Van Coke Kartel, joins Riky Rick, Riana Nel and Lira As The Voice South Africa Season 3 Coach!

Francois van Coke rocks up 

as the fourth and final coach

 on The Voice SA Season 3

 “It’s going to be interesting to see how Francois’s #teamvancoke will push the boundaries

 to create fresh crowd-pullers, 

whose music will capture the spirit of our times,” 

- M-Net’s Head of Publicity, Lani Lombard. 

In the past week, M-Net revealed that the coaching panel for The Voice South Africa Season 3 would include three hitmakers from different backgrounds and music genres: a flamboyant male rapper and producer, an Afrikaans gospel, country and pop darling and an Afro-chick soul diva. Missing from the mix was a rebellious rocker… and perhaps a little more testosterone. Not to worry. Formidable rock band frontman Francois van Coke is season three’s fourth coach.

The gifted Van Coke, who rocked – and initially shocked – the Afrikaans music scene with his irreverent alternative band Fokofpolisiekar and then made more waves with the legendary Van Coke Kartel, joins Riky Rick, Riana Nel and Lira in the iconic red coaches’ chairs for the third season of The Voice South Africa. 

The latest local version of the worldwide television phenomenon will be screened on M-Net 101 from Sunday, 3 February 2019 at 17:30, and the pre-recorded Blind Auditions kick off much sooner, on 21 November, at the new Urban Brew Studios in front of a live audience. During the show’s Blind Auditions, the four coaches sit with their backs to the stage, judging the talent on their vocal abilities only. If they like what they hear, they push a red button to swivel their chairs around to see the artist.  If more than one coach shows interest, the real fun starts. They then have to persuade the talent why they are the best choice to pave the way to a career in the music industry.

“Francois is known for his surprising stunts, and The Voice talent who want to go off the beaten track, but still benefit from the skills of a multi-talented musician and solid vocalist, can’t go wrong by choosing him as their mentor.”

After the massive success off Fokofpolisiekar and Van Coke Kartel, which raked in 5 SAMAs, MK and numerous other awards, Francois kicked off his solo career in 2015 with the release of the most poignant ballad of that year “Toe vind ek jou”, featuring Karen Zoid. The song quickly jumped to the number 1 position on iTunes and became the biggest Afrikaans music video of 2015, with more than one million views. A second album called Hierdie is die lewe followed, which earned him a Ghoema Award.

Francois, who loves collaborations, also released the En Vriende EP in July 2018, showcasing his talent with the likes of Jack Parow, Die Heuwels Fantasties, Early B and AKING’s Laudo Liebenberg.

Then, In October 2018, Francois became part of another innovative concept: Die Van Coke Show on kykNET, on Mondays at 20:30. In this quirky game show, with no prizes, famous participants follow clues to guess which Afrikaans hit song Francois will cover with a rock and roll twist. The “mystery” song is released on digital platforms and the music video on YouTube each week. This is not the first time he’s explored the limitless opportunities of the digital world. Some of his releases and international tours with his other band, Die Gevaar, have been crowd-funded. 

“Our new coaches are all movers and shakers in their own spheres, and the mix of unique personalities will bring a whole new chemistry to the show,” Lombard says. “At the same time, they’re building on the legacy of the superb Season 1 and 2 coaches Kahn Morbee, Karen Zoid and Bobby van Jaarsveld, whose passion for and commitment to The Voice SA launched several careers. Hard acts to follow!”

If you would like to see Riky Rick, Riana Nel, Lira and Francois van Coke in action at the pre-recorded Blind Auditions on 21 and 22 as well as 26 and 27 November, book your seats at mnet.tv/thevoice. Entrance is free, but booking is essential. 

You can also join The Voice SA conversation, using #TheVoiceSA, and follow The Voice SA on Facebook or @voicesa on Twitter or Instagram.