With her interpretation of Andra Day’s R&B hit “Rise Up” 22-year old general agricultural worker, Roshdene Sampson from Sandhoek Farm, De Doorns, won over judges and fans with her incredible voice.

What makes her story even more special is that Roshdene didn’t enter herself in the competition. Her mother, Maria, entered her voice note without Roshdene knowing about it. When the Agri’s Got Talent team phoned to congratulate her for being part of the Top Ten, Roshdene was flabbergasted.

Roshdene
22-year old general agricultural worker, Roshdene Sampson from Sandhoek Farm, De Doorns won the 2020 Agri’s Got Talent.

The AGT team met up with Roshdene at Sandhoek and announced that she won during a live broadcast via Facebook.

“I am so proud of myself and really look forward to what is going to happen next. This is the first time that I win a competition,” an overwhelmed Roshdene said. “I am so grateful for AGT and the team, and for everything that they have done for us. In the past weeks I have really developed as a singer and also as a person.”

Jenny Maarman from Diemerskraal, Wellington, was in the second place and incredible rapper Bradwin Jonas, from Rietfontein, outside Ceres, a close third.

The finals were recently recorded at Goudini Spa, Worcester, and shared with the judging panel and AGT Facebook fandom. The judges were impressed with the contestants’ authentic performances this year.

The crowd favourite, according to public vote received via WhatsApp or sms, was Sivenathi Ndzakayi from CRI, Citrus Foundation Block, Uitenhage. Earlier, Sivenathi, said that the competition has changed his life. “I will forever be grateful for this opportunity! I now know that anything is possible.”

Agri’s Got Talent was hosted for the seventh time this year and the goal is to give workers in the citrus, deciduous fruit, table grapes, and wine industries, respectively, the chance to showcase their singing talents!

Entries opened in March this year and when the Covid-19-outbreak followed shortly thereafter, the competition was nearly cancelled. The AGT team, supported by the various sponsors, decided on a format change and pushed through with a “new” mostly digital event.

Contestants were partly coached via cell phones with the AGT team visiting them on-farm to complete the training. Logistically it was sometimes a nightmare, but we are immensely proud of this year’s contestants and the competition, said Thea van Zyl, AGT event coordinator.

“Due to Covid-19 we did not have a gala evening and in many ways the contestants were challenged to bring their best game and perform in front of a camera without the support of their fans. We would like to acknowledge Hortgro, SATI, VinPro Foundation, Citrus Growers’ Association and the Western Cape Department of Agriculture for their support in making this project a reality in 2020 – a year where everybody desperately needs a bit of AGT magic,” Van Zyl said.