26 Jun 2018

Porirua students' version of NZ National Anthem goes viral

From Checkpoint, 5:56 pm on 26 June 2018

Three Porirua College students' rendition of the national anthem has been viewed 275,000 times within 24 hours of being posted on Facebook.

While singer Crystal Collins apologised this morning for butchering the New Zealand national anthem at the weekend, three Porirua teenagers have stepped in to show her - and the world - how it's done.

Porirua College students Tiresa Foma'i, Rosetta Lopa and Anastasia Sirila heard Collins' rendition, which she performed at the Kiwis vs England rugby game in Denver - and also the backlash it received.

It prompted the teenager, who formed the group Le Art while in intermediate school, to post a video of themselves singing their version of the anthem on their Facebook page last night.

It's since had 275,000 views and has been shared more than 5000 times.

Rosetta told Checkpoint they loved sharing their videos with friends and family, but were not expecting such a huge response.

"With all the news circulating around our anthem, we just thought it made sense to share our version of it."