By George, we do have talent!

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GEORGE NEWS - One thing is for sure - George definitely has a lot of hidden talent. Anyone who watched the semi-final of the George Has Got Talent competition, recently held at the newly renovated George Museum, will agree.

Tension was tangible as the unpolished diamonds showed off their best to the audience and the judges, highlighting their skills ranging from singing and modern dancing to rap, hip-hop and a multitude of talents in between.

A total of 70 competitors participated in the first round of the event hosted by Harmony Spiritual and Emotional Healing Centre in February.

Here judges had the difficult task to select the 25 top performers to go through to the semi-finals of the competition. Of these, 15 eventually made it to the finals that will be held in the George Civic Centre banquet hall on 14 April.

PHOTO GALLERY: George shows off in talent show

Eleven contestants were originally selected to proceed to the final, namely Geraldo Lewis, Joseph van Deventer, Simpiwe Dambuza, Loané van Sandwyk, Lynette du Plessis, Savannah, Shaela, Mark & Jasmine, Antonio Moos, Lydia and Deveroux.

However, in view of the depth of the talent displayed, the judges ultimately decided that it would only be fair to increase the finalists to 15. Four other contestants, Isabel Botes, John T Haas, Anelisiwe Sokweba and Michelle Viviers, received a judge's-call-back.

The judging panel consisted of well-known local and national stars Voldi George, Innes Benade, Tasha Vermeulen Olivier, Abbi Geldenhuys, Linda Johnson and Lukas du Preez.

"Congratulations to the finalists!" said organiser Liane Venter. "The talent was amazing. To those who did not make the finals and other hopeful future participants, please remember that this was only the beginning of an exciting project which will certainly go from strength to strength in the future. You deserved to be on that stage. Never stop singing and dancing. The world needs to see your talent."

Harmony also expressed their gratitude to the sponsors and all other contributors for making this event such a success in revealing the massive hidden talent in our community.

The finalists with some of the judges and organiser Liane Venter. Photo: Freddy Trout