Benny Tipene (born 1990) is a 23-year-old music retail assistant from Palmerston North. He auditioned with a sung version of Outkast's "Hey Ya!". Tipene is a self-taught singer-songwriter who describes his genre as "acoustic folk pop". He previously played with popular Palmsterton North indie rock band the Nerines. In week nine, Tipene performed his self-penned song "Boxes", the first contestant to perform an original song outside of auditions or a sing-off. Tipene was in the bottom two only onc...
Benny Tipene (born 1990) is a 23-year-old music retail assistant from Palmerston North. He auditioned with a sung version of Outkast's "Hey Ya!". Tipene is a self-taught singer-songwriter who describes his genre as "acoustic folk pop". He previously played with popular Palmsterton North indie rock band the Nerines. In week nine, Tipene performed his self-penned song "Boxes", the first contestant to perform an original song outside of auditions or a sing-off. Tipene was in the bottom two only once and was one of the three contestants to make it to the grand finale. He placed third after being eliminated with fewest public votes at the first part of the final show.
After The X Factor, Tipene was signed to Sony Music New Zealand. His debut single "Walking on Water" was released digitally on 29 July, with a physical CD release on 31 July. Tipene plans to move to Auckland to focus on his music career. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.