Eight karaoke singers sang their hearts out to the delight of a large audience in the first heat of the singing competition that was held on Wednesday night.

Three of the performers, James Niua, France Apera and Paul Dwayne, have been selected to continue through to the finals in the competition held at the Cook Islands Games Fishing Club in Tupapa.

Although he was nervous, Niua sang the songs of his choice – ‘You are the sunshine of my life’ by Stevie Wonder and ‘Rock with you’ by Michael Jackson – exceptionally well.

He was “really surprised” to learn that he had made it through to the finals. “I’m grateful, I was so nervous and I’m just glad that parts over.”

Local artists Thomas Ngauru, Sonny Daniel and Teata Nga had the difficult task of judging the performances.

Ngauru said: “Overall it was pretty tough, the singers (except for one) were quite seasoned and have been seen on the local karaoke circuit … it came down to audience reaction, stage reaction and their song choices.”

“If anything, some chose the right songs for their voices and the top four were very close; they were all great.”

Frances Apera also performed well to earn her spot in the finals. 21092325.

Ngauru is looking forward to next week’s karaoke line up as there are some new names on the list.

“There are many new and younger singers in the competition compared to last year,” he said.

“The atmosphere and set up at the Fishing Club was fantastic, and this event gives people something to look forward to, especially during these difficult times - apart from sports.”

The karaoke competition is an annual event. This being the second edition, hosted by the Cook Islands Game Fishing Club (CIGFC) in Tupapa and assisted by private sponsors.

Next Wednesday is the second heat of the event and the finals will be held on Saturday, October 23.