This Saturday 1 September, Manukau reverberated with the sounds of the coming generation of musical stars.
Stand Up Stand Out 2018, Auckland’s premier secondary school music and dance competition, delivered another year of exceptional talent.
A captivating rendition of ‘And I’m Telling You’ and soaring vocals propelled Silika Isaia from Papatoetoe High School to victory in the solo vocalist category.
In the group vocals, the voices of Magnique from Otahuhu College chorused together to take first place in a close and nail-biting finale.
Maurice and the Men from Avondale College took out the hotly contested band category, while Finau Fulivai from Manurewa High School took out the solo instrumental with an energetic drum solo.
Tight choreography and execution ruled the dance category with Fade Away from Mount Roskill Grammar School taking it out with contemporary choreography.
These five winners have emerged from more than 1000 secondary school entrants, and intense competition in the heats and semi-finals, which were hosted at OMAC.
The judging panel – Cherie Mathieson, Brandon Haru, Joash Fahitua and Antonio Bukhar – had a challenging time selecting the winners.
The winners will share a portion of $6000 prize money as well as the opportunity to take an exclusive masterclass workshop with one of the SUSO 2018 judges to further their musical growth.
In a first for the competition, finalists had a chance to polish their performances ahead of the finals at a workshop with some of the country’s top professionals in the music industry, including award-winning musician Kings.
Stand Up Stand Out was presented by Auckland Council and supported by Flava.
List of winners:
- Solo Vocal: Silika Isaia from Papatoetoe High School (winner), Angel Molia from Avondale College (Runner-up)
- Group Vocal: Magnique from Otahuhu College (winner), Vonique from Southern Cross Campus (Runner-up)
- Solo Instrumental: Finau Fulivai from Manurewa High School (winner), Josh Parker from Avondale College (Runner-up)
- Band: Maurice and the Men from Avondale College, Exodus from Manurewa High School (Runner-up)
- Dance: Fade Away from Mount Roskill Grammar School (winner), The Seniorz from Manurewa High School (Runner-up).
