They’ve brought you Love Me For Me, Secrets, Dalile and more. Now, popular girl group Jamali will reunite on stage for their 20-Year Legacy Celebration show at the State Theatre in Pretoria this Saturday.
The world was introduced to Jamali – Jacqui Carpede, Mariechan Luiters, and Liesl Penniken – when they auditioned for and won the singing competition Coca-Cola Popstars in 2003.
The award-winning trio’s name is derived from the first two letters of each of their names. Andy ‘The Admiral’ Kasrils, one of the Popstars judges, approached the trio and suggested the name. “We were searching for a name for weeks and we just weren’t coming up with anything that we loved and resonated with. And then Admiral came up to us and was like, ‘Girls, what do you think about the name Jamali?'” shares Jacqui with BONA. The Eldorado Park local adds they were hesitant at first until The Admiral explained the meaning behind the name.
With their 20-Year Legacy Celebration show around the corner, Mariechan, who hails from Stellenbosch, says the group is deep into rehearsals. “It’s been, like what, probably a decade since we’ve performed. So the rehearsals are very important for us to just get back to that magic that we have.”
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Mariechan also credits the group’s individuality, as well as their embracing their differences and strengths towards their closeness. “One is more of the performer, amazing with lower tones and understanding where they are vocally. The other one is great with more higher melodies and probably more in love with slow types of songs, and then one is kind of in the middle… likely to run with the lead vocals, almost like the vocal engine for the group.
“I think it was that for us – celebrating our individuality because that’s what made us gel and sing so beautifully together.”
Jacqui adds, “Even with our hiatus, we were still in contact with each other. We get along because we understand each other, we all love music and we all love to sing so it’s easy… for the most part!”
Having won the hearts of many on Popstars as well as working as a coach on Idols SA, Liesl shares with BONA that she feels there should be more singing competitions to expose the hidden talents in South Africa. “I feel like there are not enough platforms in our country for upcoming artists or even artists that are established. So it’s important for those kind of competitions to come back because that is something that our people can do to try and get somewhere.”
The Klipspruit West local continued, “I’m praying and hoping that the industry changes and more of these kinds of competitions come up for our people because it’s really a stepping stone into your future.”
With Amapiano currently taking over the world, Jacqui feels that there is still a place for pop music. She says, “Pop music will always dominate the charts. It’s in the name, it’s popular music. It’s easy to listen to, it’s easy to play on the radio, it’s relatable across the board. Amapiano as a genre is taking over but some pop elements are in there. It can still reach a broader audience. So there’s always going to be a place for pop music.”
When BONA asked about new music, Marichan shared, “We are planning on giving our fans one song… to show our gratitude for all the support over the years. [The fans] were really the backbone of Jamali and the reason we stayed together for such a long time… So we wanted to do something to celebrate them as well, but it’s not necessarily us being back as a group or recording albums together.”
Regarding what fans can expect from their upcoming show, Liesl says, “They can just expect Jamali… They’re in for a treat, we’re spicing it up a bit here and there with different intros, but it’s going to be very exciting for them to come through and jam with us and have us serenade them.”
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