Top New Zealand artists set to mentor TV show contestants.
They already have local and international musical talent guiding them, judging them, and - hopefully - celebrating with them every week.
But the five remaining artists in the running to win The X Factor NZ are about to get a serious injection of local artistic integrity and know-how as they fight to make it through to the finals.
That's thanks to the inclusion of five New Zealand artists in this Sunday's episode, with Gin Wigmore, Hollie Smith, Che Fu, Aaradhna, and Mark De Jong joining the show to help mentor the aspiring artists.
With Lili Bayliss eliminated this week, five artists remain on the TV3 talent show: hip-hop entertainer Beau Monga, theatrical balladeer Stevie Tonks, pop wannabe Steve Broad, soul queen Nyssa Collins and psychedelic rockers Brendon Thomas and The Vibes.
Each will be paired with one of the five Kiwi acts, and assigned to perform one of their most well-known songs. Tonks has been paired with Wigmore, the Vibes with Smith, Collins with Aaradhna, Monga with Che-Fu and Broad with De Jong.
The artists will be on hand to give guidance, help them nail their covers, and, in a nerve-wracking move for contestants, watch performances live on Sunday.
Hollie Smith says she had second thoughts about contributing to the episode, but decided she liked the idea of being a mentor.
"There are parts of The X Factor model I don't necessarily agree with but I think it still helps younger kids be in touch with music, which is a good thing," she said.
"It is a skewed way of seeing the music industry but with the mentoring aspect in X Factor at least the people involved can get some advice they can learn from. At the end of the day, it's an entertainment TV show.
Her role with Brendon Thomas and The Vibes amounted to "just talking shit really... fun times and shenanigans.
"They seem to know what they're doing and it's just for the one song so it's more just explaining my personal thoughts on how the song should be considered."
Che Fu.
Che Fu, who has three solo albums to his name as well as a No. 1 hit in 1996 with DLT's Chains, told TimeOut he was happy to help out. But he admitted he wouldn't want to be a fulltime judge - especially after the furore that erupted over axed judges Natalia Kills and Willy Moon.
"I think I'd enjoy the process of mentoring an artist, but the whole media fracas that sometimes comes with the job might just be enough for me to give it a miss," he said.
Che Fu's advice to contestants was to believe in themselves and trust in their training.
"They're pretty deep in the competition, so there's technically not much to change. At this point I would say let the training take over, and enjoy the moment."
Who: Che-Fu and Hollie Smith What: The X Factor NZ's local music special When and where: TV3 on Sunday at 7pm.
