British artist Natalia Kills poses as she arrives on the red carpet for the Echo Music Awards ceremony in Berlin March 24, 2011. The German Phonographic Academy honours artists from all over the world in 25 categories.
IN PHOTO: British artist Natalia Kills poses as she arrives on the red carpet for the Echo Music Awards ceremony in Berlin March 24, 2011. The German Phonographic Academy honours artists from all over the world in 25 categories. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

“The X Factor New Zealand” has announced the replacements for fired judges Natalia Kills and Willy Moon. The Australian version’s Natalie Bassingthwaighte and I Am Giant drummer Shelton Woolright have been named as the new judges joining Stan Walker and Melanie Blatt.

Following the media nightmare Kills and Moon caused after they cruelly criticised contestant Joe Irvine’s appearance on live TV on Sunday, the husband and wife team have been immediately fired, leaving the live show the following day with two empty seats at the judges’ panel. TV3 now has their replacements.

Bassingthwaighte, or lovingly called Nat Bass by her fans, is no stranger to the X Factor family. She has been a staple in the Australian edition since 2011, most recently mentoring runner-up Dean Ray in the show. Apart from being a top-charting and award-winning Australian solo artist, she is also a popular actress in her home country. She rose to stardom as a soap star on “Neighbours,” which earned her three Logie Awards.

The 39-year-old songstress’ career also includes musical theatre productions, including Rent, Grease, Footloose and Chicago. She was the lead singer of the electropop band Rogue Traders. Nat Bas will be replacing Natalia Kills as the mentor of the Boys category in the show.

“I am thrilled to be joining The X Factor New Zealand family and I can’t wait to begin mentoring my boys,” the Aussie star said in a statement. “I have a few tricks up my sleeve that I hope will see them through to the very end of the competition.”

Woolright, on the other hand, first became known as the drummer for the Kiwi band Blindspott. The band’s self-titled debut album went platinum in New Zealand in the first week of its release in 2002. He is now the drummer for the UK-based rock band I Am Giant. He replaces Moon as mentor for the Groups category.

“I absolutely stoked to be involved in X Factor NZ and I’m especially looking forward to working with the Groups. I’ve been working with labels, filmmakers and publishers as well as producing I Am Giant and other bands for years and I can’t wait to share my expertise with fresh eager minds,” he said. “This is going to be awesome, and we are going to win!”

Although there are those who expectedly objected to the hiring of Nat Bass and Woolright, the reactions on social media are generally positive. Some just hoped the show would hire local talents, which explained why they were a bit disappointed over the choice of Nat Bass. And while some knew one of the two new judges, they weren’t familiar with the other one. Nevertheless, the general consensus was anyone is better than Kills and Moon.

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