The votes are in for New Zealand's unofficial national anthem

Name: Watch the Patea Maori Club perform Poi E
Uploaded: 2016-07-15T12:54:15+12:00
Duration: 254 s
Description: The Patea Maori Club performs their famous hit Poi E in the iHeart Lounge at NZME to celebrate the release of Poi E: The Story of Our Song.

NZ Herald

31 May, 2017 02:30 AMQuick Read

The Patea Maori Club performs their famous hit Poi E in the iHeart Lounge at NZME to celebrate the release of Poi E: The Story of Our Song.

In the final days of New Zealand Music Month, we asked you to vote for your favourite Kiwi song to finally decide on our unofficial national anthem.

Now, we've found the winner.

There were 13 songs on the list of potential anthems, from Crowded House's Don't Dream it's Over, to Dave Dobbyn's Slice of Heaven, all the way through to Lorde's Royals.

More than 7000 Kiwis voted for their favourite song and now, on the last day of NZ Music Month, we can announce Poi E as our new unofficial national anthem.

The Patea Maori Club classic beat out the other top three finalists: Dave Dobbyn's Loyal and Slice of Heaven, and the Exponents' Why Does Love Do This to Me?

While a massive chart topper, Lorde's pop hit Royals couldn't even compete, claiming just one per cent of the vote.

Likewise, The Fourmyula, Dragon, Blam Blam Blam and Bic Runga were blitzed by The Exponents and - in a prime example of "only in NZ" - Engelbert Humperdinck's Ten Guitars.