If I’m honest, there doesn’t seem to be much chance of us winning this competition. But it would be pretty amazing if we did. So if any part of you do wants to hear intimate country crooning and quasi-religious lyrics in your backyard, please vote. Not doing so would be like voting for any team that played the Mighty Ducks in the first movie, or the Scandinavian bobsled team that beat the Jamaicans or for John Key or the LA Lakers. 

There’s also a whole bunch of backyard shows being put on by a band called The Eastern around Christchurch. They’re musicians from Lyttelton who make their money through some mix of unbridled romance and sheer stubbornness. Now their hometown has been shaken up and they’re looking to at least temporarily make people forget about that by playing them country music. I saw them just a couple of weeks ago at the Wine Cellar. It was a great show. Look them up if you’re in the area and you have power and a few planks spare on your lawn.