Moteatea Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

The sung item of a kapa haka set that draws on the traditional chant and song poetry of the Maori, judged for the beauty, accuracy and feeling of the singing.

Moteatea is the second compulsory item in the kapa haka set on this template. It is a sung item, built on the traditional chant and song poetry of the Maori: long, flowing lines of text sung in te reo Maori, usually in close harmony, with restrained movement that supports the words rather than competing with them.

On eTalenter the item is installed once, on the New Zealand secondary schools kapa haka template. It is a team entry for mixed teams in a single Kura Tuarua group, ages 13 to 18, scored out of 100 with marks as the score type. The template follows the national kapa haka rules, where moteatea is one of seven compulsory items whose scores decide the final placing, and where the whole set must fit inside 25 minutes.

A moteatea entry is judged as the team’s voice at its most exposed. There is no fast footwork to hide behind, so tuning, blend, breath control and the clear delivery of every word carry the item. The text is lodged in advance, which lets the panel check the te reo against what is sung.

The same national rules also recognise a separate award for a newly composed moteatea (a Titonga Hou award). That award is distinct from the placing score, so a team can lose marks on delivery and still be recognised for the quality of its composition, or the reverse.

Where Moteatea is run

On eTalenter, Moteatea is used in one template: the New Zealand secondary schools kapa haka template. The item belongs to kapa haka, the Maori performing arts of Aotearoa New Zealand, as run by schools, communities and national kapa haka events. The template is built from the national event rules; the age range for the secondary event is recorded as unverified because that event does not publish its own rules.

• New Zealand (Aotearoa)

Key facts

• Team entry in te reo Maori, mixed teams, one Kura Tuarua group (ages 13 to 18 on the template)
• Scored out of 100; one of seven compulsory items that decide the final placing
• Five judges score each compulsory item; the highest and lowest marks are dropped and the middle three are averaged
• All seven compulsory items must fit within 25 minutes in total; the template sets no separate time limit for moteatea
• The words are lodged in advance so the panel can follow the te reo
• Idea, not a rule: choose a text whose mood suits the voices you have, and let the movement stay small and in service of the words

On eTalenter, Moteatea is filed under On Stage and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.

Across the templates that use it, Moteatea is most often entered as an Team competition, typically scored out of 100.

What judges look at in Moteatea

What a Moteatea panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• Vocal quality and blend: even tone across all parts, with no single voice sticking out
• Tuning and pitch security: the harmony holds from start to finish, including quiet passages
• Accuracy and clarity of te reo: every word pronounced correctly and carried to the back of the hall, matching the lodged text
• Expression and feeling: the mood of the text is understood by the singers and heard in dynamics and phrasing
• Breath and phrasing: long lines are sung in one flow, with team breaths hidden so the line never breaks
• Restraint of movement: gestures are unison, minimal and tied to the meaning, not decoration

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Moteatea under Scoring Setup, or start from the judge scoring and tabulation guide.

How to prepare for Moteatea

How entrants and their teachers usually get Moteatea right on the day:

• Start with the text: make sure every singer can say what each line means before they sing it
• Rehearse unaccompanied so tuning is the team’s own, not borrowed from an instrument or a recording
• Rehearse parts separately, then together, and record the full team to hear which voices dominate
• Mark where the team breathes and agree it, so long lines are not chopped by individual breaths
• Practise at the real stage distance; quiet singing that works in a classroom can vanish in a hall
• Check the lodged lyrics against what is actually sung, line by line, before the day
• After a regional loss, listen to the recording for pitch drift and uneven blend before changing the piece

Frequently asked questions

Is Moteatea judged individually or as a team?

Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Team entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.

Is Moteatea the same as Waiata a-ringa?

No. On this template they are separate compulsory items with their own scores. Moteatea is the traditional-style sung item; waiata a-ringa is the action song.

Is Moteatea judged individually or as a team?

As a team. The whole group is scored together out of 100, and individual singers are not marked separately for it.

How long is a Moteatea?

The template sets no separate limit. On the national model, all seven compulsory items together must fit inside 25 minutes.

Can a team skip it?

Not on this template: it is one of the seven compulsory items that decide the placing. Only Waiata Tira is optional.

Want the full judging picture? Read the judge scoring and tabulation guide, or browse every on stage competition item.