The combination, held together by amusing MC Cohen Holloway and magician/dancer Lola (and he looks very comfortable in towering heels) made for a magical night.
In fact, the format, with entrants' categories interspersed with musical numbers, was the real winner on the night.
The wearable creations showed incredible innovation and creativity, wowing the crowd.
The amount of work that must have gone into designing and creating them is staggering.
And not all the talent was on stage.
Entries in the short film category were shown on screen. These were highly entertaining, particularly the People's Choice Award winner The Tour which was laugh-out-loud funny.
But the night truly belonged to the young singers and dancers. Their performances throughout the evening captivated the audience, and a solo by young singer Ellis Carrington was amazing.
Two other numbers in particular stood out for this reviewer: a spooky group number about a carousel - in which a lone singer is joined one at a time by others until it turns into a rousing chorus on a haunted merry-go-round, and a duet cover of John Legend's All of Me by Sam Aoke-Austin and Aroha Te Whau, accompanied by a beautiful dance featuring Tamzin Coffin and Saul Newport, which brought some in the audience to tears.
What a night - I hadn't been so entertained in a long time.
