8 Year Old Wins Westfield 5 Minutes of Fame

17 August 2012

8 Year Old Wins Westfield 5 Minutes of Fame

Eight year-old Mia Downing from Hamilton is the Westfield Five Minutes of Fame Supreme Winner for 2012. She is the youngest contestant to win the competition in its fourth year history.

Mia’s performance of Brooke Fraser’s Something in the Water, in which she sang and played the guitar, won the hearts of thousands of Kiwis across the nation who voted for her online.

As well as being crowned this year’s Supreme Winner, Mia has won a $2000 tuition grant which she plans to put towards developing her talents as a singer and musician.

The Year 4 student at Hamilton’s Woodstock Primary battled off strong competition from seven other talented young Kiwis who made it through to the final stage of the popular school holiday talent show.

Westfield 5 Minutes of Fame judge Ellen Kuiper says Mia was “born to be on stage”.

“She captivated the audience the moment she walked out,” says Kuiper. “Not only does she have an incredibly beautiful voice, great guitar skills and a gorgeous smile to boot, she also has an amazing stage presence which comes so naturally to her. I truly believe she has a great musical career ahead of her.”

For the second year, voting was open to the public with videos of each finalist’s performance available for viewing and voting on the Westfield website. Several thousand votes were collected over the two week competition period which ran from 23 July to 5 August.

“We are so proud of this year’s contestants for getting up on stage and giving it their best shot - it takes real courage to do that,” says Linda Trainer, General Manager – Centre Management, Westfield New Zealand. “Our warmest congratulations go to Mia whose voice and stage presence wowed the judges and voters across the country.”

Mia only took up the guitar and singing 10 months ago but is no stranger to performing; she was one of the youngest solo artists at The New Waikato Show in April this year and also busked at the Hamilton Arts Festival.

Mia says she would like to put some of the $2000 grant from Westfield toward a “nice electric guitar and a keyboard”.

Westfield 5 Minutes of Fame was held during the July school holidays at Westfield shopping centres throughout New Zealand.

ENDS

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