all well and feeling good! I will not going to lie I am looking forward to my bed! It has been so busy that I haven't been around for a while now! I apologise!It really seems like these weeks are starting to fly! I mean it is already Wednesday! It is really getting tough and it is always a shock result every week!I have to say that I am overwhelmed at the ongoing support I am receiving! I just cant believe it! So I will continue doing what I do and that is give you every thing Ive got! And hopefully that's enough to win you over and then who knows? The skies the limit! So stay tuned and enjoy the show!Have an awesome week and don't forget to hug many people!Love love love!J

Hi everyone
What a blow to the Idols house with Daniel gone. Over the past few months he has become one of my best mates and I will seriously miss our chats and late night jam sessions, truly one of the great singer/song-writers in this competition! You will go far my friend!Anyway I don't know if anyone has read the article in the latest YOU magazine regarding black people and the disadvantages with the voting system in Idols ( Thanks to YOU for the tribute to my brother Josh! We really appreciate it!). It is really interesting. I would like to ask the public to please vote on merit. We live in a very sensitive country and I believe that it will be this way for years to come, but I feel it is time to speak out. Is it not right to hire the "best man for the job". Surely this is more important than race. We see it everywhere, in our sport, in the workplace and even in Idols, and to tell you the truth it does exactly the opposite of it intended purpose. The truth is we need skill and we need to empower the people who are going to take our country to the top. This country needs this now more than ever. Test yourself and find out if you would consider a white female to be our next president. If this person had the leadership and skill to carry our country into the future then why not put her in this position. Surely that is the right thing to do. So back to Idols, I ask that people vote on merit and merit alone. I know everyone has their favourites and that's great but please vote according to performance and not race. It is time to grow up now and take our power back. Lets prove to the world that we are healed from our past, that we are no longer "need" our past and that we are able to move forward easily!
All the best!

J

Dont you just love the finer things in life? I mean the small things that we often take for granted, a good fire, a smooth scotch, light jazz, a sunset while casting a dry fly over a calm lake for that ellusive trout. In this case a lekker braai with my family and friends. You must understand that we are "locked" up and have had very little opportunity to interact with our loved ones. Today was the exception! Thank you to Mnet Idols for allowing this to happen.
The day started out well, a little garden cricket, tip n run, with my cousin B. Greene klapping 1Xtennis ball through Sasha-lee's window! A couple castles later and the steaks were done to perfection! What a day!
I think pop idols has its advantages, some fame here and there, exposure, free lap-tops and other cool gadgets, some more fame, clothes, stylists, getting covered in smelly mud whilst wearing a really small disposable thong! All jokes aside it actually ROCKS! But I must say that the finer things in life totally kick ass!
So I am right now going to enjoy one of those finer things... sleep! Nothing beats hitting that pillow when you just cant keep yours eyes open! So good night and remember give doubt a clout! And stay true to you!
J

Swing dat Thang!

Hi everyone! Well done to all the Idols for what I thought was a really challenging theme! I thought we all pulled it off really well. I would also like to congratulate the musicians, you guys are truly unbelievable! Everybody has got to listen to Cant buy me love and just take in everything that is going on! It is CRAZY! Anyway I am really honoured to share a stage with you guys!I also want thank my fans, I was blown away! The effort you put in was awesome! It was incredible to see all the green! Not to mention the glowing bangles and banners! You guys rock!Enjoy the show tmoro night! I am so looking forward to seeing my first swing thang!

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I believe that raising the bar is absolutely crucial to ones own success in life. We too often become "satisfied" with our lives whatever it may be. Don't get me wrong, it is just as important to give credit to your achievements, but I believe that for one to truly excel in life, one must continuously strive to better themselves. We too often fence ourselves in our comfort bubble, doing the things that we are either good at or comfortable with. Even our thoughts become fenced in. I will bet that most people think the same thoughts everyday. Its like a radio repeating the same show over and over everyday, and I will bet again that the thoughts are more on the negative side!So how are we ever going to achieve our goals when we are so reluctant to do anything outside of our fences both mentally and physically! This is where it becomes interesting. You will need perserverence and powerful unwavering character and determination. We are creatures of habit and it takes immense strength to break a habit. We become subconsciously attached to our habits. They become your "friends". Some of these "friends" are positive to you and your development and most are truly destructive. We must recognise which are positive and which are negative and then brutally strike out the latter! Weed the garden of our minds. Till the soil of our subconscious, and when the time is right plant the seeds of positive, powerful thoughts and eventually we will reap the rewards. This is by no means easy! Never give up and remember to raise the bar! J

So you all know what songs we're doing... But do you know why we are doing these songs? I will explain...Once a week a secret is shared, the theme for the next show. This can be exciting as well as daunting. This week is Diva's and Crooner's. What is a crooner? What is a Diva? I have heard many different answers and I am sure I will hear many more.All I know is that Frank was a crooner. So that means that we must choose songs of that genre, big band, swingey tunes with smooth melodies and velvet voices sung buy classy men dressed like lawyers, who enjoy smiling, smoking stogies and sucking on scotch.Have I ever done any of these things? No.. Ok I've smoked cigars and sucked scotch but thats about it! The whole suit, singing swing is totally knew for me! Its not really my cup of tea, but to tell you the truth there is a reason why Frank is a legend and Michael Buble' is stinking rich! It rocks! Its such a different style and one that has its roots buried deep in so many genres. If fact some of our favourite songs come from this era, and one must admit that those guys were in a class of their own.So I urge you to put yourselves in our shoes, become a "Pop Idol" just for a moment and take this theme on as your own personal adventure. Become Frank Sinatra for 2 minutes, sing like Celine. This is what we have to achieve without losing ourselves. Enjoy the song and the show. I promise it will be out of this world!

Howzit
Well first thing this morning we were hauled out of our warm beds and thrown in our Idol buses and driven to Truworths. This I have to say is a really awesome experience not only because we get to select our outfits for the upcoming show but we get to experience a little "real life", which ironically happens to be in Sandton City! The most unrealistic place I could possibly think of! Anyway Mug n Bean RULE! Who would I be without that coffee which I really enjoy with their over sized bran muffin and I happen to savour the value for money thing, which is something one rarely gets to experience these days!
So there I was in the bus, heading towards Sandton. It was at this moment that I looked out the window and began watching the traffic. At first I just saw cars, then I started looking at each car. There are so many cars! Where do they come from! I mean if you think about the amount of complex materials used to just make one car!
At this point I suddenly had a huge amount of respect for the human race and their ingenuity. I looked at the robots and the road ways and the buildings and businesses whilst listening to Gareth Cliff on the radio which was in our car. Unbelievable! We are amazing!
But then I pretended to be a bushman. Thats right a bushman! I imagined what it would be like to be a bushman and walking into JHB. I then saw it all as it really is... Madness! We live our lives everyday, "working" for "money", sitting in traffic, wishing we were somewhere else. Living our one and only life, in a car, in an office, everyday!
Now please remember, at this point I am a bushman... A man who lives in nature, fending for himself and his family, taking only what he needs, in perfect harmony with all life, the one and only life he has, a true human being.This is what I see..
Then the bus stopped and we were in Sandton, choosing our clothes, drinking coffee, eating muffins...
I wrote a poem some words. You can check it out on the forum, jaycarried away.
Keep it real!J

Howdy!

Well one more awesome friend has left the Idols house... nTsepha was voted out this week. She is going to be missed like you cant even imagine! She is such an incredible personality, such a bright light and she has become one of my closest friends..
This is a very strange experience to be part of. On the one side you have this huge TV show competition and you are surrounded by the contestants and situations that are so surreal and on the other hand these contestants become your best friends, all we have is each other! And each week someone has to go! Hectic!
Anyway Joshua's passing has been really tough for me as he was without any doubt the most selfless beautiful soul I have ever known. His laughter was testament to that! I think of him all the time and the only way I can come to terms with his death is to express myself through my performances and daily actions. I know that he is here. He has become everything, every bird, every tree and cloud, even the sunset. All I see is Joshua. I love you my brother.
Life is so much bigger than the situations we find ourselves in. This competition was larger than life but now life has become so much larger than this competition. And that reality has put me back into NOW, the place I need to be, the place we all need to be. Thank you my brother! You have healed me and taken away my illusion!
Thank you all for you amazing support! I am so overwhelmed by it all!

Until next time.. Good night!

J

Hi all! Good to be back on blogger! I hope you all enjoyed the show last night as much as I did! Anyway today we are at the Mnet studios getting ready for the elimination show later tonight... Never easy I must say but to tell you the truth I feel really good as I certainly did the best I could. Just to let you know that you can find me on twitter.com jaydiscovered you can follow me through this awesome experience. Please feel free to comment on anything as I'm always one for constructive crit!

Thanks again for the ongoing support! It has been so incredible!

Later

J