RADIO TALENT QUEST

New Zealand Listener, Volume 8, Issue 198, 9 April 1943, Page 17

RADIO TALENT QUEST

Can You: Make Listeners Joyful or Afraid? RE you an amateur radio artist? Can you put over the air those emotions which a listener should feel? This is what a Radio Talent Quest, which is being run by Universal Pictures in conjunction with the Commercial Broadcasting Service, is trying to find out. Those who enter for the test will be asked to read over the air specially prepared copy depicting the four emotions of love, hate, fear, and joy. The contests will be local, not national, and will be held successively at the different ZB stations, the whole being tied up with the new picture Between Us Girls, starring Diana Barrymore, daughter of the famous John. Miss Barrymore is apparently to be the inspiration, if not the model, for contestants, though probably none of them will be able to boast such __ illustrious theatrical heredity as she can. Here are some of the important dates to remember in connection with the contest: 1ZB: The entries for the contest will close on April 30; the preliminary auditions will be held from May 3 to May 8; the broadcast semi-finals will be heard from May 10 to May 15, and the picture Between Us Girls will begin in Auckland on April 22. 2ZB: Entries close May 14: preliminary auditions May 17-22; broadcast semi-finals May 24-29; the picture begins in Wellington May 7. 3ZB: The entries close June 10; preliminary auditions June 14-19; broadcast semi-finals June 21-26; picture begins in Christchurch June 4. 4ZB: Entries close April 23; preliminary auditions April 26-30; broadcast temi-finals May 3-8; picture begins in Dunedin April 24. Entrants must be between 16 and 22 years old (male or female), and professional artists are not eligible. Winners must be prepared to appear on the stage of the local theatre if they are asked to do so. You may get your entry forms from the theatre which is concerned with the contest three weeks before the date when the entries close. In Auckland the theatre concerned is the Embassy theatre; in Wellington the St. James; in Christchurch the. Avon; and in Dunedin the Empire. The forms, when they are filled in, must be returned to the theatre manager, who will issue each applicant with a test copy. The forms then go on to the local ZB station manager, who will arrange for the preliminary auditions. For this test, entrants will read their copy, and from _ each day’s auditions, the judges will select the six best entrants to take part in the broadcast semi-finals. The same copy will be used for the preliminary auditions, and the broadcast semi-finals, but different copy will be used for the final contest. The first prize will be £10 and a Diana Barrymore plaque. The second prize will be £3, the third £2, and the fourth and fifth prizes will be 10/6. All prize winners will also get an autographed photograph of Diana Barrymore.