TV model quest keeping eye out for Maori talent

Producers of the second series of television's New Zealand's Next Top Model are on the lookout for a stunning Maori face.

They're urging Maori women to audition for the show, saying a Maori model will have better overseas opportunities than others because "it's a special New Zealand look".

Auditions for the popular show are being held next month and are this year being restricted to eight key centres - Auckland, Tauranga, Napier, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, Queenstown and Dunedin.

Next Top Model executive producer John McDonald said they wanted to streamline the audition process and those serious about auditioning would travel.

"We could go to every town in New Zealand but we don't need to. The girls that are keen come to us."

Holding the auditions in only eight centres would help filter out those who weren't that serious, he said.

People could also register online; those registrations had already topped 800. People who had registered would be contacted and told what the process was next. Mr McDonald said auditions were open to women and men aged between 16 and 25.

Meanwhile, Rotorua's Tiffany Butler said she enjoyed her time on the first series of New Zealand's Next Top Model last year but she had no plans to enter again.

The former Rotorua Lakes High School student, who is now studying at Massey University in Wellington, was the first aspiring model of 13 national finalists to be sent home.

She said she saw a whole different side of reality television and urged anyone wanting to audition to keep a "down-to-earth" mindset if they got on to the show.

She had been offered some opportunities as a result of being on the show but decided not to pursue a modelling career.

She is instead studying for a design in communications degree.

Auditions begin in Auckland at the ASB Showgrounds on June 5, 10am to 3pm, and at the Hotel Chancellor on June 6, 1pm to 6pm before heading off on a loop of the country, concluding with the Tauranga auditions at The Sebel Trinity Wharf on June 13.

- APN