NEWS

Better late than never

18.07.05

While still rocking with her band, Petro has apparently been in studio recording.  A debut CD single might be in the pipeline.  The single, yet untitled, will contain 3 tracks of  which two are cover versions and one original track, apparently being written by Danny K.  However, it has not yet been confirmed whether or not a CD single as such will be released.  We can, however, confirm that Petro has been working on material for her album! That's right, her long awaited debut solo album is in progress and due for release early 2006.  There may even be a possibility that Petro is considering using a stage name with the release of  the album.  Watch this space ...
 
Thanks, but no thanks!

19.07.04

Word has it that Famous Concerts were interested in signing Petro and previously offered her a contract, but apparently she turned them down at the time because she didn't want to go solo, but wanted to concentrate on her band with whom she's been lead singer for two years.  According to Petro, the Idols experience was wonderful, something she'll  remember for the rest of her life.  But she prefers to perform with a group. Unfortunately Famous Concerts only sign up solo acts and according to them  Petro is more than welcome to contact them should she decide on going solo.  Thanks to our official poll, Petro will have no choice but to consider a solo career.
 
Back on track

25.05.04

For 12 weeks, Petro has continuously been performing for the Natural Woman show in Pretoria, which has now come to an end.  Because of Petro's participation in the show, her band Which Way South was forced to take a temporarily break from performing as a band.  Petro, however, was not the only member from the band, who has been performing for the Natural Woman show.  Johan Liebenberg, the other half of Which Way South, has been playing the guitar and doing backing vocals for the show, which has been good exposure for both Petro and Johan.  They must be extremely exhausted after performing 12 weeks on end, yet that apparently doesn't seem to stop them from performing as Which Way South once again.
 
Been there, done that

07.05.04

When Petro says she's been a singer most of her life, she definitely means it.  She's forever been taking part in competitions, one of which she won back in the year 2000.  She participated in a huge national singing competition called Reach For The Stars and won the "Original" and "Oldies" categories. According to an avid fan and fellow contestant,   "Petro was still very young, but yet just as powerful".    So when Petro said that the Idols competition was nothing new to her, she obviously knew what she was talking about.
 
Born to b in the spotlight

13.03.04

Petro is no stranger when is comes to performing. Apart from touring the country with her band, she's also given contestants tough competition in several singing contests. And now, with the exposure she got from being a Top 10 finalist on the M-Net talent competition, Idols, Petro can now pursue a career as a solo artist.  Petro has the whole package; the look, the personality and most importantly, the voice to take the music industry by storm - with a bang!  She obviously has star quality.  Petro's bound to be in for massive success once she releases her first record.
 
American Idol

28.02.04

There has been much talk about Petro's accent and how she is suppose to sound more South African and less American.  But Petro is not about to let critics regarding her accent get her down or stop her from performing. If anything, it has only encouraged her to take on a bigger market. Petro's accent could be her answer to international stardom, since she has a voice of international quality.   Petro now  hopes to take on the American market after the release of her debut album.  And with an American accent, Petro is sure to have a hugely successful career in the states.  Petro believes her accent is natural due to the covers that her band does.  She also wants to make music her career and take it to an international level.  Petro has apparently agreed to work on her accent, even though her voice trainer said that it makes her a unique singer.    After all, Petro has had eight years of formal voice training.
 
Hitting all the right notes

15.02.04

Petro is no newcomer to music. She's the lead vocalist in a band that performs cover songs in pubs and at social events. She's been singing all her life and her sights are set firmly on her ambition to be a recording artist.  At first Petro denied having had a boyfriend as she feared a relationship will come in the way of her singing.  Fortunately her current boyfriend,  Johan, understands the business and is the motivating force behind her career.  He plays the guitar in Which Way South, the band Petro performs with. Petro made it clear that music is definitely everything to her and that nothing will come in the way of that, not even a boyfriend.  She's determine to become a musician one day.
 
Thank U Alanis Morissette

08.02.04

Formerly from Cape Town, 21-year-old Petro is a Centurion girl now, having left the Mother City to stake her claim on the treasure that lies in the city of gold.  She was one of the first two young women who progressed to the Top 12 of Idols, only she is the controversial one. Petro sang Thank You by Alanis Morissette during the top 32 round of last year's Idols series and the voting public was obviously impressed with her performance - even though none of the four judges particularly thought she had what it takes to compete in the top ranks.  She, too, admitted that she didn't expect to reach that stage of the competition as there were many talented singers in Idols. However, Petro still felt that she deserved to go through, above anyone else.  She still thought that she had a great performance that night and she obviously made a good enough impression on the public - there were even people who actually told her that her performance of Alanis Morissette's  Thank You were one of her best performances ever. After all, it was the performance that made Petro achieve her dream and got her where she is today.
 
All or nothing

16.11.03

At the moment, Petro is tied down with BMG until January next year.  If they do not offer her and her band a contract then they will most likely record their own album themselves. Unless a different record company decides to sign Petro to a contract. Chances are the latter is more likely to happen, since Petro has already promoted herself as a solo singer throughout the Idols competition.
 
For the record

01.11.03

The full top 12 Idols voting history has been released.  Hereby revealing Petro's shocking voting results.  Petro was lucky enough to make it through the top 12 round,  with a voting result of  6,2%  from the publics votes, combined with those of the judges. If not for Karen's 5,9 % of votes, Petro would have sat on the 3rd hot seat, instead of Karen.  The night Petro was  eventually voted out of the Idols competition, she received a shocking voting result of 2,18 % of the publics vote, combined with those of the judges.  Congratulations to Petro for at least making it to the top 10, which is still a great achievement. If  not for the judges 40 %, Petro would most likely have made it into the top 3.  Despite her departure from Idols,  the public are still 100% behind her, supporting her all the way.
 
It's not over until it's over

21.10.03

We've been  led to believe that Petro was playing another show at the time the Idols Grand Finale took place.  Rumors of her being bitter and sour by not making it to the finals, thus being her reason for not showing up at the Idols Grand Finale, are untrue, however Petro did turn up for the Idols after-party on Sunday night.  Not being the Idol, has not stopped Petro from performing.  We will be seeing more of Petro in the future.
 
Practice makes perfect

15.10.03

Idols judge and professional singer, Mara Louw Thomson has exclusively revealed in an interview with her  on the official Idols website, that she would have liked to see  Petro make it to the top 3 in the Idols competition.  According to Mara, Petro was brilliant, but she chose the wrong song.  Mara could not hear what Petro was saying, however she agreed that Petro is a brilliant rock singer , but needs to work on her diction.
 
Life After Idols

10.10.03

The last thing Petro wants to do now is shake her hair like Patricia Lewis, that Skarumba-lady.  She may sing with an American accent, but Petro de Villiers ain't another backtrack baroness.  Petro became the fourth Idol to drop out of the top 12 group, and she's still suffering from a post-Idols babelas.  Since she back-chatted the bad-tempered Randall Abrahams, she's South Africa's youngest rock chick - the name on Idol's followers lips. Randall criticized her from the beginning.  She began to think it was a personal thing and reminds us that she's not a 'bad loser'.  But the 20-year old Petro, the oldest in the top 12 group, is unhappy. Unhappy about the rules that were changed on 'number 99' (judges now had a say about who goes through to the following round); unhappy about the 'best contestant' - Francisca Blasich - who's now out of the running, and about the decision that she couldn't sing an Afrikaans song on Sunday evening.  After a year's study in the Waterfront Theater School she started as a full-time lead singer with the band 'Which way South' which toured the country.  Her musical CV is impressive: eight years of formal song training, guitar, professional drummer on bongo and congo drums, and the leader of a jazz band.  So how did it happen that she, classified as a rocker, land up in Idols? Well according to Petro, Idols opens doors for you and is therefore a great learning experience for any musician.  Not only did she thrill thousands of viewers with her powerful renditions of Alanis Morisette's Thank u, Alicia Key's A woman's worth, and Avril Lavine's Complicated, but she also quickly became the centre of controversy.  There was a hefty debate on the Idols website about her 'foreign accent'.   Next Petro had a selection of songs that she didn't want to sing. She wanted to sing something by Claire Johnston -  the woman with the strongest vocals in South Africa. Petro really wanted to do an Afrikaans song, but they said it was an English competition and wouldn't allow it.  But then Poseletso (Sejosingoe) did a Zulu song! (Nancy Jacob's Meadowlands). Then there was the choice of Just Jinger's Like you madly as her number for Sunday night's performance. The four judges didn't like the choice of song, and said the previous week's ballads had suited her better.  She had to choose between a song from Nianell, and Just Jinger.  Gareth (Cliff) and Dave (Thompson) help choose the songs - so she really couldn't understand how they can criticize songs they helped choose.  The last straw was Randall's nasty comments about her performance. 'If it's too loud, you're too old', she said to loud applause from the audience. Apparently she used to have a poster in her room of an old man with two speakers on either side of his head with those words written above him.  Since then she's not had big problems with the judges. That was the first time that she back-chatted someone. She's the oldest, and the others were very scared of the judges. But those matters have no relevance, because Petro's starry-eyed about her first CD and upcoming tour with the band.  If she can, she'd take her guitar along to give a gig a 'live'-feeling. According to Petro, she's not afraid to be on stage alone, but she likes the band - it gives people more to look at. However,  she now has some extra corporate gigs because of the Idols exposure. She's certainly not going to limit herself to South Africa's big cities, she also wants to play in the dorps where the whole town can come and watch. And then, like Karen Zoid, she wants to set her horizons abroad and try to tour overseas. Yes, it was a big shock for her to drop out of the competition, and yes; she's still recovering from the shock. But now it's all about future goals and adult-hood.

 
Bitter pill to swallow

13.09.03

Petro seemed genuinely upset after she had been the 4th person to leave the Idols journey, along with fellow contestant, Thelma Jansen.  When she had a run-in with Randall, she  wasn't thinking of the judges' vote and what kind of weight it carried. She  was disappointed in the judges opinion. A very bitter Petro wasn't impressed with their comments about her song choice because they chose the songs the contestants are given to sing. Now everybody agrees that the judges can be very harsh and wrong at times. According to the judges, they did not criticize her song choice, but rather how she chose to perform it as well as her diction. Petro feels that the judges had too much voting power and that she's convinced they were the reason she fell out of the competition.