TV Pop Diaries
Pop Music on British Television 1955 - 1999

Talent show Opportunity Knocks had been successfully running on Radio Luxembourg, and was about to make the leap to TV, courtesy of Associated-Rediffusion who debuted the show on 13th June 1956. Slightly ahead of it however came dance show Palais Party starting 8th June 1956 which would contain its own talent finding offspring, Find The Singer, offering a £100 prize to the winner.

The Find The Singer aspect was very popular, with both Preager and Tate auditioning about 150 singers per week. Preager told TV Times in March 1957 "We are looking for people who could possibly make a hit record. Applicants must not be offended if they come along here with extremely good, well trained voices and yet are not picked." With a wry smile, he added "You only have to listen to some of today's discs to realise that you don't exactly need operatic training to make a hit record." The audition process would suffer the same affliction that subsequent talent shows would have, singers singing the same few, familiar songs.

Despite Palais Party's cancellation in 1958 Rediffusion must still have held a candle for the talent show aspect, leading to the creation of a new standalone show in February 1959. Each edition would feature the winners from local heats across the country, with a public vote deciding the winner. There would also be a panel of four experts in the studio each week consisting of a singing teacher, a record company executive, a journalist and a recording star (according to TV Times), predating shows like New Faces.

Broadcast early evening from 6.10 - 6.40 pm the show was promoted as "Lou Preager's £1000 contest." Each contestant would be singing with the backing of Lou Preager's orchestra, who introduced a new gimmick for the show, Mink-Tone music. The brass section would use mutes lined with mink, costing £25 each. Preager also had his own group of singers, The Sunnysiders who would also provide backing for the contestants. In addition to the monetary prize, there would also be a bonus, a recording contract with Gala Records, a budget label, whose records were not pressed on traditional vinyl, but a cheaper alternative, styrene. Lou Preager was also signed to the label, releasing an EP of dance numbers using the Mink-Tone sound, and according to the liner notes "This exciting new sound for dancing is obtainable exclusively on Gala Records."

The show would also have guest singers each week, usually the likes of Joan Regan, Alma Cogan and Marion Ryan.

The winner of the first series was Carl Barrie/Barry, but there seemed to be no mention of him on Gala Records, however he did appear on TWW's Youth Makes The Show on 5th October 1959. By 1962 he had given up showbiz for a job as an apprentice sheet metal worker in Cardiff. His recording contract was also cancelled, with Gala Records going no further than 1960. In 1962 TV Times had tracked down several other contestants from the 1959 series, only to find a few had persevered in the business, but many still held onto the dream of success.

The show went into hibernation until March 1962 when it was dusted off for a new, late night, outing. The winning prize was £500 and a record contract, but prize money for the runners up took the total up to £1000. Interviewed by TV Times Preager commented on the number of contestants entering this time "Ten thousand of them, probably considerably more." There would be ten weekly heats, with sixty singers aged between 15-25 lined up. The expected debut of the new series was to be the 12th March, but it was cancelled, so it was shifted back a week to the 19th March. Jim Dale would interview the singers, while The Barrie Sisters were the resident support act. Stuart Gillies, later to become a favourite on TV in the 70s, was one of the finalists.

The show would have to endure the same problem that later talent shows like Opportunity Knocks to The X Factor would suffer. From Aberdeen Evening Express May 1962 "I am a sucker for shows such as 'Find The Singer', but why do so many contestants try to look and sound like established pop singers?"

FIND THE SINGER

Associated-Rediffusion

27th February 1959 - 26th June 1959

19th March 1962 - 11th June 1962