Idols SA has yet again proven that it’s not for the faint-hearted.

Sunday night’s episode of Idols SA proved to be a serious wake-up call for most of the contestants, especially those who struggled to collaborate with other singers in the group performances.

Before the singers even stepped on stage, the judges had made it clear that they had no intent of entertaining underwhelming performers at this stage of the competition, and they were not kidding.

Before they could even unpack, the judges already sent an entire bunch of singers home without even giving them the chance to perform. Heartbreak was an understatement as a number of contestants left with their heads low and dreams shattered.Whilst the ones who remained stepped up to the challenge and managed to not fall under the pressure of collaborating with each other.

The first group which consisted of the likes of Thamsanqa, Amanda and Sbu did justice to Usher’s 90’s hit single “You make me wanna.”

Somizi was especially impressed with Amanda’s performance.

“You performed well as if it were your last chance.” He told the singer who was clearly shocked at his compliment.

However, what shocked us were not the great performances but the disaster that unravelled as more groups performed.

The most horrendous of all performances was that of Thato, Celine and Tebogo. The young trio saw themselves crumble under pressure as they failed to deliver The Fugee’s rendition of “Killing me softly" a song which the trio was not too familiar with.

We saw 16-year-old Celine crack under the pressure as she struggled with the lyrics. Celine was so nervous we could barely hear her sing.

The performance was so underwhelming that Somizi wasted no time in telling the three to take their bags and leave.

“In the history of Idols…I don’t recognize this performance.” Said Somizi.

It was rather unfortunate to see Tebogo (the egg man) leave he was one of our favourite and most promising contestants of the bunch.

The disastrous performances kept rolling in as singers wallowed in their sorrows whilst the judges sent them packing.

Read: #IdolsSA: Cape Town dishes out disappointing auditions

However, it was the last group consisting of Thami, Siyakha and Keagan that restored our faith in the singer’s abilities.

This particular trio didn’t hold back on their goal to stay for the next round of the competition, each singer shined but not to such an extent that they outshined each other.

Unathi was charmed by Keagan’s falsetto, Siyakha’s confidence and Thami’s ability to support both of the other singers with his strong voice.

Although the group performances were ruthless, it revealed how determined these contestants are at making it to the next round. For their sake, we hope the next episode of the show won't be as ruthless as this past Sundays show.