Head Judge Gray Bartlett assisted Desiree Clark, Linh Luong and Jeff Harns from 4DG to discover the talent in the Botany Town Centre & LynnMall Shopping Centre 2010 Best Buskers Competition. Make-A-Wish buckets were handed around on both days in support of this worthy cause. 

While Michael Murray won the spot on Grays new CD out early 2011, every busker was a winner as you can see in the segment interviewed by Tom McRae of ONE NEWS. The shoppers were extremely generous to the buskers who made the effort.

Check out this link to see the report on TVNZ’s 6PM One news and also the visuals that appeared on the news

If you like that, you will also like the full buskers competition official video which was filmed by Borderless Productions and can be found on YouTube and also on Facebook and Twitter.

The Botany Town Centre & LynnMall Shopping Centre 2010 Best Buskers Competition was well covered by the relevant local comunity newspapers, online media and also TV.

Fifty nine talented buskers from across Auckland and even as far as Hamilton descended on LynnMall Shopping Centre and Botany Town Centre over the weekend for a chance to win a special busking licence to perform during the Christmas shopping period. Renowned talent scout and music producer Gray Bartlett was the lead judge of the competition and awarded busking licences to 42 outstanding performers.

One lucky busker in particular stood out from the rest. When Michael Murray heard about the busking competition at his local mall, he knew he had to be there for his chance to be discovered. The talented individual was second off the block at the audition and captured the audience as he stepped off stage to serenade the seated guests. His pitch-perfect vocals and guitar work also impressed lead judge Gray Bartlett, who has offered Michael the chance to record a track on his new CD, to be released next year.

“From the moment Michael stepped onto the stage, I knew he was going to deliver an excellent performance,” says Mr Bartlett. “His personality shone through and vocals were strong – he was the whole package.”

Gray Bartlett’s CD will be a collaboration of some of New Zealand’s top artists, with proceeds going to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

A special mention was also given to the talented duo Mike & Shay, who wowed Mr Bartlett with their seamless acoustic guitar performance. Their tenacity on stage and raw talent impressed Gray so much that he has kindly offered one of his own valuable guitars to one of the duo, whose talent is sure to soar with the use of a quality instrument.

“It is great to see the top prize go to someone from West Auckland,” says LynnMall Marketing Manager Linh Luong. “Not only did the spotlight shine on Michael and Mike & Shay, but it did on all of the other participants at the Lynnmall audition. We were so impressed with the West Auckland talent, that we awarded all our participants a busking license.”

Botany Town Centre Marketing Manager Desiree Clark says the competition showcased some amazing talent from the local community and beyond. “The number of registrations received and the calibre of talent was overwhelming. We look forward to sharing the amazing busking talent with our shoppers during the festive season.”

Michael Murray and Mike & Shay will join 20 other performers selected to busk at LynnMall over the Christmas shopping period, from 16 to 24 December. Twenty buskers have also been selected to perform at Botany Town Centre from 15 to 24 December. 

Click here to view the LynnMall Shopping Centre and Botany Town Centre Best Buskers video highights posted on Youtube.com.

LynnMall Shopping Centre is encouraging its retailers and staff to trade in their car keys for pavement-pounding sneakers in support of the annual Walk2Work Day on Wednesday 10 March. The national event, organised by Living Streets Aotearoa, offers free breakfasts to all who pledge to walk to work on the day.

The event is one of two community initiatives that LynnMall Shopping Centre hosts in support of walking. At least twice a week for the past 12 years, members of the New Lynn community have chosen to avoid car emissions and instead enjoy the smell of fresh coffee and muffins on their regular MallWalk at LynnMall Shopping Centre.

LynnMall Acting Centre Manager Linh Luong says the MallWalkers set a great example for staff and retailers. “The Walk2Work Day is all about getting our people thinking about using alternative methods of transport and incorporating that little bit of exercise into our everyday routines. Our MallWalkers are very supportive of this.”

LynnMall Shopping Centre was the first mall in New Zealand to offer MallWalking and over the years, walkers young and old have been showing others how it is done by coming to the mall bright and early for a brisk walk along the passageways.

“We now have over 50 members that take part in the sessions, all of varying ages,” says trainer Zoe Bond. “Occasionally we have mothers who join us, some bring their little ones for a stroll and others take it as an opportunity to have some down time. Others in the group are aged between 50 and 90 years old and we even have a regular walker in her 80’s that joins us.”

“It’s more than just a physical activity for our MallWalkers. It’s a weekly social event they all look forward to, where they often have coffee or breakfast afterwards.

“Walk2Work is a great initiative which has a close alignment with what we do. It is great to see this encouragement to get people out there and increase physical activity in the community.”

Auckland Networker for Living Streets Aotearoa Vincent Dickie says he is thrilled to have LynnMall Shopping Centre on board for the Walk2Work Day and hopes staff and retailers will opt to head to work on foot rather than reaching for the car keys. “We want to encourage people to incorporate health and fitness into their everyday life, and what simpler and better way to do this than by taking to the streets?”

The first 20 participants who pledge or register to walk to work will receive a free breakfast from Walk2Work sponsors McDonalds, One Square Meal, Cyclops Yoghurt and Sanitarium Up n Go. Breakfast will be served in the Lynnmall food court between 8am and 9am.

In Auckland, Christmas shoppers were out in force, and retailers say there was a new sense of a return to better times – read full story Linh Luong , Marketing manager of LynnMall Shopping Centre, one of AMP Capital Shopping Centres talks to Bob McNeil of TV3 6PM News about their trends in a story than was labelled ” Shopping trends reveal recession is subsiding.”