Lucky 13! Surprise Twist in New Zealand's Got Talent Grand Final

Sunday 1 December 2013

Tonight on the New Zealand's Got Talent Grand Final, a game changing decision saw 13 acts reach the final stage.

Instead of two of last week's semi-finalists entering the final, three were put through by judge Rachel Hunter as she, Jason Kerrison and Cris Judd, reached a judging stale-mate. After The Black Trio were revealed as last week's most-voted-for act, judges had to choose either IDentity dance crew or Sam Francks to join them. Cris chose champion hip hop crew IDentity, while Jason selected eccentric 12-year-old opera singer Sam. Rachel was the deciding judge, but faced with two such different - yet equally talented - contestants, she couldn't put one above the other and asked the audience to back her in adding them both to the Grand Final line-up.

Sam and IDentity were stunned but delighted to hear that they both had the chance to perform again, and immediately joined The Black Trio and the other ten finalists backstage to prepare for the night's show.

Now, New Zealand gets to decide who of NZGT's final 13 performers will come out on top in The Decider. Voting is open until midnight on Monday. Then next Sunday, the winner will be revealed after performances from the top 3, plus a selection of special guests.

The 13 acts who performed tonight are in the running to take home the prize of $100,000 and a Toyota RAV4.

They are:

Mayo is the stage name of 21-year-old hip hop dancer Seantum Rapana from Pukekohe. Mayo has mastered the art of ‘liquid’ dance, and wowed the audience and judges with his skilled solo performance – particularly as he had never competed in any dance competitions prior to entering NZGT. Mayo’s dream is to dance, teach and choreograph all over the world.

Renee Maurice is a 22-year-old singer from Wellington who has truly powerful vocal abilities. In tonight’s Grand Final she took on the challenging Jennifer Holliday torch song “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going”, from the musical Dreamgirls. Renee’s ultimate fantasy is to wind up on Broadway working as a composer, or, she says; “as a star in lights!” 

James Lee is a softly spoken 31-year-old from Auckland, who emigrated here from South Korea 11 years ago, and has a very unique and highly entertaining voice. A trained chef, James loves heavy metal, and can sing in four octaves. After auditioning with an Iron Maiden song, he changed styles in the semi-finals to sing Beyonce. Tonight he sang stadium rock classic, “Livin’ On A Prayer” by Bon Jovi.

Brian and Sarah are a pair of 18-year-old Latin and Ballroom dancers from Christchurch. They’ve been called the “most polished” act in the competition, and train exhaustively to add their own moves and personality to their dance routines. The ambitious duo’s Grand Final performance was a high-energy Cha Cha, which mixed old and new music and wowed the audience.

Silhouette are married Christchurch couple Kate and Lei’ataua Limuloa, who have introduced the audience to a unique dancing style – a stunning mix of acrobatics and dance called ‘adagio’. Silhouette invent their own moves, and have complete trust in one another as their routines are very risky. The romantic element of tonight’s performance brought tears to the judges’ eyes.

Ethan Scharneck is a 10-year-old from Auckland’s North Shore who spends hours devouring all of the King of Pop’s tour DVDs and copying his legendary moves to perfection. Ethan channels Michael Jackson on stage, and tonight danced through a rapid medley of his greatest hits from the 70s to the 90s.

Cruize Karaitiana is a creative and ambitious 22-year-old singer from Masterton who has a versatile voice that can take on everything from Tracey Chapman and Bruno Mars, to The Beatles. Cruize’s Grand Final performance of “Let It Be” was backed by a choir and he injected a lot of emotion into the song, impressing all three judges.

Rob Innes is a 67-year-old from Wellington who entered NZGT as his second chance at a music career. Stage fright saw him retreat from performing after some success in the 70s, now his wife has encouraged him to start sharing his voice again 25 years later. He took over the stage tonight like a complete natural, with the Sinatra classic “Mac The Knife”.

Jenny Mitchell, a 14-year-old singer/guitarist from Gore, sang an original song in her Semi-Final, and promised to come back playing the banjo if she was voted into the Grand Final. She delivered on her promise tonight, played another of her own compositions, called “No More”, and showed skill and maturity beyond her years.

Oceana Olsen is a hugely confident and focused 10-year-old from Christchurch who has been singing since she was a toddler, and dreams of being a star. Oceana always selects songs that have meaning for her, and tonight she put her own stamp on the much-loved “Hallelujah” by singing the lyrics in the middle of the song in te reo Maori.

The Black Trio were the ‘wildcard’ entry in the Semi Finals, then tonight it was revealed that they earned the most votes last week and went directly into the Grand Final.  The trio of cousins from Whanganui - Kupe, Toby, and Quin – performed another original reggae-funk tune tonight called "Take Her Home" and charmed the audience yet again.

IDentity are a hard-working dance crew from Auckland, who have recently achieved international recognition by earning themselves a silver medal in the World Hip Hop Champs. Tonight the judges chose to send them directly into the Grand Final, and they came back out on the stage with another fresh and engaging routine that mixes dance genres, and showed they are a force to be reckoned with in the competition.

Sam Francks is an eccentric and gifted 12-year-old from One Tree Hill in Auckland who has a passion for all things show-biz. He only discovered he could sing opera early this year, and is untrained. Sam was chosen to progress to the Grand Final at the start of the night’s show, and came back with another incredible performance of an opera classic, "Funiculi Funicula", backed by an orchestra.

New Zealand's Got Talent's 'Decider' episode is next Sunday 8 December at 7.30pm on TV ONE. Who is going to be our 2013 winner?

ENDS