Dancing with Rotorua Stars underway

Dancing with Rotorua Stars is underway at the Energy Events Centre. Photo/Stephen Parker

10.16: AND THE WINNERS ARE. . . Justin and Donna. Congratulations everyone and well done to those who have donated to Rotorua Hospice.

9.44: Justin and Donna, and Paul and Tania have been announced the two winners and will have a dance off, after the crowd is served dessert, to find the overall winner.

9.40. Darrin and Nadia have ended the competition side of the night with a Cook Island-themed dance scoring them 34.

9.32. Paul and Tania have just blown everyone away with a romantic yet raunchy dance. They are now tied at the top of the table with 38.

9.23: Nadene and Andrew were next up with their Latin-themed dance that turned funky towards the end. Hayley Holt said she could tell they put a lot of effort into their dance and made the observation Nadene's technique was very good. They scored 31.

9.20: The second half is underway with our city's leader mayor Steve Chadwick and businessman Charlie Windell taking the stage. Their waltz was a crowd pleaser scoring 32 with the judges.

8.10: Half time and so far Justin and Donna have the competition lead, Judi and Rodney are second, followed by Tracey and Brodie, Russell and Lorraine and Kyra and Brent.

8.05: Cliff Curtis has just described Russell and Lorraine's dance as "fun, fun, fun". They scored a credible 32.

7.59: Tracey and Brodie have just wowed the crowd with an amazing lift, straight out of Dirty Dancing. It helped them get to a score of 33.

7.53: Justin and Donna just impressed and scored the first 10s of the night. They got just two off a perfect score, with 38 points. The crowd went wild.

7.45: The Rotorua Daily Post's very own Kyra Dawson and her partner Brent have just done us very proud. Co-host Jackie Clarke wants to register Kyra's legs as national taonga. They mixed their dances to four songs and scored an impressive 26.

7.33: The judges have been introduced. Hayley Holt has told the crowd she is looking for someone who has gone the extra length to put in the hard yards.

The judges will pick a final two who will compete at the end of the night for a dance off, when the audience will be asked to help decide the overall winners.

Judi and Rodney have kicked off the competition with a tango to the dramatic Phantom of the Opera theme tune. They scored 34.

Earlier

Rotorua has turned out in all its glory for tonight's black tie event, Harcourts Dancing with Rotorua Stars, to raise money for the local hospice.

The glitzy event is underway and is a sellout with 2000 people attending.

For several months now, 20 local contestants have worked for hours to perfect their dance for tonight's event, which will be judged by Rotorua-born actor Cliff Curtis, former All Black Hika Reid, television personality and dancer Hayley Holt and Rotorua Hospice chief executive Sharon Black.

Hospice is hoping to raise $60,000 for its trust, much needed cash to help keep the service operating.

The MCs for tonight's event are previous Dancing with the Stars winner Tamati Coffey and entertainer Jackie Clarke.