Elation at X Factor auditions in Auckland yesterday was cruelly dashed by a car thief.
Kyle Hoggen, 16, of West Auckland, who spent a year working towards yesterday's tryouts, was stranded after his car was taken.
He spent eight hours at auditions in Western Springs with his dad Carl, mother Amanda and brother Jake.
"We walked down the road. And me and my dad started walking wider and wider and looking and looking."
It soon became clear the car had been stolen. It is a greenish-blue Ford Laser station wagon, registration SX7442, with black bumpers.