Father/son lead a strong Gisborne showing in final

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Father/son lead a strong Gisborne showing in final

Tuesday, October 09, 2012 • Marino Harker-Smith

A GISBORNE father and son have made history after they both qualified for the grand final of Maori Television singing competition Homai Te Pakipaki.

A Maori Television spokeswoman confirmed that Whata Brown (60) and his son Hukanui (22) were the first father and son to both make the final.

They will join eight other aspiring singers — including fellow Gisborne man Geoffrey Pari (25) of Te Karaka, to compete for $10,000 prize money at the live final in Auckland’s this Friday night.

Whata said he and his son had a deal — if either won they would split the winnings “down the middle”.

But Whata reckons his son has a good shot, as the R. Kelly number Hukanui plans to bust out on the night will “bowl the crowd over”.

Hukanui said it was “mean” that both he and his father were in the final.

“I’m just going to get up there and have fun, that’s all we can ask for. Winning will just be a bonus,” he said.

Fellow finalist Geoffrey Pari is stoked about making the final and the father of two plans to sing a popular Al Green number.

“This one is something I could really connect with and hopefully I can portray my emotions through the words of the song,” he said.

“The semi-final was pretty nerve-wracking because I was near the end but this time I’m more confident.”

Last month the quick actions of Geoffrey and his friends saved their neighbour’s life — rescuing him from a house fire.

“We were quite lucky he was standing close to the window because the smoke was thick, but we managed to pull him out,” he said.

At the time of the fire, Te Karaka chief fire officer Jamie Simpson said the 50-year-old man was “lucky to be alive” and described his rescuers as “really brave”.

Rotorua-based finalist Diane Tibble is also affiliated to East Coast iwi Ngati Porou.

The Tairawhiti connections continue with guest acts J Geek and the Geeks — front man Jermaine Leef (J Geek) is from Mahia — and 2011 winner Chad Chambers (Tokomaru Bay) to perform a new song.

• The Homai Te Pakipaki final screens live on Maori Television from 8.30pm Friday night.

Hukanui and Whata Brown are ready to take on the Homai Te Pakipaki grand final on Friday night. Picture by Paul Rickard

Te Karaka man Geoffrey Pari is as ready as he will ever be for this week’s final. Picture by Paul Rickard

Comments

Betty Mauheni

04:46 p.m. Tuesday, Oct 09, 2012

Awesome!! Great to hear we have a lot of talent in G-Town! Good luck for the finals.

Mereaira Ritchie

05:07 p.m. Tuesday, Oct 09, 2012

Go hard whanau. Tumeke Uncle Whata, and to my cousin Geoffrey - make Whatatutu and Te Karaka proud cuzzy. Arohanui, your whanau from Perth.

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