By More Matshediso
BLOEMFONTEIN – Part of Bloemfontein’s beautiful scenery will be captured on video when Nhlakanipho Cele of the “I want to sing Gospel” fame shoots scenes for his live DVD later this year.
The 29-year-old songster said he had spotted a perfect place in Vista Campus when Joyous Celebration held its concert there. “I would love to shoot my Live DVD at Vista but I haven’t decided yet, I’m still checking out other provinces”.
Cele was in Bloemfontein on Wednesday, September 13 as part of his 20-day national tour to identify a perfect place for shooting the video
The gospel sensation released a 12-track album titled Wethembekile on March, 30 this year and it is available at music stores together with its DVD.
The native Umlazi singer said he started singing in church marquees and on local tours in Kwa-Zulu Natal with his mother.
After Matric he got a job as a cleaner for nine months in Durban in 2001, but quit and to focus more on singing gospel. Nhlakanipho was part of his church’s “Praise and worship” team for 15 years.
“For all these years I was singing without any anticipation of gaining fame as a gospel artist until last year when I auditioned for the I Want to Sing Gospel contest with 7000 other contestants from Free State, Gauteng, Kwa-Zulu Natal, Eastern Cape and Western Cape. It was a challenging experience but exciting as well,” Nhlakanipho said.
He said only 31 contestants were selected from the initial 7000 at the SABC, Auckland Park last year in August. “I felt very blessed to be counted among those who made it to the second phase of the auditions, and even better to make it to top ten,” he said.
The top ten contestants had an opportunity to record an album together, titled “I want to sing gospel duets” which is also available in music stores on CD and DVD.
Seven aspirants were eliminated each day until only ten contestants were left. From top ten he made it into top three through votes from his fans. He said he had to sing his lungs out in front of the judges where Lindelani Mkhize of Joyous Celebration was the main judge.
His prize for winning the competition was R150 000, a recording deal, and a trip to Israel for three weeks.
“I enjoyed every minute in Israel. You get to align yourself with God, to meditate properly and it gave me a wonderful feeling. It really was amazing,” said Nhlakanipho.
He toured Israel and explored places like the King David City, Tel Aviv, the capital city Jerusalem and many more. He then recorded his debut album which he composed and arranged after his Israel tour.
“The album is doing very good and it is rated among the top five in the Musical charts. People love my music. The response I receive during ministry and live performances is amazing. People would tweet and post on my Facebook wall to share their breakthroughs and deliverances, their lives are changed and revived through ministry and worship,” said Cele.
Cele said he was often invited for motivate and minister to young people. He will be on his magic tour in his province, Kwa-Zulu Natal this weekend. He said he is planning to overlap the magic tour into the Free State in the near future.