Idols SA singer makes his mark again

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Local singer Munro du Toit, of Idols South Africa fame, has proved his exceptional talent again, reaching the semi-finals of the largest songwriting competition in the world.

Munro, from George, came third in Idols SA in 2007. He moved to Mossel Bay in March 2020, shortly before lockdown started.

Judges in the International Songwriting Competition (ISC) include Cold Play band members, Cory Asbury and Joe Hahn from Linkin Park. Besides musicians, respected music industry experts are among the judges.

Munro said: "This is the first time I've entered." Munro is not allowed to distribute the song, Bear With Me, which he entered, because it is under consideration for the competition and has not been released yet, but he shared his song only for the purpose of this article.

He has a deep, throaty voice and his song has a catchy melody.

ISC attracts thousands of entries. To see Munro's name among the semi-finalists, go to www.songwritingcompetition.com/winners or #ISC2021SEMIFINALIST. Munro's entry is noted as: Munro du Toit (Munro), Bear With Me, Mosselbay (sic), South Africa, Rock (the genre).

Munro du Toit

He expects to hear in a month's time whether he has made it to the next round of the competition. The top prize is $25,000.00 (US) cash.

"I perform and write songs for myself and other people," Munro says. "I'm new at writing songs for others, but I want to do more of it.

"All the songs I've written for other people have done well, so that is my 'retirement plan' - what I want to do for the rest of my life."

After finding fame in Idols SA, Munro released two albums.

Humble Munro spoke about his success in the ICS: "I'm so chuffed. I'm also happy to see there are not that many entrants in the rock genre. Hopefully it will give me a better chance.

"When I release an album, I get some people together. It's good to have different ears together. I do a demo first. I do produce, but I don't engineer the final product myself. People mostly use my ideas, but they have a fresh ear and bring something new to the table."