Maori Television have dropped the ball a bit – no coverage of the service at ANZAC Cove! No explanations or apologies either. A poor effort in their otherwise excellent-as-usual coverage.
That was the verdict of the one and only Dave Dobbyn, who made a special visit last Thursday to Maori Television studios, to make a recording of his beautiful waiata – Welcome Home – with his backing singers and Maori Television staff.
The channel has created its own layer on Google Earth to collect messages from anywhere in the world, to appear on the specially-created layer as a pin on the spinning globe. Anyone can upload material, ranging from a simple text message to photos, via Google’s photo sharing service, Picasa, or for the more tech-savvy among us, videos via YouTube. To download the layer, visit our website (www.maoritelevision.com) and follow the link.
Maori Television hopes the Google Earth page will encourage New Zealanders to ‘come home’ for Waitangi Day 2009 – in a virtual sense.
The most inspiring, fun and heart-warming messages will be played throughout Maori Television’s programme, KOTAHI TE RA: WAITANGI DAY 2009.
Dobbyn loved the creativity of the project, and its scope to touch New Zealanders around the world. He found an opening in his busy schedule, and gave both his time and his song without charge.
Ngatapa Black, who works in on-air promotions at the station, as well as being a talented and soulful musician and singer in her own right, has a featured spot in the Dobbyn song.
Maori Television will screen the clip of the song over summer, as well as part of the Waitangi Day programming, KOTAHI TE RA: WAITANGI 2009, on February 6, from 3.00 PM.