New Zealand's Got Talent

In 2008, New Zealand broadcaster Prime Television launched a local version of the hit international show. The hosts were TV presenter Andrew Mulligan and radio host Jason Reeves, with actress Miriama Smith, former NZ Idol judge Paul Ellis and television producer and presenter Richard Driver as judges. The series had a top prize of NZ$100,000. The first episode went on air on 8 September 2008. Despite good ratings for the network, Prime was unable to outrun costs and decided not to renew the series for another season. In 2012, TVNZ bought the rights to the series and on 9 September season 2 premiered on TV One, with Tāmati Coffey as the host, and model Rachel Hunter, Opshop singer-songwriter Jason Kerrison and UB40 frontman Ali Campbell judging. Toyota was confirmed to be the foundation partner. TVNZ confirmed a third series would be produced in 2013. Tāmati Coffey returned as host, and Jason Kerrison and Rachel Hunter returned as judges, joined by American choreographer Cris Judd. In 2014 TVNZ confirmed that a fourth series of the show would not be produced that year, with the network instead putting its resources towards producing a local version of cooking show My Kitchen Rules. Since 2014, New Zealand contestants have been on Australia's Got Talent, such as in 2019. ==Hosts and judges==

Series 1 The series began on 8 September 2008 on Prime and ended on 29 October 2008. It was produced by South Pacific Pictures. Starting 29 September, the live semi-finals started aired on Monday nights, with the results show on Tuesday nights. The top two finalists were dancer Chaz Cummings and musical group TMC, with Chaz Cummings eventually becoming the winner of the first series of ''New Zealand's Got Talent''. Series 2 Series two ran from 9 September 2012 and ended on 2 December 2012. Episodes were pre-recorded and broadcast on Sunday evenings at 7.30pm. In February 2012, TVNZ announced that a new local version of the show was in the early stages of production and would screen on TV One. Broadcast funding agency NZ On Air committed to $1.6 million in funding to the new show. The series was hosted by Tāmati Coffey, The series was won by 15-year-old singer-songwriter Clara van Wel from Blenheim who performed her own song "Where Do You Find Love?". 11-year-old singer Jessie Hillel from Wellington was the runner-up, with 17-year-old singer-songwriter Evan Sinton from Auckland in third place. Series 3 In November 2012, TVNZ confirmed the show would return for a third series in 2013. Series three premiered on 15 September 2013. Host Tamai Coffey and judges Rachel Hunter and Jason Kerrison returned to the series, with choreographer Cris Judd replacing Ali Campbell on the judging panel. NZ On Air funded $800,000 towards the series, a 50% reduction from the 2012 series production. NZ On Air noted that any future series would not be eligible for funding. ==References==