Hawke's Bay singer Lydia Lewis appears on the trailer for X Factor New Zealand. PHOTO / SUPPLIED
Hawke's Bay singer Lydia Lewis appears on the trailer for X Factor New Zealand. PHOTO / SUPPLIED
Tears, tantrums and talent - all come together on the new trailer for X Factor New Zealand.
But if you pause exactly two minutes and 21 seconds in, you will see what the show is really all about - excitement and passion portrayed by Hawke's Bay musician Lydia Lewis. The singerpositively beams on screen, her smile unwavering, and that is exactly the attitude she wanted to maintain throughout.
"It's really important to hold your own, be the best you that you can be, because on TV they can take any moment from the whole day of filming and show that of you, I think it's important for yourself and your personal image," she told Hawke's Bay Today.
"It is just a preparation thing, through the whole process I said 'if I don't get through that's fine, I am blessed to be here'. It's shown me I can hold myself under pressure. It's cool to know I can do that."
Mrs Lewis started singing and writing music early on, taking the stage for her first production with Napier Operatic Society at the age of 7.
Since then she has been an entrant in the Miss Teen Hawke's Bay pageant and competed at the World Championships of Performing Arts in Los Angeles as a singer and model.
Support from Hawke's Bay people and businesses had seen her come a long way and given her confidence to continue.
Over the years she has learned a lot from performers with more experience and through singing at church but wanted to be totally ready before taking the plunge on national TV.
"I haven't specifically been wanting to audition for X Factor but I have been preparing myself for a big event like that for the past two years, that's why I didn't audition for the first one - I didn't think I was ready then."
While she was unable to give too much away before the first episode airs from 7pm this Sunday, Mrs Lewis did say the audition process was a scary but amazing experience. One thing you won't hear is an original or anything with a sad undertone. Her belief is that music should be uplifting and appeal to all ages.
"It was a big decision because I think not everyone auditioning quite understands you're not just singing for the judges and people in the room, you're singing to Aotearoa. "I think it's important to sing a song that will captivate and move them and make them happy."
Before the 2015 series went to air, she encouraged people to realise the amazing talent not only on stage but behind the judging panel.
"I think everybody likes Stan Walker the best because they don't know the other judges. It's important to give them all a chance. Stan, he's a hero, he's come to New Zealand before but everybody should try to research all the judges. Natalia Kills writes for Madonna, that's incredible."
