Rotorua schoolgirl Nikau Grace Chater wins Lockdown's Got Talent

Nikau Grace Chater from Rotorua and Kawerau. Photo / Supplied by Sebastian Cutelli

Singer Nikau Grace Chater has won New Zealand's Lockdown's Got Talent competition. Here's what she plans to do with her $750 prize winnings.

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Rotorua schoolgirl Nikau Grace Chater has a special plan for her cash winnings after taking out New Zealand's Lockdown's Got Talent competition.

The Rotorua Intermediate School pupil from Kawerau was last night named the winner of the Facebook competition and has won $750 and a two-year membership to Top 10 Holiday Parks.

While the 12-year-old would one day like to buy an iPad Pro, she will be putting all her winnings towards getting a new condensing microphone she can use for her home recording studio.

"That's my main priority to make the music sound good."

Nikau spent every day in lockdown in her room singing. She regularly posted live Facebook videos of new songs and quickly gained a following.

She entered Lockdown's Got Talent, a voting-based Facebook competition that had entries from all over New Zealand . She sang Yebba's Evergreen and found favour either leading the competition or coming second most of the way.

The winners were announced live on Monday night with the competition organiser saying Nikau was a "fantastic young lady with a fantastic voice and a personality to match".

Barbies covered by 12yr old Nikau Grace

Tonights Lockdown song is a cover of Barbies by P!nk. I chose this song cause P!nk actually had COVID-19 and also donated 1 million dollars to helping. She's amazing and I hope she would be proud of my version. Love you P!nk and all you amazing people who have given me so much encouragement. Stay Safe!

Posted by Nikau Grace Chater on Saturday, 18 April 2020

Nikau said she managed to get more than 2000 votes and was super excited to win.

While her prize money is already spoken for, she hopes to get a few more gigs under her belt to buy her dream device - an iPad Pro.

She's so in love with it, she even rattles off the commercial: "Your new computer is not a new computer at all, it is an iPad Pro ... I've memorised the ad but it's like $2000, but one day."

Nikau said her mother, Rachel Chater, always referred to her as the "village kid" because she's raised by a village of people - spending four nights of the week boarding with family friends in Rotorua to allow her to attend Rotorua Intermediate School.

"I could not have done this competition without the village. All of those people who supported me, that means more to me than the prize, even the iPad Pro," she said.

Tonights Lockdown song is for my friends Nikita, Kayti, and Kyla whose Dad, Luke Tamatea was killed in Afghanistan. I know you never forget, but ANZAC is a time that we all remember - Here is Memories by Maroon 5, covered by Nikau Grace.

Posted by Nikau Grace Chater on Friday, 24 April 2020