New Zealand's Got Talent (series 2)


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 Tamati 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, Whangarei 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 and the All Star Cheerleaders.

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

Name / name of actGenreActAgeFromSemiPosition reached
Connor MasseursDanceHip hop dancer15Wellington1Semi-finalist
Ari LaineSingingSinger23Wellington1Semi-finalist
Andre Vegas and CompanyVariety actMagicians29-48Ngāruawāhia, Nelson and Gisborne1Semi-finalist
Jessie HillelSingingSinger11Wellington1Finalist
Bethany WaughSolo musicianTin whistle21Timaru1Semi-finalist
Big DaneSingingSinger22Hamilton1Finalist
Tawaroa KawanaSolo musicianSinger/guitarist17Palmerston North2Finalist
Chris OlwageDanceBallet dancer26Auckland2Semi-finalist
Rosie RouletteSingingSinger19Christchurch2Semi-finalist
DogmaticVariety actDog act4-60Rotorua2Semi-finalist
Olivia TurnerSingingSinger91Christchurch2Finalist
JGeeksDanceContemporary kapa haka19-27Auckland3Finalist
Lili LathamSingingSinger22Whakatane3Semi-finalist
Monica OrbeSingingSinger15Hamilton3Semi-finalist
Hitmen PercussionMusiciansPercussionists20Wellington3Semi-finalist
Evan SintonSolo musicianSinger/guitarist17Auckland3Finalist
PrestigeDanceHip hop dance21-29Auckland4Semi-finalist
Kale SimpsonSolo musicianSinger/guitarist17Waitara4Semi-finalist
William FairbairnSolo musicianSinger/pianist15Nelson4Semi-finalist
Zane and DeggeVariety actJugglers19 & 20Wellington4Finalist
Clara van WelSolo musicianSinger/guitarist14Blenheim4Finalist
All-Star CheerleadersVariety actCheerleaders7-22Auckland5Semi-finalist
Fletcher OxfordSingingSinger12Tauranga5Finalist
Giancarlo and MashaDanceSalsa dancers37 & 31Auckland5Semi-finalist
Jack FraserSingingSinger20Invercargill5Semi-finalist
Mihirangi FlemingSolo musicianLoop musician29Waitara5Finalist
Alfred the Circus NerdVariety actCircus performer16Waitetuna6Semi-finalist
Arihia and TahuMusiciansSinger/guitarist17South Auckland6Semi-finalist
Dudley FairbrassSolo musicianSinger/guitarist19Canterbury6Finalist
Limit Break Dance CrewDanceBreakdancing18-25Auckland6Semi-finalist
Logan WalkerSingingSinger18Auckland6Finalist

Semi-final summary

Key Judges' choice Buzzed out

First Semi-Final, Week 1 (14 October)

Second Semi-Final, Week 2 (21 October)

Fifth Semi-Final, Week 5 (11 November)

The two-hour grand final was broadcast on 25 November with the results show on 2 December.
ArtistOrderActSong performedFinished
JGeeks1Dance group4
Fletcher Oxford2Singer/guitarist"Forever" 5
Olivia Turner3Singer"We'll Meet Again"8
Logan Walker4Singer"Mistletoe"11
Clara van Wel5Singer/guitarist"Where Do You Find Love?" 1
Zane and Degge6Jugglers12
Big Dane7Singer"I Will Always Love You"6
Tawaroa Kawana8Singer"When a Man Loves a Woman"10
Evan Sinton9Singer/guitarist"Bang Bang "3
Mihirangi Fleming10Loop musicianImprovisation7
Dudley Fairbrass11Singer/guitarist"The Scientist"9
Jessie Hillel12Singer"Ave Maria"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.