Boy-band's living the dream

STUNNED: The boys in Whangarei band Co-Lab Austyn Mills (17, left), Josh Crawford (17) and Toban Taylor (18) stunned the X Factor judges with their performance of Valarie, made famous by Amy Winehouse. PHOTO/JOHN STONE

Being told you have the "X Factor" by one of your idols was a dream that turned into reality for three talented Northland teenagers.

Whangarei Boys' High School year 13 students Austyn Mills, Josh Crawford and Toban Taylor featured on the X Factor New Zealand on Tuesday night in their band Co-Lab. Their performance of the Zutons' song Valerie (which was made famous by Amy Winehouse) secured them a spot in the next round of the competition, known as bootcamp.

The boys never expected the reaction they got, Austyn said. "We were like 'let's just do our best'."

While their performance inspired smiles, and ultimately yeses, from all four judges it was Natalia Kills who took a particular fancy to the young men.

While twirling her hair the singer said "I like you", pointing at Austyn, "I also like you" pointing at Toban, "but I really like you", to a slightly sheepish Josh.

Stan Walker, who the boys said was "the man", took a liking to them too. "Youse (sic) have, what we say, the X Factor," Walker told them.

Judge Willy Moon, who appears to be taking on the Simon Cowl role, was initially sceptical with their choice of song, particularly after the boys described the song as sung by Amy Winehouse, but a more Bruno Mars version.

"That's interesting," Mr Moon said. "It's a cover, of a cover, of a cover."

However, even Mr Moon was soon won over by the charismatic teens.

Their band Co-Lab, that won this year's regional Rockquest finals, had been performing together for about three years. While they often brought in other members, the three boys were the consistent ones. What the cameras did not show was the standing ovation from the 5000-strong crowd.

"We probably couldn't ask for a much better reaction," Josh said. "To be honest, about half way through, I wasn't sure how we were going."

"I was buzzing for like four days straight," Toban said.

While they were happy to talk about their performance, bootcamp was a no-no.