The first series of ''

New Zealand's Got Talent ''New Zealand's Got Talent'' was a New Zealand reality television show which premiered in 2008. The show was based on the ''Got Talent'' series. The show featured singers, dancers, magicians, comedians and other variety performers of all ages co ...

'' began airing on

Prime A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

on 8 September 2008 and ran to 28 October 2008. It consisted of 13 episodes. In March 2008,

announced it was producing a version of ''New Zealand's Got Talent'', in conjunction with

South Pacific Pictures South Pacific Pictures is a New Zealand television production company. The company produces drama series, mini-series, telemovies and feature films for the domestic market and international market. SPP's largest property is ''Shortland Street'' ...

and

FremantleMedia Fremantle (; formerly FremantleMedia) is a British multinational television production and distribution company based in London. Fremantle takes its name from Fremantle International, acquired by predecessor company All American Television in ...

, with a grand prize of NZ$100,000. In June, actress Miriama Smith was announced as the first of the show's three judges, and television presenter Andrew Mulligan and radio host Jason Reeves were announced as the show's two presenters. In July, the final two judges were announced - former ''

NZ Idol ''New Zealand Idol'', also known as ''NZ Idol'', was the New Zealand version of the Idol series originated as the hit British TV series ''Pop Idol''. New Zealand first saw the ''Idol'' format when TV2 aired '' American Idol 2'', which garnered i ...

'' judge

Paul Ellis Brian Paul Ellis is a New Zealand record producer, talent manager, manager, and radio host. He is most known to audiences for being the former judge of ''New Zealand Idol'' and a former judge of the reality series ''New Zealand's Got Talent''. E ...

and former ''Radio With Pictures'' presenter and television producer Richard Driver. It was the first and only series of ''New Zealand's Got Talent'' produced by Prime. The series had not delivered expected advertising revenue and in 2009, the network confirmed that they would not produce any further series. Subsequent to the series lackluster performance, the franchise rights were acquired by TVNZ for a more successful second series run in 2012.

Auditions

The audition process started in May 2008 with an initial registration period for applicants. The top applicants were then invited to the judges auditions rounds in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch in August. The series started with highlights from the judges shows, one episode per location, starting on Monday 8 September. From this round, the judges chose 32 contestants to go through to the semi-finals.

Semi-finals

There were four semi-finals with eight contestants in each show. Starting 29 September, the pre-recorded performance show screened on Mondays nights, followed by the live results show on Tuesday nights.

Semi-final 1 (29 September)

Semi-final 2 (6 October)

Semi-final 3 (13 October)

Semi-final 4 (20 October)

Final (27 October)

The finals performances took place on Monday 27 October with the results revealed on Tuesday 28 October. As well as the performances from each of the finalists, each judge invited back a previously eliminated contestant. They were singer Paton Jacinto, pianist Kent Isomura and singer Melissa Nordhouse.

References

{{Syco 2008 New Zealand television seasons