People

Rory, Jason, Marley and Brock
Christchurch

Hailing from the mighty Christchurch, Marley, Brock, Jason and Rory make up the soulful sound of Moorhouse. With the group already making a name for themselves in Christchurch the boys stole the show at the TV auditions and have continued to make waves as they move forward in the competition.

Moorhouse’s arrival served to change the view of judge Melanie Blatt. “I didn’t want the groups before you came on. Now I do.”

Follow the boys on Twitter: @
moorhousemusic

27
Wellington

Maaka Fiso from Wellington rounds out the final three in the Over 25s Category.

A fluent speaker of Te Reo, Maka is a big fan of soul, gospel and jazz music and would love to do a duet with Chaka Khan.

Blasting his own rendition of ‘Ordinary people’ by John Legend, Maaka got rave reviews from Stan. “You are the reason I came here,” said Stan. “I wanted to find the voice and you have the voice.”

Follow Maaka on Twitter:
@maakaofficial

34
Auckland

Taye Williams is the second contestant in the Over 25s Category.

Auckland based, Taye is a big fan of Lionel Richie and has a ‘hall pass’ for Aussie starlet, Delta Goodrem.

Taye sung a John Legend classic for his TV Audition and left Stan in no doubt he wanted him in the competition. “I love your rendition, you are without doubt the best over we have had.”

Follow Taye on Twitter:
@tayewilliams

26
Auckland

Anna Wilson is the first contestant in the Over 25s Category.

Described by friends as down to earth, loving and kind hearted, Anna loves soul music but harbors a secret love for a good pop classic.

Stan was taken by Anna’s country twang when she arrived at the TV Auditions “What you have brought is different to anything else we have seen today and I can’t wait to see more.”

Follow Anna on Twitter:
@iamannawilson

18
Christchurch

Christchurch lad, Whenua Patuwai is the first contender in the Under 25 Boys Category.

Described by his friends as a big teddy bear, Whenua’s all time favorite recording artist is Bob Marley but he is not afraid to admit his guilty pleasure is Justin Bieber.

Whenua sung ‘Take it Easy’ by Stan Walker at his TV Auditions and left Ruby Frost speechless “I love your soul, it was amazing, I don’t even know what to say, I was just blown away.”

Follow Whenua on Twitter:
@wpatuwai

22
Greymouth

Greymouth born and raised, Jackie Thomas completes the Under 25 Girls category after returning to the competition at the Judges’ Retreats stage after she was eliminated at Bootcamp.

A big fan of artists such as Lionel Richie, Jackie chose an amazing rendition of ‘Skinny Love’ for her TV audition which left Daniel to proclaim “New Zealand has found a new sweetheart.”

Follow Jackie on Twitter:
@jackiesian

18
Auckland

Hailing from central Auckland, Eden Roberts is the second contestant in the Under 25 Girls.

A massive fan of the Indie-pop genre, Eden rates Florence and the Machine as her ultimate recording artist and would love to do a duet with Ed Sheeran.

Eden sung an original ‘Blue Home’ for her TV audition which blew Daniel Bedingfield away. “Thank you so much for that. Thank you for working so hard on your craft, Thank you so much.”

Like Eden on Facebook:
facebook.com/edenmusician

Hometown: Christchurch – Residing in Auckland
Occupation: Administrator at Telecom
Age: 25

Alex grew up in Christchurch and lived there until her mother passed away in the Christchurch earthquake, in the CTV building. Alex moved to Auckland 6 weeks later with her fiancé Richie, who she describes as her ‘”rock” and “biggest fan”. They married in March this year.

She learnt how to bake from her Mum, and so Alex wants to bake her heart out in memory of her mother. She uses her family recipes and finds baking therapeutic when things are tough. She wants to show that something good and positive can come out of something so bad and horrible.

Alex describes herself as kind, quiet, conscientious, generous and traditional. But she is in it to win it. “Life is far too short. It’s too short to sit on the side line and far too short to think about ‘if only’. I see this as my chance, my opportunity to pit my talents against the very best”.

Hometown: Auckland
Occupation: Stay at home mother of two (5 and 17 months)
Age: 31

Fashionista Claire brings a dash of glamour to the Home Baker competition this year. A former fashion stylist and buyer, she’s currently a stay at home mother to Oscar, aged five and Miley, 17 months old.

Claire learnt how to bake from her Mum who was a Home Economics Teacher. Her earliest memory of baking was making pikelets in the letter “C” at age 4, a tradition she carries on with her children.

She’s not confident she’ll take out the competition, but she is excited to learn from the other contestants.

She describes herself as dramatic. “I am the woman who bakes in her kitchen and talks to herself pretending she is on a cooking show”.

Hometown: Upper Hutt
Occupation: Ministry of Social Development Manager – Regional Relationship Manager
Age: 41

Kiriana has been married for two years to her “sexy husband” Johnny Marshall. They have a young son Arana who is eight years old, daughter Olivia who is 15 (currently living in OZ) and another baby on the way. Her husband Johnny gained 10kg by eating her baking!

Her Mum taught her to bake and she’s been baking ever since she can remember. Her first memory is baking cheese scones at pre-school. She started to get really into baking seriously when she was in her early thirties.

Kiriana has a dream to open her own little bakery one day. She’s hoping this competition will help her learn new skills and new abilities to help her dream.