Nikau Grace Chater sings her original song. Photo / Sebastian Cutelli
As the lights dimmed and the spotlight shone on the stage in the school hall, you could sense the nerves starting to bubble.
And I'm not talking about the kids taking part in Rotorua Intermediate School's Got Talent.
While I'm sure they were nervous having to perform in front of their school mates and families, it's more nerve-wracking for us judges having to decide who is the best.
How do you judge one delightful singer against an amazing dancer against an entertaining group?
I don't mean for this to sound cliche but every single child who performed at the talent quest on Thursday night last week was incredible.
For starters, they had gone through a rigid selection process to make the finals and all of them had talent. Seeing them feeling their music, smiling, laughing and being proud of themselves was so rewarding.
Image 1 of 8: Jayme-Rose Maki puts a lot of soul into her song.
While it's a difficult job picking the best, it's a task I look forward to each year at Rotorua Intermediate School. For some reason (likely their encouraging music teacher Robert Powley), this school seems to produce fantastic performers.
Winning Rotorua Intermediate School's Got Talent is becoming a coveted title and this year the honours went to singer/songwriter Nikau Grace Chater and her friend Tayla Paul on guitar who performed Nikau's original song, Nan's Song, which she wrote about her grandmother who died last year.
Nikau's voice is like nothing I've heard of before from someone her age and she's well on the way to becoming a star.
Second place went to Grace Adler who showed skill choreographing her own contemporary dance and third went to the entertaining Tunohopu All Stars for their Taiaha Dance.
Grace was also instrumental in passing on her skills to her friends to help them secure highly commended for their group's contemporary dance, Jayme-Rose Maki's heartful rendition of Dancing in the Sky earned highly commended and the skill of Kaitlyn Colle's highland dancing also earned her highly commended.
Special mention from me goes to Baillie Lukis and Kate Adler for not only being first but also nailing the tricky Britney Spears' hit, Toxic, complete with dance moves.
DJ Drew Haunga was also a delight. How often do you see a kid of that age mixing and looping like a pro?
And while we're picking out amazing talent. Take a look at the photographs accompanying this article. They were taken by 12-year-old Sebastian Rocco Cutelli, also from Rotorua Intermediate School.
My family philosophy is "kids in sport stay out of court". The same goes for music or anything extra curricular. We parents should always try to find something our children excel at and let them fly.
Having a child who is confident and proud of their achievements does wonders.
For me, music isn't about being the best. It's about enjoying what you do and seeing people appreciate your talent.
To see the joy music was giving these young people at Rotorua Intermediate School's Got Talent just makes me smile every time.
Rotorua Airport and Air NZ say they are working to address challenges.
