A Rotorua 8-year-old has been named as the world's first female Milkybar Kid. Te Kura O Tekoutu student Hinetaapora Short beat more than 1500 hopefuls from across the country to win the competition, and not only was she the judges' choice, but she won the popular vote too, getting the biggestslice of 11,000 public votes. Hinetaapora is bilingual and Maori is her first language. She says her favourite subjects at school are Spanish and singing, and when she grows up she'd like to be famous, or a model. She said she wanted to be the next Milkybar Kid because it sounded fun, she'd like to be famous and she really liked Milkybars. Milkybar spokesman Jeremy Boucher said it was exciting to have found a winner who not only had the special qualities to come through this audition process "but who also
embodies New Zealand in the 21st century." The Top Ten Finalists will each receive a Nestle hamper and a certificate to commemorate their experience, while Hinetaapora will star in the new Milkybar television commercial early next year. See Saturday's The Daily Post for our interview with Hinetaapora.
