Judging by the quality of singing already coming from the competitors in the Otago Daily Times Southern Aria Competition this year, organisers are preparing for the unusual possibility of an eight-singer final this year.
Competition convener Suzanne Chambers said 24 singers had entered this year, and the quality was higher than usual because many of them were finalists from the other major singing competitions around the country.
"I think it’s definitely better than most years because there are singers here who were finalists in the [Wellington] Lexus Song Quest - three or four of them. The standard is excellent.
"We usually have about six finalists in the competition but if the quality is particularly high, the judge could decide to put through as many as eight. From what we’ve seen today, the quality is amazing.
"So there might be eight in this year’s final, yes."
Mrs Chambers said the competitors were mainly university music students or singers who had recently completed their university music degrees in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch or Dunedin.
"Those who have finished their degrees are now auditioning for music colleges or music schools overseas.
"So they’re competing to try to win prize money to help with their continuing studies."
She said first prize was $5000, second prize was $2000 and third was $1000, and there would be a prize for the most promising unplaced singer of $500.
She said 14 singers would compete in heats at Knox Church, at 6pm tonight, for a place in the final of the Otago Daily Times Southern Aria Competition, which would also be held at Knox Church at 6pm, tomorrow.
