Nik aims to be Pops Ultimate Star

Nik Carlson, the former Wairarapa award-winning performer, has scraped through four elimination rounds during the nine-week Pop's Ultimate Star show, which has a grand prize of a brand-new car and $50,000 cash.
The format of the show puts 10 celebrities at the mercy of a panel of judges and a viewer text vote in a single live broadcast.
"It's been pretty tough having to go through four eliminations. I never thought it would happen like that.
"Every show after the first elimination round, I've prepared myself with a new outfit ready to put on, and running the words through my head for the song I chose. It's not been real easy but it's just part of my journey now."
Carlson, 28, who placed second in the nationally televised NZ Idol contest in 2005, said on Tuesday he had been given an hour to select an elimination song.
After seeking help from the Wairarapa Times-Age newsroom, among other expert advisers, he decided to go with a Robbie Williams song if his number comes up again in the finals show.
So far he has beat out each of his elimination partners with self-selected songs, starting with Shadowfeet, by Brooke Fraser, against Rosita Vai and moving through Human Nature, by Michael Jackson, against "dearest friend" Camellia Temple, To Be Around You, by Maria Carey, against David Wikaira-Paul and Lighning Crashes, by Live, against Emily Williams.
He said it was difficult "losing Rosita" in a reverse of the NZ Pop Idol final, but squaring off against Camillia was even more of a test.
"Me and Camillia were very close. She and I connected really well. To see her go stayed with me for the longest time but when the new week starts you have to begin focusing on the next challenge, the next round."
The elimination song selection for the finals is crucial, he said, and "does need to be an upbeat tune that everbody knows" with every selection kicking off the week for a ultimate idol contestant.
Each working day of the past nine weeks has followed a set routine, he said, starting with a rest day on Monday and elimination song selection on Tuesday, after which keys and tempos are established at Mainz Music School in Auckland.
Interview segments of contestants are also shot for the show on Tuesday at Touchdown Studios and that night the judges' selection of song is given to contestants, he said.
The choices presented to him by judges has so far "not been the greatest", he said, although he realises the songs are meant to challenge the contestants and entertain viewers.
"At the start I wasn't enjoying the songs they chose for me at all. They were songs I'd never have chosen to do, but there is the ratings angle for them I suppose."
Wednesday has a wardrobe call for contestants, he said, which in contrast to the songs selected for him has often met with his approval and even the occasional purchase.
Thursday has contestants running through their songs and on Friday there are rehearsals with the studio band of both solo and group numbers.
On Saturday at 5pm the contestants are flown to for a free night in Wellington, with Carlson usually "catching up with friends in the city or from Wairarapa or Levin".
Contestants leave their hotel rooms by 7am on Sunday and are on-set at Avalon Studios in the Hutt a half hour later, "a full 12 hours" before the curtains open for the live broadcast show.
Once again, wardrobe checks are completed and songs are run through twice before a full dress rehearsal that afternoon.
Carlson said he admires the professionalism of show presenter Dominic Bowden, with the pair often comparing notes on clothes and songs and Bowden quick to give private opinion on his songs and performances.
As showtime approaches, he said, nerves awake and heartbeats race.
"You can be tired but as soon as the credits start rolling you wake up and the adrenalin kicks in.
Carlson is diplomatic when asked for judgment on his finalist competitors, Jo Cotton and Matt Saunoa.
"I like Matt's voice and Jo has a good personality. It's hard to say who deserves to win out of the two of them. I actually think it'd be cool to win for myself. So what more can I say.
"It's really for the voters and the judges to decide.
"I'll just give it everything I've got and hope for the best. The rest is up to them."
Regardless of the outcome on Sunday, Carlson will be kept busy after being picked up by star-maker Auckland manager Adee Keil, who is already arranging joint tours alongside others in her stable, including Nesian Mystik and Adeaze.
Carlson is also in the throes of deciding which of two recordings will be released first of a self-penned single recorded with his brother Shane, called Inside Out, or a song recorded with "a couple of rappers and a guitarist" from Nesian Mystik titled Dream City.