New Zealand's Got Talent was a New Zealand reality television show, based on the original UK series, to find new talent. The third and final series began airing on TV One from 15 September 2013. Host Tāmati Coffey returned to the show, along with judges Jason Kerrison and Rachel Hunter and key sponsor Toyota New Zealand. Cris Judd also joined the judging panel, replacing Ali Campbell. The series screened at 7.30pm on Sunday evenings.
The series was won by 22-year-old singer Renee Maurice from Wellington, who performed "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going". Maurice had previously made it to the bootcamp round of the first New Zealand series of The X Factor. Christchurch dance duo Silhouette was the runner-up, with 14-year-old singer-songwriter Jenny Mitchell from Gore in third place. Unlike 2012 winner Clara van Wel, Maurice was not given a recording contract, after Sony opted not to sign her. Maurice did, however, still receive the prize of a new car and $80,000 cash.
Background
In November 2012, TVNZ confirmed the show would return for a third series in 2013. In July 2013, funding agency NZ On Air confirmed that it would give the series $800,000 in production funding, a 50% reduction from the 2012 series funding.
Host and judges
In December 2012, series two host Tāmati Coffey announced his plans to tour Europe for six months in early 2013, expressing his intention to return to New Zealand to present the 2013 series. In June 2013 he was confirmed as returning as series host. In April, TVNZ confirmed Opshop frontman Jason Kerrison would return as a judge. In May, TVNZ confirmed that American choreographer Cris Judd would join the judging panel and that Rachel Hunter would return to the judging panel for 2013.
Auditions The first call for auditions was made in November 2012. Contestants could enter in one of three ways: online, via post, or in person at an open audition venue as part of the Toyota Talent Tour. From late April to early June 2013, the show's producers toured around New Zealand towns and cities with the Toyota Talent Tour and held non-televised open auditions. The top applicants then progressed to the judges' auditions.
The following list contains all of the cities, venues and dates of the Toyota Talent Tour.
Audition city/town Date Venue Invercargill 29 April 2013 Southland Boys High School Dunedin 30 April 2013 Otago Boys High School 1 May 2013 Timaru 3 May 2013 Roncalli College Christchurch 5 May 2013 Addington Event Centre 6 May 2013 Greymouth 8 May 2013 Tai Poutini Polytechnic Nelson 9 May 2013 Nelson School of Music New Plymouth 14 May 2013 New Plymouth Boys High School Wellington 17 May 2013 Wellington East Girls College 18 May 2013 Napier 20 May 2013 Napier War Memorial Conference Centre Hamilton 25 May 2013 Southwell School Rotorua 28 May 2013 John Paul College Tauranga 29 May 2013 Otumoetai College Whangarei 4 June 2013 Whangarei Girls High School Auckland 8 June 2013 Epsom Girls Grammar School 9 June 2013
Judges auditions
The judges auditions took place in Dunedin at the Regent Theatre on 14 and 15 July, in Auckland at the City Impact Church on 25 and 27 July and in Wellington at the St James Theatre on 10 and 11 August. The first episode aired on 15 September 2013, running for 90 minutes. After the judges' auditions, the successful contestants will be further reduced down to a group of 30 for the semi-finals.
Semi-finals
There are six semi-finals, with the first episode broadcast on 10 October. The semi-finals are pre-recorded the Thursday 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.
Tip Top Natural Talent Search
In addition to 30 semi-finalists, one wildcard entry will be chosen by a public competition. The Tip Top Natural Talent Search competition is open to any act. Acts upload a video audition and are voted on by the public. The top five acts were revealed in semi-final four, with the winner selected by the judges and announced in semi-final five. The five top acts were: The Pack (dance trio), The Black Trio (singing trio), Troublemakers Dance Crew (dance group), Shane Brown (singer) and APD Bhangra Group (dance group).
Semi-finalists Key Semi-Finalist (lost judges' vote) Finalist Winner Runner up Third place
NameGenreActAgeFromSemiPosition reached 50/50 Dance Crew Dance Dance Group 16–24 Auckland 1 Eliminated Renee Maurice Singing Singer 22 Wellington 1 Winner Ravi Variety Martial Artist 37 Auckland 1 Eliminated This Is Unicycling Variety Unicycle Duo 21 & 22 Kaikohe, Nelson 1 Eliminated Mayo Dance Dancer 21 Pukekohe 1 Finalist Diamond Divas Singing Singing Duo 40 & 49 Porirua 1 Eliminated MDM Singing Singing Trio 12–16 Auckland 2 Eliminated Brian and Sarah Dance Dance Duo 18 Christchurch 2 Finalist Gabriella Atkinson Singing Singer 13 Nelson 2 Eliminated Origin Dance Crew Dance Dance Group 5–18 Nelson 2 Eliminated James Lee Singing Singer 31 Auckland 2 Finalist Calista Gray Singing Singer 14 Tauranga 3 Eliminated Silhouette Dance Dance Duo — Christchurch 3 Runner-up Siuleo Vitale Singing Singer — Auckland 3 Eliminated Manako and Cinnamon Variety Dog Act 6 Auckland 3 Eliminated Ethan Scharneck Dance Dancer 10 North Shore 3 Finalist Moxie Dance Dance Group 15–26 Albany 4 Eliminated John Vaifale Dance Dancer 17 Manukau 4 Eliminated All Star Cheerleading Variety Cheerleading Group 9–25 North Shore 4 Eliminated Rob Innes Singing Singer 66 Wellington 4 Finalist Cruize Karaitiana Singing Singer 22 Masterton 4 Finalist Geordie Meade Singing Singer 28 Auckland 5 Eliminated OKK (Ordinary Kids Krew) Dance Dance Group 8–44 Turangi 5 Eliminated Oceana Olsen Singing Singer 10 Christchurch 5 Finalist Kurt X (Kurt Mueller) Variety Harmonica Player 50 Wellington 5 Eliminated Jenny Mitchell Singing Singer 14 Gore 5 Third place IDentity Dance Dance Group 18–26 Auckland 6 Finalist Natasha Alexandra Singing Singer 16 Auckland 6 Eliminated Sam Francks Singing Opera Singer 12 Auckland 6 Finalist Estella Winnie-McGee Singing Singer 16 New Plymouth 6 Eliminated The Black Trio Singing Singing Trio 26–29 Wanganui 6 Finalist
Semi-final summary
Key Judges' choice Buzzed out
First Semi-Final, Week 1 (20 October) OrderContestant Judges' choicesFinishedKerrisonHunterJudd 1 50/50 Dance Crew 2 Renee Maurice Won Public Vote 3 Ravi 4 This Is Unicycling 5 Mayo Won Judges Vote 6 Diamond Divas Lost Judges Vote
Second Semi-Final, Week 2 (27 October) Guest performer: Clara van Wel – "Wait For Me"
OrderContestant Judges' choicesFinishedKerrisonHunterJudd 1 MDM 2 Brian and Sarah Won Public Vote 3 Gabriella Atkinson 4 Origin Dance Crew Lost Judges Vote 5 James Lee Won Judges Vote
Third Semi-Final, Week 3 (3 November) Guest performer: Ezra Vine "Celeste"
OrderContestant Judges' choicesFinishedKerrisonHunterJudd 1 Calista Gray 2 Silhouette Won Judges Vote 3 Siuleo Vitale Lost Judges Vote 4 Manako and Cinnamon 5 Ethan Scharneck Won Public Vote
Fourth Semi-Final, Week 4 (10 November)
OrderContestant Judges' choicesFinishedKerrisonHunterJudd 1 Moxie 2 John Vaifale Lost Judges Vote 3 All Star Cheerleading 4 Rob Innes Won Judges Vote 5 Cruize Karaitiana Won Public Vote
Fifth Semi-Final, Week 5 (17 November)
Guest performer: Sol3 Mio
OrderContestantJudges' choicesFinishedKerrisonHunterJudd 1 Geordie Meade Lost Judges Vote 2 OKK (Ordinary Kids Krew) 3 Oceana Olsen Won Judges Vote 4 KurtX 5 Jenny Mitchell Won Public Vote
Sixth Semi-Final, Week 6 (24 November)
Guest performer: Olly Murs – "Dear Darlin'"
OrderContestantJudges' choicesFinishedKerrisonHunterJudd 1 IDentity Won Judges Vote 2 Natasha Alexandra 3 Sam Francks Won Judges Vote 4 Estella Winnie-McGee 5 The Black Trio Won Public Vote Judge Rachel Hunter was unable to choose between IDentity and Sam Francks, declaring she wanted both acts to go through. This decision was accepted.
Grand Final, Week 7 (1 – 8 December)
The two-hour grand final was broadcast on 1 December with the results show on 8 December. Guest performers: The Babysitters Circus feat. Jason Kerrison – "Giving Love" Criss Judd dance performance – "When I Was Your Man" ENZSO feat. Jason Kerrison – "Poor Boy" Contestant performances: Jenny, Renee and Silhouette – "Next to Me" Rejected auditionees medley
Artist Order Act Finished Silhouette 1 Dance Duo 2 Jenny Mitchell 2 Singer 3 Cruize Karaitiana 3 Singer 6 Brian and Sarah 4 Dance Duo 5 IDentity 5 Dance Group 8 Sam Francks 6 Opera Singer 10 Oceana Olsen 7 Singer 4 Mayo 8 Dancer 12 James Lee 9 Singer 9 Ethan Scharneck 10 Dancer 11 The Black Trio 11 Singing Trio 13 Rob Innes 12 Singer 7 Renee Maurice 13 Singer 1
References
External links Official site New Zealand's Got Talent on Facebook