One tune away from final spot

TEXT CRUIZE: Text votes from fans will decide the competition fate of Masterton performer Cruize Karaitiana, 22, who will appear on Sunday night as one of five semifinalists in the TV One television show New Zealand's Got Talent. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Masterton performer Cruize Karaitiana joins battle on Sunday night against four other semifinalist acts on the network television show New Zealand's Got Talent.

The 22-year-old singer, who works a day job as a wood manufacturer, received a standing ovation during his audition on the TV One show that airs from 7.30pm on Sundays for a heartfelt rendition of the Tracey Chapman song Fast Car, which he dedicated to his late sister Shanice Karaitiana, 19.

His sister had originally introduced him to the Chapman song, Karaitiana said during his show segment, but in November last year "took her own life".

The competitors on Sunday will fight for two available spaces in the grand finale of the show, which is in its third season on New Zealand network television.

Cruize will need public support and viewer votes via text messages will take him through to the next round.

Tamati Coffey returned to host the latest series of the show alongside a judging panel that includes Kiwi performer Jason Kerrison, former Kiwi supermodel Rachel Hunter and American choreographer Cris Judd.

Karaitiana made the grand final of the My Country Song show on Maori Television in June alongside fellow Wairarapa entertainers Tanya Warren, and Mel and Pip Maynard, and also captured a finals berth in the Freshly Squeezed Talent Quest in 2010 alongside fellow Wairarapa singers Jenn Shelton and Ririwai Fox.

Karaitiana, who hopes to qualify as an engineer in two years, previously won regional Battle of the Bands plaudits as lead singer with the Makoura College hip hop fusion band SKUX and as a country and western section winner in the Wairarapa Celebration Awards.

To cast a vote in New Zealand's Got Talent, send a text message to 8981 with the name of your preferred contestant as displayed on the programme. Voting lines will be open from Sunday 7.30pm until noon the following Tuesday each week.

Karaitiana's initial show audition can be viewed athttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9rdBG5bUBo