New talent in finals of Waiata Māori Music Awards

Former Mahia resident Kirsten Te Rito is a finalist in this year's Waiata Maori Music Awards. Photo / Supplied

A blend of new and established artists, including former Mahia singer-songwriter Kirsten Te Rito, make up this year's finalists for the National Waiata Māori Music Awards.

A total of 18 finalists have been selected across various categories, some competing for multiple titles for the 13th annual awards event.

Te Rito (Te Kaitiaki) is up for Best Te Reo Māori Album, alongside Grove Roots (Marae) and Rei (Hoea).

Former award winners Troy Kingi, Israel Starr and Seth Haapu are back as finalists for the coveted Best Māori Male Solo Artist, along with Lion Rezz, who was a finalist in previous years.

Haapu and Kingi are also finalists in Best Māori Songwriter, Best Music Video by a Māori Artist and Best Single by a Māori Artist categories.

Just as important is the Best Māori Female Solo Artist title which this year will be contested by Taisha Tari, Ria Hall and La Coco.

National Waiata Māori Music Awards executive director Ellison Huata said she was pleased with the high level of the finalists.

"We would like to thank all of our artists who put forward their work to be considered for this year's awards.

"We know it's been a difficult year for our artists and we hope this event will give people something to celebrate and provide a platform for better times ahead in the coming year."

Independent judges have assessed the work of the artists online, individually, rather than as a group or collective panel. The results were submitted via the internet to the awards administrator and collated.