Audience rise to texting song

FLEUR COGLE

He didn't win the main prize, but Temuka student Hemi Anglem won the hearts of the audience at Pleasant Point's Got Talent with a self-penned love song about texting.

The 17-year-old picked up the audience award on Sunday night for Waiting For Your Txt – the song he wrote to impress a girl.

"I wrote it when I was 15 – it was for this girl I was trying to attract," Hemi said.

He was inspired after listening to another song – which he can no longer remember – and spent about "three or four" days working on his own song.

Perhaps it should come as no surprise the audience fell for his performance – after two years girlfriend Lashai is still with him and in that time she has had plenty of time to listen to the song.

"I sing it to her heaps."

The song is also well-known to his peers and he sang it at the Opihi College ball.

Despite the success of his texting song, Hemi said he hadn't written much recently and was concentrating more on art. He plans to study art at Aoraki Polytechnic this year.

"I used to [write songs] but I don't really do much any more."

He hasn't ruled out having another go at songwriting further "down the track".

Self-taught on the guitar and other instruments, he was modest about his musical ability.

"I try [to play] but I just make weird noises."

Used to performing in a group, friends and family encouraged Hemi to enter Pleasant Point's Got Talent, but he said performing by himself made him nervous.

"My heart was racing really fast. It's kind of hard."

His choice to perform his own song was "a last minute thing".

The reaction from the audience was heartening. "Just to see them clapping and dancing – I didn't expect it."

WAITING FOR YOUR TXT

"Waiting for your txt

a txt from my brown-eyed beauty

she sends me a kiss

I reply that she's a cutie

she calls me up every time that she's at home

txt to ask to hang when she's feeling alone

smiley face XOs on my mind

sounds so cute when she's on the other line

on the other line

I'll be waiting for you to txt me back (x4)

Woke to a txt – it was early in the morning

ten messages even though I'm still yawning

kiss me through the phone when you're txting and walking

come on, baby, baby let your fingers do the talking

girl you got to know that I'll never let you go

you're always on my mind with your pictures on my phone

txt txt me one two three

K - I - S - S - I - N - G

txt txt me three four five

gotta go cause my phone's about to die

I'll be waiting for you to txt me back (x4)

Because I'm waiting for your txt each and every day

I'm waiting for your txt hip hip hooray

keep your pictures on top of my little front screen

I'll be sending you txts that you never did see

Vodafone Telecom, baby it's a known fact

that you're the one and only that I txt out of my contacts

don't get twisted if I hardly call you back

just give me a txt baby baby tap tap

lay down, put your feet up, just relax

here I am, miss, I've been waiting for you to txt me

letter A all the way to letter Z

see I'll keep txting you and you keep txting me

unlimited I get my txts for free

I got a Samsung fliptop xt

I'll be waiting for you to txt me back"

- © Fairfax NZ News