Age: 23

Location: Pietermaritzburg

Funny, a calm spirit and weird in a good way – that is how Hope would describe herself. Having started singing at the age of five and participated in a lot of plays at school, she says joining the Midlands Youth Choir opened a new avenue of what music could sound like.

After years of thinking about entering Idols SA, Hope decided that now was the perfect time. “I wasn’t ready earlier than this,” she says, having just completed studying musical theatre at Tshwane University of Technology.

“Before this, I didn’t know what I was singing for, but now I have a better understanding of my sound and what my purpose is in music. Now I feel like music is my tool to heal people,” she says, adding that her Idols SA journey so far has affirmed to her that she’s on the right path.

Musically, she looks up to soulful women: Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Brandy, Lira, Zoë Modiga and Beyoncé.

She says viewers can expect soul – and more – from her musical performances: “I know that the way I perform and translate music to people will leave a beautiful mark.”