The eighteenth season of South African Idols premiered on 17 July 2022 on the Mzansi Magic television network under the theme "Singing a Different Tune". Over 9,000 contestants auditioned for the season. The season was won by Thapelo Molomo and the runner-up was Nozi Sibiya. Shortly after online auditions for the season were opened, it was announced that Randall Abrahams and Unathi Nkayi would not return to the show as judges. In February 2022, M-Net announced that Thembi Seete and JR were going to replace them, joining Somizi Mhlongo on the judges panel.