Tenacity pays off for singer from Addo

TENACITY and a little bit of luck paid off for Addo-born singer Joe Fredericks, who has made it into the Top 18 in e.tv's SA's Got Talent.

Fredericks, 33, who lives in Brakpan, beat 7000 hopefuls to secure the top spot.

"I first went for the auditions [in June]. I won't forget that morning because it was the coldest in Jozi and there were 1000 people in front of me."

He said he phoned his wife Andrea, 29, to tell her he was coming home.

"I was freezing, but she told me to be patient because this was the big break I had always wanted," he said.

On Sunday the judges – Shado Twala, DJ Thato Fresh Sikwane and Lalla Hirayama – and the audience were impressed with Fredericks when he sang Lira's number, Something Inside So Strong.Fredericks, an assistant accountant at Mercedes-Benz Commercial, was first semifinalist with the highest number of public votes. That automatically pushed him through to the final which will air on November 9 at 6.05pm.

He will battle it out against 17 other finalists to secure the top place and R250 000.

Fredericks discovered his singing talent while in Grade 1 in Addo.

"Since then I have never stopped singing. I was also involved with a lot of music projects and talent competition in high school."

Of his Sunday performance, he said: "I was still nervous when I had to perform. I didn't know what to expect from the judges and audience."

Fredericks, a Brakpan resident since 2003, said he had matured musically since Sunday and believed he could win the season. - Yoliswa Sobuwa