Future stars audition for X-Factor fame

Rotorua X-Factor hopefuls will be lining up for their shot at the big time when auditions are held in the city on Sunday.

The Rotorua auditions will be held at John Paul College on January 27, from 10am to 5pm, with Taupo auditions at The Great Lake Centre the next day, January 28.

X-Factor NZ co-executive producer Andrew Szusterman said the competition was all about finding the next great singer to sign with Sony Music Entertainment.

"It is a massive production with lots and lots of different layers and we've been working on this thing for quite some time.

"We're now at the point where we're ready to get the rest of New Zealand up in front of us and auditioning away to see who the next big recording artist out of this country's going to be."

Contestants successful in the pre-auditions will then perform in front of four judges and a live audience.

X Factor NZ will be hosted by Dominic Bowden, with Stan Walker and Daniel Bedingfield named as the first of four judges with two female judges to be revealed in the coming months.

Walker won the Australian Idol competition in 2009, while New Zealand-born Bedingfield made his name with a hit album and two No 1s in Britain between 2001 and 2003.

The show will screen on TV3 later this year.