The second series of New Zealand's Got Talent aired on TV One on 9 September 2012 and ended on 2 December 2012. The series was won by 15-year-old singer-songwriter Clara van Wel from Blenheim who performed her own song "Where Do You Find Love?". 11-year-old singer Jessie Hillel from Wellington was the runner-up, with 17-year-old singer-songwriter Evan Sinton from Auckland in third place.

Contestants competed for the grand prize of NZ$100,000 cash and a 2013 Toyota Corolla car. In addition, winner Clara van Wel was signed to Sony Music New Zealand, with a single of "Where Do You Find Love?" due to be released five days after she was announced the winner, and an album scheduled for February 2013.

In April 2013, Sony Music New Zealand released runner-up Jessie Hillel's full-length debut album With Love, which peaked at number three in the New Zealand Top 40 and number two in the New Zealand Top 20 charts.

Background In February 2012, Television New Zealand announced it was producing a version of New Zealand's Got Talent, which would screen later in the year on TV One. At the same time New Zealand broadcast funding agency NZ On Air committed to NZ$1.6 million of funding for the production of 14 episodes of 60 minutes each. New Zealand's Got Talent had last screened in 2008 on Prime.

Host and judges

In April 2012, Breakfast weather presenter Tāmati Coffey was announced as the show's host and in June 2012 the show's three judges were named as supermodel Rachel Hunter, Opshop singer-songwriter Jason Kerrison and former UB40 lead singer Ali Campbell.

Auditions

The initial phase of open auditions was called the Toyota Talent Tour. In May and early June 2012, the show's producers toured around New Zealand towns and cities and held non-televised open auditions, where more than 5000 applicants auditioned. The audition locations were Invercargill, Dunedin, Timaru, Christchurch, Greymouth, Nelson, New Plymouth, Wellington, Napier, Hamilton, Rotorua, Tauranga, Whangārei and Auckland. The top 200 applicants then went through to the judges auditions.

Judges auditions

The judges auditions took place in Dunedin at the Regent Theatre on 14 and 15 July, in Wellington at the St James Theatre on 21 and 22 July and in Auckland at the TelstraClear Pacific Events Centre on 25–28 July. The first episode aired on 9 September, starting five weeks of audition episodes which included footage from all three audition locations. After the judges auditions, the successful contestants were further reduced down to a group of 30 for the semi-finals.

Semi-finals

There were six semi-finals, with the first episode broadcast on 14 October. The semi-finals were pre-recorded the Wednesday before broadcast at the City Impact Church in Albany, Auckland. The winners of each week's semi-final were revealed at the beginning of the next week's episode.

Three semi-finalists had also appeared in the semi-finals of the first series of New Zealand's Got Talent in 2008: Andre Vegas and Company, Dogmatic (as Chelsea and Quest) and the All Star Cheerleaders (with a different line-up).

Wildcard

In addition to the 30 semi-finalists, one wildcard entry was chosen by a public competition. The Head & Shoulders Above the Rest competition was open to any act who had previously auditioned. Acts uploaded a video to the Above the Rest website and were voted on by the public. The top five contestants then performed for the judges, who chose singing act Arihia and Tahu to join the line-up of semi-final 6.

Semi-finalists Key Semi-Finalist (lost judges' vote) Finalist Winner Runner-up Third place

Name GenreActAgeFromSemiPosition reached Connor Masseurs Dance Dancer 15 Wellington 1 Eliminated Ari Laine Singing Singer 23 Wellington 1 Eliminated Andre Vegas and Company Magic Illusionists 29-48 Ngāruawāhia, Nelson and Gisborne 1 Eliminated Jessie Hillel Singing Singer 11 Wellington 1 Runner-up Bethany Waugh Music Musician 21 Timaru 1 Eliminated Big Dane Singing Singer 22 Hamilton 1 Finalist Tawaroa Kawana Singing Singer 17 Palmerston North 2 Finalist Chris Olwage Dance Dancer 26 Auckland 2 Eliminated Rosie Roulette Singing Singer 19 Christchurch 2 Eliminated Dogmatic Animals Dog Act 4-60 Rotorua 2 Eliminated Olivia Turner Singing Singer 91 Christchurch 2 Finalist JGeeks Dance Dance Group 19-27 Auckland 3 Finalist Lili Latham Singing Singer 22 Whakatane 3 Eliminated Monica Orbe Singing Singer 15 Hamilton 3 Eliminated Hitmen Percussion Music Percussionists 20 Wellington 3 Eliminated Evan Sinton Singing Singer 17 Auckland 3 Third place Prestige Dance Dance Group 21-29 Auckland 4 Eliminated Kale Simpson Singing Singer 17 Waitara 4 Eliminated William Fairbairn Singing Singer 15 Nelson 4 Eliminated Zane and Degge Variety Juggling Duo 19 & 20 Wellington 4 Finalist Clara van Wel Singing Singer 14 Blenheim 4 Winner All-Star Cheerleaders Dance Cheerleading Group 7-22 Auckland 5 Eliminated Fletcher Oxford Singing Singer 12 Tauranga 5 Finalist Giancarlo and Masha Dance Dance Duo 37 & 31 Auckland 5 Eliminated Jack Fraser Singing Singer 20 Invercargill 5 Eliminated Mihirangi Fleming Music Musician 29 Waitara 5 Finalist Alfred the Circus Nerd Acrobatics Acrobat 16 Waitetuna 6 Eliminated Arihia and Tahu Singing Singing Duo 17 South Auckland 6 Eliminated Dudley Fairbrass Singing Singer 19 Canterbury 6 Finalist Limit Break Dance Crew Dance Dance Group 18-25 Auckland 6 Eliminated Logan Walker Singing Singer 18 Auckland 6 Finalist

Semi-final summary

Key Judges' choice Buzzed out

First Semi-Final, Week 1 (14 October) OrderContestantJudges' choicesFinishedCampbellHunterKerrison1 Big Dane Won Public Vote2 Andre Vegas and Company Eliminated3 Connor Massuers Lost Judges Vote4 Ari Laine Eliminated5 Bethany Waugh Eliminated6 Jessie Hillel Won Judges Vote

Second Semi-Final, Week 2 (21 October) Guest performer: Annah Mac - "Bucket"

OrderContestantJudges' choicesFinishedCampbellHunterKerrison1 Tawaroa Kawana Won Judges Vote2 Chris Olwage Eliminated3 Rosie RouletteEliminated4 DogmaticLost Judges Vote5 Olivia TurnerWon Public Vote

Third Semi-Final, Week 3 (28 October) Guest performer: Opshop - "Never Leave Me Again"

OrderContestantJudges' choicesFinishedCampbellHunterKerrison1 JGeeks Won Public Vote2 Lili Latham Eliminated3 Monica Orbe Lost Judges Vote4 Hitmen PercussionEliminated5 Evan Sinton Won Judges Vote

Fourth Semi-Final, Week 4 (4 November) OrderContestantJudges' choicesFinishedCampbellHunterKerrison1 Prestige Lost Judges Vote2 Kale Simpson Eliminated3 William FairbairnEliminated4 Zane and Degge Won Judges Vote5 Clara van WelWon Public Vote

Fifth Semi-Final, Week 5 (11 November) Guest performer: Justice Crew - "Boom Boom"

OrderContestantJudges' choicesFinishedCampbellHunterKerrison1 Fletcher Oxford Won Public Vote2 All-Star Cheerleaders Lost Judges Vote3 Jack FraserEliminated4 Giancarlo and MashaEliminated5 Mihirangi Fleming Won Judges Vote

Sixth Semi-Final, Week 6 (18 November) Guest performer: Delta Goodrem - "Wish You Were Here" OrderContestantJudges' choicesFinishedCampbellHunterKerrison1 Limit Break Dance Crew Eliminated2 Alfred the Circus Nerd Eliminated3 Logan Walker Won Judges Vote4 Arihia and TahuLost Judges Vote5 Dudley FairbrassWon Public Vote

Grand Final, Week 7 (25 November-2 December)

The two-hour grand final was broadcast on 25 November with the results show on 2 December. Guest performers: Dane Rumble - "Tonight" Ali Campbell - "Maybe Tomorrow" Tāmati Coffey and dancers - "Gangnam Style" Evermore - "Follow the Sun" Contestant performances: Rejected auditionees medley: Billy's Big Brass Band (one-man band), Ji-Ye (comedic singer), Ocean Waitokia (yodeller), Russell Gray (dancer), Top Shop (One Direction parody) Clara, Evan and Jessie - "Somebody That I Used to Know"

Artist Order Act Finished JGeeks 1 Dance Group 4 Fletcher Oxford 2 Singer 5 Olivia Turner 3 Singer 8 Logan Walker 4 Singer 11 Clara van Wel 5 Singer 1 Zane and Degge 6 Juggling Duo 12 Big Dane 7 Singer 6 Tawaroa Kawana 8 Singer 10 Evan Sinton 9 Singer 3 Mihirangi Fleming 10 Musician 7 Dudley Fairbrass 11 Singer 9 Jessie Hillel 12 Singer 2

Ratings

The series consistently rated well, being the most watched show on New Zealand television every week. At the series end, TVNZ revealed it had been the most watched show on New Zealand television in 10 years.

References

External links Official site New Zealand's Got Talent on Facebook