With any television show, how the cameras are used has a massive impact on the kind of experience the audience gets.
The filming on last week’s episode was impressive – I felt very energised after watching all the dancers! Some people translate well on screen, and Moxie and the All Star Cheerleaders were both good.
As a general rule, people who don’t get through to the next round on talent shows go one of two ways: they either decide they don’t care what the judges say and head out alone to give it a shot, or their moment is over and they return to a normal life.
The reason Rachel [Hunter]started crying at the beginning of the show was because she was having such a hard time – she honestly couldn’t pick between Silhouette and Siuleo Vitale and is well aware of the impact the judges’ decisions have on the contestants’ lives.
Often the judges know who they want to go through to the next round, but in this case all three of them were talking together and trying to make up their minds just five minutes before the show started.
That being said, I don’t think Siuleo wants to be the next Kiwi chart-topper – he would be really happy as a wedding or events singer, and I think he’d be great at it too.
I was far more impressed by Happy Feet John Vaifale’s audition than I was with his dancing in the semifinals.
Unfortunately he had a lot working against him, and while he played it down on screen, he was incredibly sick.
The production team had to send John to the doctors before he performed to get a hefty dose of antibiotics – just to get him well enough to go on stage.
That was all they could do and the rest was up to him. John does lay it all out there and always gives it 110%.
Since the first performance, where he was so nervous he couldn’t talk, John has learnt a lot, including how to work the crowd – pulling the teddy out from behind him to try to get viewers on side was a nice touch! If he can harness this talent, I wish John all the luck in the world.
Catch Tamati and the judges on New Zealand’s Got Talent on TV One, Sundays, at 7.30pm.
