Hiccup to cheerleader bid

A former SkyCity cheerleader's hopes of joining the New York Knicks' cheerleading squad have come into difficulty. Photo / Getty Images

A Kiwi flight attendant has been at the centre of an internet controversy while competing for a spot on the New York Knicks cheerleading squad.

Melissa Rodriguez, 27, auditioned to become the 18th member of the Knicks City Dancers and made it to the final two.

Fans were then asked to vote for their favourite. The winner is due to be announced by the end of tomorrow.

However organisers wiped all the votes for both contestants after allegations were made that Rodriguez was cheating, according to a fan site run by her brother. She was alleged to have told people how to set up an automatic vote for her on the site.

However there was no limit on how many times a person could vote as long as they only voted once every 60 seconds.

After deliberations, organisers ruled there was no cheating - but reset the votes.

Now it's her supporters who feel cheated by cruel fate. Her brother said that when the competition had closed, Rodriguez had 59.12 per cent of the votes.

The former SkyCity cheerleader, a winner of several New Zealand ballroom dancing competitions, said the reset did not affect people voting for her.

"There were accusations made, but it was found that it was not true," she said.

"I was still doing well. We were both doing well, sometimes my votes went up and sometimes she went up a lot. It wasn't anything different (after the reset), it just shows nothing shady was going on."

Rodriguez said her husband Isaac and her Auckland-based parents and brother had been voting religiously.

"I've always wanted to be a New York Knicks cheerleader," she said. "My mum, she's been going crazy. I think she's annoyed my dad because she's been up late at night voting."

"I've been dancing since I was in my mum's belly."

The New York Knickerbockers, known as the Knicks, were one of the 11 original Basketball Association franchises formed in 1946.

The team attracts a wealthy and star-studded audience to its games at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. It hasn't won the championship since 1973 but made the finals in 1994 and 1999.

Rodriguez emigrated from South Africa to New Zealand when she was 17. She left this country three years ago to work for Emirates in Dubai. She met Isaac, whom she married eight months ago, in New York. The couple will have a second wedding in New Zealand in October for Kiwi family.