A promising Rotorua duo has secured a spot in the top 10 solo/duo acts nationwide, with the top 10 going on to the next stage of Smokefreerockquest.
Rotorua Girls' High School Year 13 students Ngamoe Morgan, 17, and Sonya Katipa, 17, performing as Jars, were one of the video entries selected, following their win at the Rotorua regional finals.
As well as coming first for the solo/duo section, Ngamoe and Sonya also won the Lowdown Best Song Award.
Ngamoe said it was "really cool" to make it to the top 10 for the second time.
"It is our third time competing in Smokefreerockquest, and it is the second time we've made it to this stage of the competition. I felt like this time around we knew the standard of performance that was expected and we were more confident in what we had to offer. Last year it was a huge shock when we made it to the top 10, but this year I knew our songs were a lot better so my thinking was, if we could make it to top 10 last year, we could do it again this year."