WATCH: EC opera singer blows judges away on SA's Got Talent
An East London opera singer blew judges away on Sunday as talent search show SA’s Got Talent started on a high note.
Athenkosi Peter of Duncan Village stunned the judges with his musical skit.
The 25-year-old singer performed one of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s pieces from the Magic Flute.
On his introduction to the judges, Peter said he was from a city best known for producing world boxing champions and that he was a “boxer in vocals”.
Dressed in ripped clothes and covered in paint with a parrot puppet on his hand, Peter took his audience on an emotional journey as he told the story of a man in love with birds.
After his performance, judge Jamie Bartlett said “that was quite something”, while DJ Fresh admitted that Peter was indeed a boxer in vocals.
Peter said he was honoured to have had the opportunity to show South Africa what he could do.
“Opera music does not have a big following in South Africa. It isn’t recognised as other genres.
“People laugh at me when I say I sing opera and one needs to have a brave heart,” he said, adding the piece was a favourite.
“It is a story of a man who is in love with birds and believes that there is a girl out there who shares a similar interest.
“He wishes that the bird could do the talking for him because he is scared of girls,” Peter said.
Peter’s interest in opera dates back to when he growing up in Mount Coke just outside of King William’s Town.
“Every day after school I’d listen to the Grade 7s as they practised but I wouldn’t stay for too long as I had to go to the fields.
“It was only when I moved to East London with my grandmother that I started following up on my passion,” he said.
The SA’s Got Talent audition was the first time his family got to see him perform.
“My grandmother is my biggest inspiration. She always says ‘if you don’t believe it yourself, no one will’,” he said.
Catch SA’s Got Talent every Sunday on e.tv, starting at 6:05pm. — poliswap@dispatch.co.za