Coco Congrats to the winners of the 2016 Prime Minister's Youth Awards!  The success of these young Pacific New Zealanders were celebrated at the awards last night at Parliament.

Winners were as follows: - 

Air NZ Leadership & Inspiration                                  Josiah Tavita Tualamali'i, 21 yrs, Christchurch

Auckland Council Community Star Award                  Emma Takataka, 21 yrs, Otara 

AKO Aotearoa STEM Award                                        James Penfold, 20 yrs, Dannemora, Auckland 

GCSB STEM Award                                                        Roneima Teumohenga, 18 yrs, Palmerston North 

Creative NZ Arts & Creativity Award                           Jahra Wasasala, 24 yrs, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 

BNZ Commercial & Corporate Award                         Manako Nemaia, Auckland 

NZIS Sports & Fitness Award                                     Ayesha Leti-I'iga, 17 yrs, Porirua 

                                                                                         Mafutaga Tau, 18 yrs, Porirua 

Deloitte Business & Enterprise Award                       Sanita Betham, 18 yrs, Wellington 

Jahra Wasasala with her Prime Ministers Pacific Youth Creative NZ Arts & Creativity Award.

Pacific Peoples Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Liga says the awards recognise exellence and achievement in commerce, the arts, sports, community and leadership.

"The nine inspiring winners have been recognised for their impressive contributions to New Zealand's economic, social and cultural life.  These inspiring young people are role models for all New Zealanders.…more

Riverdale is a new series set to air on the CW network early next year. The show is inspired by the iconic Archie comics, and New Zealander KJ Apa (who is part Samoan) stars as the lead, Archie Andrews.

Riverdale will be a subversive and mysterious take on the lives of Archie, Jughead, Betty & Veronica.

"Its definitely 'Archie', but a little darker, a little more complex and a little weirder than you might remember from the digest you bought at the supermaket," executive producer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa said in an interview with EW at Comic Con in July. 

Cole Sprouse (Jughead) & KJ (Archie)

We spoke to KJ this morning , and he is just as excited as we are!  "We've all worked really hard to create something epic for people to enjoy. I can't wait for everyone to see it, especially everyone back home.…more

Today while Americans celebrate 'Thanksgiving', many Native Americans remain united at Standing Rock to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline and protect the Missouri River & sacred sites of the Sioux Tribe.

Native Americans have seen this kind of drama unfold for centuries and have long marked Thanksgiving as a day of remembrance rather than a celebration.    Native American Jaqueline Keeler who is a member of the Dakota Sioux Tribe says they don't think of it as a National Holiday the way the rest of the country does "Thanksgiving tells a story that is convenient for Americans but it’s a celebration of our survival. I recognize it as a chance for my family to come together as survivors, pretty much in defiance.”

As freelance writer David Denis Jr observed sarcastically "Make America Great Again means we get to celebrate Thanksgiving while Native Americans are getting their land taken from them.... Just like the good old days"

Many indigenous people from around the world have travelled to Standing Rock to show their support and stand in solidarity with the indigenous people of America.…more

Last night’s Vodafone NZ Music Awards saw many of our amazing Pacific artists take out awards in competitive categories. HUGE congrats to these artists on their contribution to New Zealand music. Here are our Pacific winners!

Kings - Breakthrough Artist of the Year

Sole Mio – Highest Selling album

Aaradhna – Best Female Solo Artist

Unity Pacific – Best Roots Album

SWIDT – Best  Urban Hip Hop Album

Fat Freddy's Drop - International Achievement 

Kings with his Tui for Breakthrough artist of the Year 

Now to touch on some of our observations from last night.

Best Urban/Hip Hop Album of 2016 – Won Initially by Aaradhna, re-awarded to SWIDT.

‘Urban’, what does this actually mean? Why was the only Hip Hop category paired with the word ‘Urban’? Hip Hop music in New Zealand is an explosive and creatively rich genre, that is more than capable of standing alone without this word.…more

The fashion of Oceania is one of a kind. Get an inside look at Auli’i Cravahlo’s MOANA premiere gown from Maori designer Kiri Nathan and the Pacific patterns/designs that inspired the look.

Check out some of the pics of Auli'i wearing her Kiri Nathan designed dress on the Blue Carpet at the World Premiere last night and we have some more great pics from the cast of MOANA below ....

Suggested Links:

The Nitty Kritty - MOANA World premiere highlights

All power to the Poly Princess 

Our Coco Correspondent Krit was at the World Premiere of MOANA in Hollywood with his family last night (Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is his cousin) and he brings us highlights from the Blue Carpet event & talks to Poly Stars about what MOANA means to them.

He also gives us his own personal review of the movie ....

KRITS REVIEW:

"MOANA" was a great watch!

The trailers alone moved me and I think that has a lot to do with learning about the legends of Maui when you grow up in New Zealand and then of course being born in Porirua, having Te Vaka do the soundtrack reminded me of all the Tokelauans I was surrounded by, bumping their music.

I laughed hard but I also cried hard so many times for different reasons - pride, performance, story and just the overwhelming sense of love and respect for our ancestry.

"The first reviews of Moana are rolling in and are 80% favourable"

We are waiting to see and read some indigenous perspectives on this. Our first Coco review is coming up tomorow!

Via IGN Movie Reviews 

Suggested Links:

Best Moana Description

Moana First Full Length Trailer