WATCH: Timaru Girls' Choir's powerful haka twist on viral song stuns crowd

Timaru Girls’ High School’s choir has gone viral after a powerful performance of UK artist Paris Paloma’s track ‘Labour’ at The Big Sing Otago competition on Monday.

Te Reo o ngā Kōhine (The Voice of the Young Women) had the audience hooked from the start, with their take on the song - and it even caught the attention of Paloma herself.

In a TikTok that's racked up more than half a million views, the choir flawlessly harmonise the track, which explores the weight of unpaid physical and emotional labour placed on women.

But it’s their shock twist and addition that’s really blown people away.

Mid-performance, a group of 10 girls step forward and launch into a fierce haka, before the full choir joins together in both song and haka.

The performance ends with an emotional final move as the choir joins hands, earning a standing ovation from the crowd.

While they didn’t take home any official awards, the reaction has been extremely positive, with fellow students and competitors praising the group’s incredible impact.

“My whole choir was speechless. It's f***ing insane y'all didn't get anything,” one commenter said.

Another added: “I thought you guys would’ve won the biggest impact.”

Others shared just how emotional the performance was to watch online.

“What a beautiful performance. I'm sitting here sobbing… so powerful through a phone, I can’t even imagine how powerful it would’ve been in the room,” one person said.

“The addition of te reo Māori in this song is beyond powerful. It entered my body and grabbed my soul,” another wrote.

A third added: “Truly the best ‘wait for it’ video I have ever seen. That was so powerful our ancestors would be so proud ❤️”

Even Paris Paloma herself got involved, liking, commenting on and reposting the video, writing: “Incredible ❤️❤️❤️❤️”.

And that it was. The impact it had not only in the room on Monday, but also now online, is something Timaru Girls’ High School should be extremely proud of.