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Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Organisers pull out stops for record numbers
Ngarangi Sadlier, of Lower Hutt, auditions for the Singer/Songwriter category of the New Zealand Gold Guitar Awards in Gore on Friday. She eventually won the Gospel category. PHOTO: ELLA SCOTT-FLEMING As record number of contestants converged on Gore for the New Zealand Gold Guitar Awards, organisers put systems in place to handle the churn of more than 800 musical entries. The auditioning process for the awards began across five venues on Friday and convener Philip Geary said their systems for handling this year's 829 entries were reasonably good, but could be better. Given the growth of the awards, Mr Geary said the awards committee was engaging a software writer to create a new program to help organise the contestants, judges' scores and the winners in each of the 31 categories. "[Something] that should just spit everything out, and all we need to do is look at it and confirm it, and that's it," he said. Having worked the awards for 30 years, this was not Mr Geary's first rodeo and he and the other organisers made sure the stage and setup were the same across the auditioning spaces to keep the competition regulated. Gore Country Music Club music committee convener Laurel Turnbull said due to the record number of entries they had engaged all four venues for the auditions as well as added an extra van to act as a courtesy coach between venues. The 12 judges were distributed between the Gore RSA, Gore Town & Country Club, Gore Baptist Church and Calvin Community Church for auditions, but came together at the club for the finals on Saturday and Sunday nights.
Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Gold Guitars final crowd drawcard
The 50th annual MLT Gold Guitar Awards Senior Finals began impressively last night with a sold-out stadium and a jam-packed lineup of country music's finest. The event is the big finale for the Bayleys Tussock Country music festival, and what a show it promised to be for the 1100 people in attendance. Musicians brought their very best to the Gore Town & Country Club, all vying for their place among New Zealand country music royalty. There were plenty of home-town heroes such as the Mitchell family, with twins Nicola and Maegan competing against their father Ron in the singer/songwriter section. Notably Ron's daughter and the twins' sister Jenny Mitchell won the overall award back in 2017, setting a high watermark for the country music family. Fan favourite Jeremy Hantler, of the Harmonic Resonators, wowed the audience during the Traditional section, with an impressive show of vocal range and control. Australia sent over a bit of strong competition too, in the form of Jon Collins. The grand prize for the Senior category is $3000, a Martin D-28 Satin Acoustic Guitar, a fully produced single and publicity package as well as other prizes to help the winner's career. The winner will also be flown out to the 2026 Tamworth Country Music Festival to show off the fine work of the Gold Guitars. Finalists and winners were yet to be announced at the time of writing, and convener Phillip Geary said this year it was a strongly contested competition. "It's going to be a very close call this year. "Some years we can see it from the first audition, but this is a lot tighter. The quality is high, very high," he said. Mr Geary had a lot to celebrate, with sold-out shows across the block like the 50th anniversary Golden Guitars show on Thursday, which featured 22 past Gold Guitar winners. Heavy hitters from past and present set a high bar for the competitors, showing exactly what it meant to take up the mantle of winning the award. Mr Geary knew what the Gold Guitars meant for a young musician — a chance to rise the ranks into country music royalty. "This is a steppingstone for anyone who is serious about their career, and their music," he said.
Otago Daily Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Awards organisers pull out stops for record numbers
As a record number of contestants swarm Gore for the Gold Guitar Awards, organisers say they have systems, and added venues and vehicles, in place to handle the churn of more than 800 musical entries this year. The auditioning process for the Gold Guitars began across five venues yesterday and convener Philip Geary said their systems for handling this year's 829 entries were reasonably good, but could be better. Given the growth of the awards, Mr Geary said the awards committee was engaging a software writer to create a new program to help organise the contestants, judges' scores and the winners in each of the 31 categories. "[Something] that should just spit everything out, and all we need to do is look at it and confirm it, and that's it," he said. Having worked the awards for 30 years, this was not Mr Geary's first rodeo and he and the other organisers made sure the stage and setup were the same across the auditioning spaces to keep the competition regulated. "We're just trying to create the same environment of what they would do at the finals anyway, so that everybody's on the same level playing field," he said. Gore Country Music Club music committee convener Laurel Turnbull said due to the record number of entries they had engaged all four venues for the auditions as well as added an extra van to act as a courtesy coach between venues. The 12 judges were distributed between the Gore RSA, Gore Town & Country Club, Gore Baptist Church and Calvin Community Church for auditions, but would come together at the club for the finals on Saturday and Sunday nights. Invercargill-raised and Dunedin-based musician Holly Muirhead, 21, who said she had first entered the contest when she was 13, said the competition was massive this year. "When I was back in [the] intermediate [section] there were a lot less contestants and now it's like every class is 50 people," she said. "I don't know how the judges do it." She said the competition had been growing gradually every year and it was nice to see so many new faces in the songwriter and senior (or classic) sections. Mr Geary said the competition's growth, particularly in the younger, intermediate section, happened about 10 to 15 years ago with the rise in popularity of country rock, such as Taylor Swift. "I think it was three years ago [the intermediate section] increased by 30%, which is great, which is big," he said. Ms Muirhead said she agreed with the Taylor Swift effect and said it was the American star's crossover between country and pop which attracted new audiences. She said another of her favourites, five-time Grammy Award nominee Kelsea Ballerini, succeeded in that crossover space. The Dunedin singer/songwriter auditioned with her original song 60 Years about her grandparents' anniversary.
