Siki Jo-An – ‘The Click Song' | Blind Audition | The Voice SA: Season 3 | M-Net

From her piercing ululation which shattered the silence on stage to her powerful and pitch-perfect homage to Miriam Makeba's ‘Qongqothwane’ - Siki Jo-An proved she meant business getting one of the fastest four-chair turns EVER and a standing ovation. Despite impressive pitches from our panel, it was Riana who won her over ultimately.

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Team hashtags: #TeamVanCoke #TeamLira #TeamRiky #TeamRiana

[ninamo]

She made sure everybody was wide awake before she started singing!🤣

[ydb]

There’s no way you can just watch this once and be satisfied

[lsclsc]

This wasnt an audtion. This was a concert! 🙌🏼

[amaru]

She called all ancestors...and All of them showed up!!

[stephenmcgrath]

She makes me proud to be a black African woman and I’m a white Scottish guy.

[bd]

You're not going to see this anywhere else in the world. This is uniquely African.

[veronicatyler]

Miriam Makeba will never be forgotten❤
Thanks for honoring her.

[jrgenholst-rasmussen]

I'm 64, white, Danish and not easy to move emotionally.
I watched a show with Miriam Makeba in 1963 where she sang this. I liked it a lot even as a small child and that was the day I learned to hate apartheid.

Even so. Half way into this version of the song I had tears in my eyes and no way to explain why.
When I tried telling my wife, I choked up.
Wow. Such power.

[tuckerwalden]

If anyone says representation doesn't matter, show them this. The pride and joy across the room speaks to that.

[Raysa]

I'm a Brazilian and I study linguistics, and since I heard about Xhosa language I fell in love. I literally cried seeing this. It's just amazing seeing such a beautiful song an culture represented in such big plataforrm.

[deus]

2023 anyone? I have watched this a dozen times already over the years. Still gives me chills.

[gemmymaponya]

I love how as South Africas we only needed to hear the ululation from her voice to know that this performance deserved to be watched. And the recognition in the judges faces upon hearing wasted no time. True talent.

[KeenyKeenz]

As a South African, not only did she nail the cover of one of our most loved songs and artists (Miriam Makeba) she was also dripping in SA style, charisma and swag. There is a certain something about an African womens energy.

[themburoyalty]

I'm Xhosa and this still gives me goosebumps, such a proud language.

[charmalvarez]

On behalf of the filipino-spanish-chinese community.. we are proud to be African 💖💯

[TheZosimazdaIII]

I'm a Filipino and I don't even speak Xhosa but the way she sings, I felt the connection with teary eyes. I'm proud of her.

[themistersmith]

Qongqothwane is a traditional song of the Xhosa people of South Africa. It is sung at weddings to bring good fortune. In the western world it is mainly known as The Click Song, a nickname given to the song by European colonials who could not pronounce its Xhosa title, which has many click consonants in it. The Xhosa title literally means "knock-knock beetle", which is a popular name for various species of darkling beetles that make a distinctive knocking sound by tapping their abdomens on the ground. These beetles are believed by the Xhosa to bring good luck and rain.

The song is known world-wide thanks to the interpretation of South African singer Miriam Makeba (herself a Xhosa). In her discography the song appears in several versions, both with the title Qongqothwane and as The Click Song.

More information on the song can be found in Makeba's book The World of African Song (Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1971), including the following translation: "The doctor of the road is the beetle / He climbed past this way / They say it is the beetle / Oh! It is the beetle."

She explains the song as a traditional folk song which refers to the knocking beetle which makes clicking sounds and can revolve the top part of its body in any direction. The beetle is used in children's games to point the way home, but also has a deeper symbolism, pointing the way to a better future in times of trouble. In her biography (p.86), she mentions singing it in The Village Vanguard Club in New York, and calls it a "Xhosa song about a dreamy bride".

[tassianeramosramos]

Was this her AUDITION??
Her voice, her presence, her energy, SHE'S A STAR!

[LUX_]

The judges turned so quickly because they exactly wanted to WATCH this performance rather than "judge" this performance. 🙂

[TheBakko]

This was beautiful and in her native tongue! Didn't understand a word, but this is music I didn't have to ... I felt it!