Tune in to Maori Television for Te Matatini 2013

MEDIA RELEASE
Thursday February 14, 2013

Tune in to Maori Television for Te Matatini 2013 – Starting Next Week

The countdown to Te Matatini 2013 has begun! The national kapa haka festival kicks off in Rotorua next week and Maori Television will be there to capture the event for those at home.

Te Matatini 2013 will feature 41 kapa haka groups from New Zealand and Australia who will compete to win the title of national kapa haka champion at Rotorua International Stadium from February 21 – 24.

As the exclusive television broadcaster of the event, Maori Television will screen daily highlights from 8.00pm on February 21, 22 and 23, and LIVE coverage of the finals from 8.30am until 5.30pm on February 24.

Award-winning presenter Matai Smith will host the coverage, with support from Te Arahi Maipi, Annabelle Lee-Harris and Te Uira Paki.

Smith says it was always on his bucket list to host at the festival, which he describes as “the Olympics of kapa haka”.
“Having been there and experienced the blood, sweat and tears in terms of preparation for the event, I know what the performers have been through,” he says.

“There is a lot of excitement and tension at the competition and it is our job as presenters to bring those at home a taste of what it’s all about.”
Viewers will be able to get an in-depth look into the hard work that goes into preparing for the biennial competition in a new reality show starting March 1 at 9.30pm.

KAPA HAKA: BEHIND THE FACES follows key figures in Te Arawa’s Te Matarae I Orehu, the current national kapa haka champions, as they prepare to defend their title at Te Matatini 2013.

“These are people who give up their weekends, who practice the poi during their coffee break at work and learn the words to the haka sitting in their car at the lights,” says producer Lara Northcroft, from Velvet Stone Media in Rotorua.

“Through them, we gain some insight into an obsessive passion that consumes them for months on end, for 30 minutes on stage.”

Maori Television’s Te Matatini 2013 coverage and KAPA HAKA: BEHIND THE FACES will be available after broadcast on Maori Television’s website www.maoritelevision.com.

Tune in to Maori Television – Te Papa Kainga O Te Kapa Haka (the home of kapa haka) – for comprehensive coverage of Te Matatini 2013.

ENDS

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