Talent Quests And Avengers

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31774, 3 September 1968, Page 12

Talent Quests And Avengers

(By

GARRY ARTHUR)

The words “talent quest” usually conjure up the sound of enthusiastic amateurs trying to break into show business with voices that should be confined to well-insulated bathrooms.

Those that are open to all comers attract everything from the contorted contralto to the imitator of farmyard noises—and the effect is more often a wince of pain than a gasp of admiration.

Ruthless selection is obviously the key to a talent quest that will meet any reasonable standard, and the organisers of “Studio One,” which began on Thursday evening, have evidently applied this rule. By restricting the field to popular music, the programme takes on a shape capable of careful control. “Studio One” deserves to be a big success. Those songs and singers it has presented so far all seemed to be well within the minimum standards of contemporary "pop” music, and its resident performers showed a commendable ability to interpret the songs written for the contest. In Neville Chamberlain the programme has a host with a relaxed and easy manner. He resisted any temptation to be either effusive or patronising, and even managed to draw a few words from the strangely inarticulate judges. There is obviously no need to restrict voting for the “New Faces, 1968” to the forms in the “Listener.” This is a transparent ploy for boosting the circulation of

the N.Z.B.C.’s official publication, and it will be interesting to see how many listeners to “pop” music are retained as readers when the talent quest ends. * * *

It is safe to predict that the evening life of Christchurch is about to be reorganised once again around the weekly showing of the “Avengers.” Now that John Steed is back, social clubs and even local bodies will be consulting their diaries and switching their meeting nights to make sure they do not conflict with this important event.

Peak demands on electricity and high pressure water will also be affected, and the picture theatres may have to charge half rates to attract any custom on Thursday nights for the duration of the series.

The opening theme tune was familiar and so were the two principals, but the “Avengers” is not quite the mixture as before. In the first place there was the appearance of “Mother” as John Steed’s boss. In one way this fills in a gap in the motivation of the urbane operator, but it also explodes an intriguing mystery which could well have been sustained. Then there is the replacement of Emma Peel with the more girlish Tara King. Linda Thorson had to be different, of course, but there was something refreshing about the almost platonic relationship between Steed and Mrs Peel. The series may suffer if Steed is shown to be as vulnerable as lesser mortals to such blatant feminine admiration.