The second 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 ...

'' 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 The is a series of compact cars (formerly Subcompact car, subcompact) manufactured and marketed globally by the Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corporation. Introduced in 1966, the Corolla was the best-selling car worldwide by 1974 and has bee ...

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 Television New Zealand (, "Te Reo Tātaki" meaning "The Leading Voice"), more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a New Zealand state-owned media company and Crown entity. The company operates a television network, TVNZ+, streaming service, and 1N ...

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 NZ On Air (NZOA; ), formally the Broadcasting Commission, is an Crown entity, autonomous Crown entity and commission of the New Zealand Government responsible for providing funding for broadcasting and creative works. The commission operates l ...

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

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Host and judges

In April 2012, ''

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'' weather presenter

Tāmati Coffey Tāmati Gerald Coffey (born 19 September 1979) is a New Zealand broadcaster, politician, and former Member of Parliament. As a broadcaster, Coffey presented television programmes such as ''What Now'', ''Breakfast'', and ''New Zealand's Got Tal ...

was announced as the show's host and in June 2012 the show's three judges were named as supermodel

Rachel Hunter Rachel Hunter (born 8 September 1969) is a New Zealand model, actress, and the host of Imagine Television, Imagination Television's ''Rachel Hunter's Tour of Beauty''. She has appeared on several magazine covers, including ''Vogue (magazine), ...

Opshop Opshop is a New Zealand rock band who formed in 2002. They released their first album, '' You Are Here'' in 2004, their second album '' Second Hand Planet'' in 2007, and their third album '' Until The End of Time'', which debuted at number one ...

singer-songwriter

Jason Kerrison Jason Mark Kerrison (born October 15, 1976) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter, producer, and former radio broadcaster, best known as the lead singer of the band Opshop. Kerrison's albums with Opshop have gone multi-platinum and received critic ...

and former

UB40 UB40 are an English reggae band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart and has also achieved considerable international success. They have been nominated for the Grammy ...

lead singer

Ali Campbell Alistair Ian Campbell (born 15 February 1959) is an English singer and songwriter who was lead singer and co-founder of the British reggae band UB40. UB40 sold more than 70 million records worldwide and toured for 30 years with the original l ...

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 Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

Timaru Timaru (; ) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to peo ...

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

Greymouth Greymouth () (Māori language, Māori: ''Māwhera'') is the largest town in the West Coast, New Zealand, West Coast List of regions in New Zealand, region in the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the Grey District Council. The populat ...

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New Plymouth New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, in Devon, from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. The New Pl ...

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, Napier,

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Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. It is sited on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authorities of New Zea ...

Tauranga Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...

Whangārei Whangārei () is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the largest settlement of the Northland Region. It is part of the Whangarei District, created in 1989 from the former Whangarei City, Whangarei County and Hikurangi Town councils to admi ...

and

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. The top 200 applicants then went through to the judges auditions.

Judges auditions

The judges auditions took place in

at the Regent Theatre on 14 and 15 July, in

at the St James Theatre on 21 and 22 July and in

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

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of ''New Zealand's Got Talent'' in 2008: Andre Vegas and Company, Dogmatic (as Chelsea and Quest) and the All Star Cheerleaders (with a different line-up).

Wildcard

In addition to the 30 semi-finalists, one wildcard entry was chosen by a public competition. The

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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

Semi-final summary

First Semi-Final, Week 1 (14 October)

Second Semi-Final, Week 2 (21 October)

* Guest performer:

Annah Mac Annah Mac is a New Zealand singer-songwriter, producer and musician. Her debut album, ''Little Stranger (album), Little Stranger'' was released on the 5 September 2011, it was listed for seven weeks on the New Zealand Albums Top 40 Chart. The mo ...

- "Bucket"

Third Semi-Final, Week 3 (28 October)

* Guest performer:

- "Never Leave Me Again"

Fourth Semi-Final, Week 4 (4 November)

Fifth Semi-Final, Week 5 (11 November)

* Guest performer:

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- "

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Sixth Semi-Final, Week 6 (18 November)

* Guest performer:

Delta Goodrem Delta Lea Goodrem Order of Australia, AM (born 9 November 1984) is an Australian singer, songwriter, television personality and actress based in Sydney. Goodrem signed a recording contract with Sony Music at the age of 15. Her debut studio album ...

- "

Wish You Were Here Wish You Were Here may refer to: Film, television, and theater Film * ''Wish You Were Here'' (1987 film), a British comedy-drama film by David Leland * ''Wish You Were Here'' (2012 film), an Australian drama/mystery film by Kieran Darcy-Smith ...

Grand Final, Week 7 (25 November-2 December)

The two-hour grand final was broadcast on 25 November with the results show on 2 December. * Guest performers: **

Dane Rumble Dane Aaron Rumble (born 9 February 1982) is a New Zealand recording artist. He is a former member of New Zealand hip hop group, Fast Crew. Background Rumble was born in Kirwee, Canterbury, and received his secondary education at St Peter's Colle ...

- "

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" **

- " Maybe Tomorrow" **

and dancers - "

Gangnam Style "Gangnam Style" () is a K-pop song by South Korean singer Psy, released on July 15, 2012, by YG Entertainment as the lead single of his sixth studio album, ''Psy 6 (Six Rules), Part 1'' (''Ssai Yukgap Part 1''). The term "Gangnam Style" is a n ...

" **

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- "Follow the Sun" * Contestant performances: ** Rejected auditionees medley: Billy's Big Brass Band (one-man band), Ji-Ye (comedic singer), Ocean Waitokia (yodeller), Russell Gray (dancer), Top Shop (

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, were an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group consisted of Niall Horan, Zayn Malik (until his departure in 2015), Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson. The group sold o ...

parody) ** Clara, Evan and Jessie - "

Somebody That I Used to Know "Somebody That I Used to Know" is a song written, produced and performed by the Belgian-Australian musician and singer Gotye featuring vocals from the New Zealander singer Kimbra. The song was released in Australia and New Zealand through El ...

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.

References

External links

Official site

New Zealand's Got Talent on Facebook
{{Syco 2012 New Zealand television seasons