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Did Idols Top 10 contestant Gail Nkoane refuse to sing what the Idols producers told her to sing and deliberately chose less sexy songs because of her Christian beliefs? Did she demand other clothes that's less revealing, less flattering? Did all of this cause the producers to cut her first from the Top 10 although she didn't get the least votes? And why doesn't Idols have auditors?
All of these completely untrue conspiracy theories are swirling after Gail Nkoane (25) from Kimberley fell out last night in the live Tuesday Idols Results Show on M-Net with desperate fans conjuring up all kinds of crazy and melodramatic reasons as to why Gail Nkoane is gone.
First up, after last year's voting . . . incident, I can tell you the producers and M-Net are even more stringent, strict and careful than ever before. Deloitte & Touche are the Idols auditors. ''The votes come from three different sources and are checked by the person responsible for voting results at M-Net, who also consults with the service providers,'' says M-Net. I also spoke with Gail Nkoane personally this morning and she says there is no truth to any of the far-fetched rumours people are spreading on social networks and Facebook. ''At the end of the day the show had its ups and downs,'' Gail Nkoane tells me. ''But I sang the song and wore clothes that I was comfortable with and that I wanted to. I don't know where all that comes from. I'm not aware of any of it. From my side there's no truth in any of that.''
Gail Nkoane says she's disappointed that she fell out - ''there's no doubt about it. You enter this competition to win. And when you make it to the Idols Top 10 you obviously hoping to go all the way to the final but I'm very content with all my performances, I'm happy with my performances and everything I did and everything that happened. I don't feel there is anything I would have done differently, I'm fine.''
For her fans Gail Nkoane also has a special message. ''I would just like to really say thanks to everyone who supported me and who believed in me from the very beginning and who stood by me and stood up to me. I want everyone to know this is definitely not going to be the end and that I'm just so thankful that they played a part in establishing me as a singer. As much as it's a competition I've made great friends. I'm really not going away empty handed. I'm definitely not going home the same person.''
