Dunedin boy Campbell Landrebe struggled to keep the smile from his face after winning the overall junior title at the New Zealand Gold Guitars in Gore.
He found the compulsory victory performance difficult about 1am on Sunday because his winning song, Billy Gilman's Oklahoma, was a tearful tune about a boy never knowing his father.
During the performance with a five-piece band, he struggled to stop smiling as he sang.
''It was quite hard because the song is quite sad and I was happy.''
It was the first time the Balmacewen Intermediate pupil had entered the Gold Guitars and he found himself performing in front of more than 1500 people at the Gore Town and Country Club.
The Topp Twins gave him $500 for the overall win and he also won $100 for winning the junior vocal solo category.
Campbell said he would spend some of his prize money on a pick-up for his guitar but would save the rest for the Tamworth trip with his family.
Campbell and his sister Alyssa won the junior duet category with the song Make The World Go Away, by Alison Krauss and Jamey Johnson.
The performance went better than planned and the fact the duo exchanged ''cheeky looks'' won over the judges, Campbell said.
When their names were announced for the duo prize, Alyssa sprinted on to the stage to collect the trophies and $100 prize.
''It was awesome,'' Alyssa said.
Alyssa, a Wakari School pupil, was highly commended in the gospel and solo sections.
In the solo section, she sang The Judds' Grandpa, which she dedicated to her grandfather and mentor, Tony Korner.
Oamaru teenager Joseph Balfe won the overall intermediate and intermediate instrumental categories.
George Street Normal School pupil Jayden Jesudhass (10) won the Freeze Ya Bits Off Busking competition.
He performed his original song Nowhere Else Like Home and won the gospel section singing There's no-one else like Him and was junior overall runner-up.
