As part of the competition, Sophie performed two Carrie Underwood songs, The Potter’s Hand and Blown Away before all the contestants gathered for the winners to be announced.
With the announcement, one final song was performed by all the contestants, with the winners for each category performing each successive verse.
“With the final song that the contestants sing, the junior overall winner will sing the first verse, the intermediate overall winner will sing the second verse, and so on and so on.”
The challenge of the contest was making sure she had the lyrics memorised and the notes she wanted to hit down, while also having an eye for showmanship.
“We had a meeting with the convenor of the awards, and she said the judges were really looking for somebody who can entertain and put on a show as if the show was their show,” she said.
Her win meant she would be a special guest artist at next year’s awards, having her name engraved on the winner’s trophy, and taking home a $400 cash prize.
Now with the contest done, she’s focused on working on two studio albums with her producer Dick Le Fort, who previously produced her debut EP, Believing, in 2022.
She’s also the North Island’s country music youth ambassador for the NZCMA and said she wanted to get more new young voices into the scene, as it was lacking this at the moment.
“It’s quite sad now because in country music at the moment there’s not [many] new youth. It’s kind of all the same now.
“That’s what I want to work on, getting new youth into the country music society,” Sophie said.
She first got involved in country music when she was very young and said she loved meeting new people and tackling new challenges because of it.
Sophie thanked her singing teacher, Elizabeth De Vegt, her parents and extended family, friends, supporters and the committee of the NZCMA for choosing her.
Finn Williams is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. He joined the Chronicle in early 2022 and regularly covers stories about business, events and emergencies. He also enjoys writing opinion columns on whatever interests him.