Scoop  Regional

1 September 2011
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Talented Teenager Wins Westfield 5 Minutes Of Fame

15 year-old Wellingtonian, Joshua Faletutulu, has been crowned this year’s Westfield 5 Minutes of Fame Supreme Winner after wowing the nation with his rendition of Bruno Mars’ The Lazy Song.

Joshua fought off competition from eight other talented contestants from around New Zealand who entered the popular school holiday talent show at their local Westfield shopping centres.

The top prize included a $500 cash donation to a school, which Joshua has donated to his Sunday school, and a $1,500 grant towards further music tuition.

For the first time, voting was open to the public. Videos from all nine finalists were available online to be viewed and voted on via the Westfield website. With over 8,000 votes, over the two week competition period (8 – 21 August), it was an extremely close race to the finish, with Joshua winning the top prize by 12 votes.

“We’re very proud of all our contestants for being brave enough to get up on stage and give it a go,” says Debra Brooks, National Marketing Manager for Westfield New Zealand. “It was a very close competition this year which is testament to the high calibre of finalists in this year’s competition.

“A huge congratulations to Joshua’s whose beautiful voice and exceptional guitar playing really captured the support of voters. This is a young man we expect to hear more from – and the public think so too!”

New Zealand-Samoan Joshua comes from a church-going, musical family, with five brothers and sisters who also sing and play the guitar. According to Joshua his parents are both “really good singers”.

“Mum entered me into 5 Minutes of Fame,” says Joshua. “She loves entering me into musical competitions and then telling me later. I’m just really happy to have won. Thank you to everyone who voted for me and for showing their support.”

A Year 10 student at Wellington’s Tawa College, Joshua has been playing the guitar ‘seriously’ for three years. He credits his family for inspiring him to first pick up the guitar and names John Meyer, Michael Jackson and Babyface as his musical inspiration.

Joshua is planning on putting his tuition grant towards saxophone lessons, an instrument he played briefly in 2010 and wants to start learning again. He is hoping to complete a music degree at the University of Victoria upon finishing school.

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

ENDS

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