Kei ia tangata, tāna anō waiata pāti.

My Party Song is set to return to Māori TV for a second season with shooting commencing in January, 2018. Auditions are open online to anyone in Aotearoa with a party song that they wish to share on screen with the Modern Māori Quartet.

My Party Song is a bi-lingual musical homage to the songs we love to sing when we kick back, put on a kai, maybe have an inu, and relax with a bunch of mates and whānau.

To go to any ‘party’ is to know that there will be a soundtrack - someone (or everyone!) will be in charge of those sounds, and in the Māori world, the sounds we make ourselves and with a guitar are famous in their own right.

Early in the 20th century, Māori co-opted popular western music and added Māori language lyrics. The resulting songs would be sung with gusto at marae and social gatherings. Many of these waiata were action songs and gained nationwide appreciation with the growth of kapa haka and sound recording technology.

After World War Two when our people moved to the city, they brought these songs with them and wrote even more.

Many of the waiata of the last century have become classics and form the core of a large body of sing-along party songs that are still often sung: Pōkarekare Ana, Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi, Hoki Mai, Pō Atarau, Uia Mai Koia, E Pari Rā, Karu Karu, E Te Hokowhitu A Tū, Ko Au, Ka Tangi Te Tītī and many more.

In English another huge selection of popular songs are widely known and cause voices to soar: Ten Guitars, Sad Movies, Tears On My Pillow, The Green Green Grass Of Home and Tui Teka’s sentimental hit Mum.

In more modern times, the rapid growth of haka super groups like Waihīrere, Te Waka Huia and The Pātea Māori Club have contributed a new generation of party songs with original music and lyrics that often reflect cultural and political concerns of the moment: Mā Te Wā, E Ngā Tini Mate, Kōtiro Māori, Wahine Toa, Te Īnoi A Te Ariki, Mīhini Ātea, and Poi E among others.

In season one of My Party Song, the Modern Māori Quartet hosted pāti hāti singers from all over Aotearoa including well known performers, Tina Cross, Maisey Rika, Ria Hall, Temuera Morrison, Jan Hellriegel, Troy Kingi and Waka Huia. Season one is available to watch online at: http://www.maoritelevision.com/tv/shows/my-party-song

For season two, the party is coming down to Ōtaki. Filming will take place at the Māoriland Hub at 68 Main Street in early January. If you’re fabulous, if you’re entertaining, and if you’d love to perform on MY PARTY SONG please submit your audition online at: www.bit.ly/mypartysong

Auditions close, October 27th at 5pm.  

If you have any questions about auditioning please contact Aroha Shelford on aroha@bluebach.co.nz