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Johannesburg - Elvis Blue's new single, Things My Father Said, holds special significance for the Idols winner.
Blue (Jan Hoogendyk) knows how it feels to lose a father. He was in Grade 1 when his parents, Mila Venter and Paul Hoogendyk, were divorced. His father moved to the US and has been living there ever since.
"I was completely out of it," Blue told Beeld on Wednesday. "I had to repeat Grade 1. I didn't realise it at the time, but now I know it was because of the divorce."
But luckily this loss was followed by new happiness. Mila later married "a wonderful man who's like a father to me".
However, it's important to him that people don't judge his biological father. "I don't want people to think my dad is a bad person. I have regular contact with him and he's a wonderful man."
Special relationship
Going by Blue's reaction to the video message sent by his dad, which was broadcast during the Idols finale on Tuesday night, the two clearly have a special relationship.
"It meant so much... I even became emotional. Knowing your dad is proud of you is something very special."
His father still lives in the US and was recently in South Africa for the wedding of Blue's sister, Lydia van Heerden.
Blue's "other dad", Piet Venter, is a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church. The two are very close.
Blue and his wife, Chireze had a significant amount of debt as a result of his efforts to get his music career going. The poor sales of five of his albums didn't help matters either. "We invested a large amount of money in my career. We saw it as an investment in my future. But we ended up in trouble.
"As a musician trying to make a career out of your music, you don't earn very much. All the money you get goes toward covering your expenses. At the start of the year we were still hundreds of thousands of rand in debt and I had to ask for help. This meant an extremely difficult conversation with my stepfather."
Venter told Blue he would lend him the money, but he should bring along his books, receipts and his budget so the two of them could look things over.
"But I didn't have any books, receipts or a budget," he says with a laugh. "It was one of those conversations where you don't talk back because you're borrowing money. My stepfather is a minister and he's very organised. The complete opposite of how I am."
His biological father has also invested financially to help get his son's career on track. "He supplied the money to make my very first album. Both my dads have helped me many times throughout my life. I'm very lucky to have two dads."
As for his new single, Blue says: "The song is about losing someone. For some of us it's a dad, for others it's a friend. The song does have a special significance for me, but it also has greater meaning. Losing someone is universal. Everyone will go through that at some point in their lives."
Blue (Jan Hoogendyk) knows how it feels to lose a father. He was in Grade 1 when his parents, Mila Venter and Paul Hoogendyk, were divorced. His father moved to the US and has been living there ever since.
"I was completely out of it," Blue told Beeld on Wednesday. "I had to repeat Grade 1. I didn't realise it at the time, but now I know it was because of the divorce."
But luckily this loss was followed by new happiness. Mila later married "a wonderful man who's like a father to me".
However, it's important to him that people don't judge his biological father. "I don't want people to think my dad is a bad person. I have regular contact with him and he's a wonderful man."
Special relationship
Going by Blue's reaction to the video message sent by his dad, which was broadcast during the Idols finale on Tuesday night, the two clearly have a special relationship.
"It meant so much... I even became emotional. Knowing your dad is proud of you is something very special."
His father still lives in the US and was recently in South Africa for the wedding of Blue's sister, Lydia van Heerden.
Blue's "other dad", Piet Venter, is a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church. The two are very close.
Blue and his wife, Chireze had a significant amount of debt as a result of his efforts to get his music career going. The poor sales of five of his albums didn't help matters either. "We invested a large amount of money in my career. We saw it as an investment in my future. But we ended up in trouble.
"As a musician trying to make a career out of your music, you don't earn very much. All the money you get goes toward covering your expenses. At the start of the year we were still hundreds of thousands of rand in debt and I had to ask for help. This meant an extremely difficult conversation with my stepfather."
Venter told Blue he would lend him the money, but he should bring along his books, receipts and his budget so the two of them could look things over.
"But I didn't have any books, receipts or a budget," he says with a laugh. "It was one of those conversations where you don't talk back because you're borrowing money. My stepfather is a minister and he's very organised. The complete opposite of how I am."
His biological father has also invested financially to help get his son's career on track. "He supplied the money to make my very first album. Both my dads have helped me many times throughout my life. I'm very lucky to have two dads."
As for his new single, Blue says: "The song is about losing someone. For some of us it's a dad, for others it's a friend. The song does have a special significance for me, but it also has greater meaning. Losing someone is universal. Everyone will go through that at some point in their lives."
