Famous couple team up for a special ‘Silent Night’

Famous couple team up for a special ‘Silent Night’

Ben Lummis & Sela Mahe are engaged to be married. They met as contestants on New Zealand Idol and now they’re performing together in front of over 200,000 people at Coca-Cola Christmas in the Park at the Auckland Domain.

Sela made it to the top nine in the contest that Ben Lummis went on to win. Described as an outstanding vocalist, many say she should have gone further but fiancé Ben has become a household name, with a successful performance history.

Now the couple are teaming up to perform a special Maori-English version of ‘Silent Night’ at Coca-Cola Christmas in the Park on Saturday 8 December 2007.

But it’s no ordinary version of Silent Night – while the music will be treated in a traditional manner, the song will commence in Maori; the first verse is a solo by Ben, with subsequent verses in English by Sela and the choir.

They will face one of their biggest crowds ever, and for Ben it’s his first time singing in Maori on national television. While he isn’t fluent in the language, he says he can understand it clearly when spoken by others.

“I’ve always wanted to perform at Coca-Cola Christmas in the Park,” he says of the iconic Auckland event. Ben, who is originally from Wellington, has been living in Auckland for nine years.

Ben and Sela will join a stellar line up of over 30 acts including award winning band OpShop, childrens’ favourites The Funky Monkeys, and other big names including Frankie Stevens, Jackie Clarke, Sticky TV’s Drew Neemia, Elizabeth Marvelly and Gemma Copas from Fast Crew.

For the last six years, Coca-Cola Christmas in the Park has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the charity Youthline, with funds from this year’s event dedicated towards the support of youth work services and youth mentoring.

ENDS

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