It’s time to dust off the tap shoes, warm up your voices, and tune up those guitars: the heats are open for this year’s Talent Wairarapa contest.
And this year, Carterton Rotary Club, which organises the annual event, is keen to see adults, as well as young people, step into the limelight.
“We want everyone to come and have a go”, Vickie Pickering, Carterton Rotary club member, said. “We’d love to see a diverse range of acts and ages.”
Young performers have featured strongly at all stages of the competition in recent years, but it hasn’t always been the case, Pickering said.
“In the first year, we had a guy playing the spoons, and ballroom dancers.”
Pickering has plenty of ideas that may appeal to a more mature performer. “Poetry would be good, we wouldn’t mind poetry. And people doing skits. Excerpts from a play.”
For all contestants, Pickering is encouraging people to “think outside the square”.
“It doesn’t just have to be a band. You could sing in a quartet. You could be gymnasts or jugglers or comics. It would be great to see a kapa haka group, or cultural dancers.”
Cimone Grayson and Ryan Cole will be among the judging panel again this year, and entry to the heats is priced at $5 for individuals and $10 for groups.
The winner of last year’s under-14s competition was Henare Kerehi, who also scooped the People’s Choice award. Ruby Matthews won the over-14s contest, and band, Dead End, topped the group category.
The heat will be held on May 11 at Carterton School.
