Following his triumphant X Factor win last night, Beau Monga is feeling hungry. Before our interview starts, he's putting in an order for teriyaki chicken on rice with extra mayo on the side. Then he tells me about his favourite culinary treat - sushi dipped in butter chicken sauce. Vision: TV3
Following his triumphant X Factor win last night, Beau Monga is feeling hungry.
Before our interview starts, he's putting in an order for teriyaki chicken on rice with extra mayo on the side. Then he tells me about his favourite culinary treat - sushi dipped in butter chicken sauce.
Beau Monga was crowned winner of the second series of X Factor NZ
He'srefreshingly normal and the win has yet to sink in. I joke that he's famous now and he laughs.
"I don't think I'm famous, eh, I really don't think I am. So buzzy."
He describes a lot of things as buzzy - it's a word that seems to sum up his X Factor experience succinctly, with all its ups and downs.
Monga's original judge was Natalia Kills, who was famously ousted with her co-judge and husband Willy Moon, after the pair launched a vitriol-laden rant at contestant Joe Irvine.
He doesn't hold any ill feelings against the pair, defending them as "good people".
Following the incident, Monga worried that people might not want to vote for him as one of Natalia Kills' proteges, but obviously that wasn't the case.
He says it didn't take away from the sheen of the show, but he found it hard to figure out what happened on the X Factor stage that night.
"I honestly can't get my head around it," he says.
"Usually I figure out things pretty quick, but that one I can't get my head around it. But I know they're not like that eh, they're good people.
"We're all humans, we all make mistakes."
Changing judges halfway through the series from Natalia Kills to Natalie Bassingthwaighte came with its own set of challenges.
"At first it was hard to adapt to Natalie, because of the different energy," he says, adding that they ended up on the same page and worked well together.
TV3 sacked Natalia Kills and Willy Moon from The X Factor after the husband and wife judges were seen to bully a contestant on live TV.
"We've actually made some pretty buzzy risks on the show."
The pair occasionally battled over song choices, when Monga wanted to make changes at the last minute. He says he had a lot of input over what he performed and had his own creative vision.
"I'm like, 'It's me at the end of the day, I'm performing it so you've gotta respect that'."
He doesn't like to be told what to do and it's hardly surprising that the multi-talented beat boxer, singer and rapper would have his own unique creative vision.
"I hate doing things that I don't want to do," he says.
"I know you have to do it, but still there shouldn't be a 'have to do it'. It should be that you want to do it."
Monga is also known for his family connections - his parents are Betty-Anne and Ryan Monga of well-loved New Zealand Polyfunk band Ardijah, who watched the finale from home.
He grew up with their music, but wasn't really aware of their influence until he was older.
"It was honestly pretty normal, I thought Mum and Dad were just Mum and Dad," he says.
"I didn't really click that Ardijah were an inspiration to NZ until I hit high school. I was like 'Oh actually, they're mean'."
His main musical influence is Beardyman, a British beat-boxer and looper who Monga says is "the best in the world".
Other than that, he also gets inspiration from his parents, his culture and "pretty much everyone around me, even you".
As far as his fellow X Factor contestants go, he's keen to collaborate with all of them at some point - but particularly with psychedelic rockers Brendon Thomas and the Vibes, who came third in the contest.
"Because we always jammed together and we've already thought of new ideas and some buzzy original stuff that we haven't seen yet.
"Everyone would be a mean collab though," he adds.
Despite the hordes of female fans he's accumulated throughout the show, Monga won't comment on whether or not he's single - something he's been asked a lot during the media frenzy following the finale.
"I'm just going to focus on the music," he says. "Keep it more interesting, use the hype while I can."
Following the finale, Monga and the other contestants and crew got to let off some steam at the wrap party - and it sounds like it was a late one, with dance battles and even a limbo contest which saw judge Stan Walker get pretty low, apparently.
"It was cool to see everyone let loose and not be so serious," says Monga.
"I wish it was like that every day, but apparently it's not.
"You shouldn't have to stress about stuff, but that's how the world is."
Now that he's heading out into the real world, he says he'll miss the weekly ritual of X Factor performances, but he's looking forward to performing in new and exciting places.
