Stars in Your Eyes began in a hotel lobby in 1994 when Cardrona farmer Jamie Robertson put on a local take on the British TV show. Sixty seats, ten-dollar tickets, and 120 people turned up.

Three decades later it's a four-night sellout production at the 335-seat Lake Wānaka Centre — with a full live band, professional staging, and local performers whose identities are kept secret until the final reveal of each act.

Every cent of profit goes straight back into the community, funding instruments, scholarships, and music programmes for young people in the Upper Clutha.