Stars in Their Eyes (New Zealand TV series)

The finalists were:

The finalists were:

Taranaki Daily News television critic Gordon Brown wrote, "Unusually, Mrs Brown and I agreed on several key findings. We both thought Simon was an excellent host. We both thought that generally the singers were somewhat less than excellent and, most significantly, we felt the wrong person won."[1] The New Zealand Herald criticised the show, stating, "Aside from the cheap set, the naff format, the wince-making band, the unconvincing impersonations, the boring songs, there's nothing much else wrong - except Barnett. He needs to broaden his vocab, which ranges from the afore-mentioned brilliant to stunning, legendary, unreal, unbelievable. Those words do not match the reality."[2]

In a negative review, Nick Ward of The Nelson Mail said, "Perhaps naively, I keep expecting this show to unearth a few potential Susan Boyles - ordinary Kiwis who've had a good night or two at karaoke and let their friends and workmates talk them into going on TV. Instead, a parade of professional and semi-professional musicians belt out their favourites after a quick dash through TVNZ's makeup department. ... Host Simon Barnett's gushingly positive assessments ('Stunning!', 'Extraordinary!', 'You took me back to my form two social!') are as unconvincing as his arguments in favour of the divinely-sanctioned clouting of children."[3]