With Christmas music dominating the airwaves once again, we felt it was time to push the talents of New Zealand’s greatest singers.
You may remember earlier this year when our favourite band SAVE (the Society of Avian Vocal Entertainers) was shunned by NZ Music Month? Well, we demand that they are heard!
So in the spirit of Rage Against the Machine, which last year challenged Simon Cowell’s X Factor stars to the Christmas Number One spot in the UK, welcome to SAVE Against the Machine!
DOC’s new native bird song page features the best music from all our favourite birdy artistes…so in the spirit of fair play we’ve decided to hold our own:
Dawn Chorus X Factor!
Here are some of the main competitors, evaluated by our very own guest X Factor Australia judge, Ronan Kea-ting…
Bellbird
Listen to bellbird song
Sure, this little fella certainly knows how to carry a melody. That song sounded like a right load of bells…and you didn’t mis-hear me because of my accent! But come out onto the stage a bit more will ya – you look cute in your little green suit but there’s no point hiding at the back – if you want to be a star, you need to get your beak in my face.
Tui
Listen to tui song
Is this a song contest or a talent show – this guy doesn’t know if he’s a singer or an impressionist. True he can hold a tune but what’s with all the bells and whistles, and hold on, is that my mobile phone going off? No, it’s the tui! Come on fella, focus. And lose the bow tie, those went out with Fred Astaire.
Kaka
Listen to kaka song
Whoa, steady boys – you’re really going for the Teenage Dirtbag approach. I love the energy but calm down a bit before you do some damage. For a parrot you can hold a tune pretty well but all that screeching, jeez, that went out with the Sex Pistols. Keep that melody though and you could go far – come on punk, make my day…
North Island robin
Listen to North Island robin song
Now there’s a sweet song. Tweeting never went out of fashion – in fact it’s very much in fashion thanks to your friend Sirocco the Kakapo – and this tune had all the elements of a good old fashioned romantic ballad. But 30 minutes of it? Keep it short and sweet will ya – after all, that’s what you are.
Weka
Listen to weka song
It’s great to see a duet on the show, and you two weka certainly know how to work together. Coo-ey, that coo-et chorus was blissful to my ears. But if you want to go far in this business, you need to watch your reputation for stealing – are you listening? Will you come back with my microphone…stop…!
So that’s the end of this Dawn Chorus X-Factor special – let’s get those votes coming in so we can crown our 2010 champion – and see if we can get some real music to Christmas Number One!
So leave a comment below if you want to SAVE Against the Machine.
Noobs 😀
Is this Ronan kea-ting the one from Boyzone?
That’s the one! He appeared on the Aussie X Factor, and seemed an appropriate judge for this competition!
Awesome. May I email this site to my friends who are not on Facebook?
Hi Jan, sure thing!
I vote forbellbird
Great comments everyone…Is the Tui our Christmas Number One? Looking like it…! But still time to get your votes in…
Bellbird
My Vote goes to the Tui. Tui are considered to be very intelligent, much like parrots. They also resemble parrots in their ability to clearly imitate human speech, and are known for their noisy, unusual call, different for each individual, that combine bellbird-like notes with clicks, cackles, timber-like creaks and groans, and wheezing sounds—the unusual possession of two voiceboxes enable Tui to perform such a myriad of vocalisations.
As far as dawn chorus x-factor NZ birds go i would have to say you have missed the most beautiful and haunting of them all-The KOKAKO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the TUI it is!!!! 🙂 beautiful this bird is.. yes our country is so beautiful!!!:) no wonder i havent even been out of my country, to awsum it is 🙂
This is excellent, I am so proud of our New Zealand birds and believe they definitely have the X factor – especially the Tui which gets my vote too!
I’m definitely voting for the bellbird because it chimes out just like the Christmas bells. Ho ho ho. Merry Christmas everyone.
My vote goes to the Tui. Very entertaining.