Young Talent Time
Encyclopedia
Young Talent Time is an Australia
n television
variety program screened on Network Ten
, running from 1971 until 1988. The series features a core group of young performers in the vein of The Mickey Mouse Club, and a weekly junior talent quest
. The "Young Talent Team" regularly performed popular classics along with the top hit songs of the day. The program was the creation of host Johnny Young
and launched the careers of a number of Australian performers including Jamie Redfern, Tina Arena
and Dannii Minogue
.
The popular family show spawned numerous hit singles, fifteen Young Talent Time albums, a film, swap cards, a boardgames, toys, and numerous Logie Awards.
The first episode (#1) aired on Channel 0 in Melbourne at 7.00pm on Saturday 24 April 1971.
The final episode (#804) aired on Network Ten at 7.30pm on Friday 23 December 1988.
Young Talent Time will return on Network Ten in 2012. The program will be hosted by musician and actor Rob Mills
.
and his friend and colleague Kevin Lewis, one of the directors of Festival Records) and was taped mainly at the studios of ATV-10
in Nunawading, Melbourne
although occasional shows were taped at the TEN-10
studios in Sydney
or on location.
Many of the episodes from the early-mid 1970s no longer exist as the tapes were wiped for re-use, being the official Network Ten
policy at the time. Some later episodes from the series were repeated by pay TV
broadcaster Foxtel
in the late 1990s.
Because the series ran for such a long time and featured young performers, Young Talent Time made an indelible mark on the psyche of several generations of Australian children, leading them to believe that if they tried hard enough, they too could be a 'star' like the kids they saw on television.
One memorable aspect of the show was the regular closing number, where Johnny Young would croon a ballad version of The Beatles
' song "All My Loving
" (with which Young had had an Australian hit in the 1960s), accompanied by the entire cast, in an almost lullaby style, individually wishing all of the cast good night.
On average, 44 episodes were produced per year for 18 years. The episodes were broadcast in black & white from April 1971 to April 1975, thereafter in colour.
The final episode of the show - a Christmas-themed episode - aired in 23 December 1988. It was episode 804.
Network Ten
announced on 17 August 2011 that it would revive the Young Talent Time format. The new series, slated to begin airing in early 2012, will be hosted by singer and actor Rob Mills
and co-produced by Johnny Young
.
Members of the Team who found continued success after leaving the series and continue working as performers include Tina Arena
, Jane Scali, Jamie Redfern
, John Bowles, Dannii Minogue
, Beven Addinsall, Karen Knowles
, Philip Gould, Joey Perrone, Sally Boyden and Debra Byrne
.
Original Team members: Rod Kirkham went on to produce children's television shows while Vikki Broughton toured Europe with iconic artists such as ABBA and Cliff Richard. Phillip Gould was never out of work when he moved to London's West End and during the same period, Jane Scali was dominating the Australian Cabaret circuit.
Gould and Scali later appeared on stage together in musicals including "Annie".
Three other early members of the 'Young Talent Team' - Trevor Hindmarch, Derek Redfern and Julie Ryles - elected not to continue their singing careers after years of service. Hindmarch served three years as a soldier in the Australian Army Reserve and has since directed his own business in the Australian Thoroughbred Racing Industry. His Racing Software, Profiler, is regarded as the most reliable program for Australian thoroughbreds.
Julie Ryles formed her own PR company and Derek Redfern chose to work for his local council.
Greg Mills became Young Talent Time's Musical Director after assisting previous Director Ross Burton for many years.
Sally Boyden spent many years in London with her own band as a professional singer/composer and is now based in the USA.
John Bowles has performed on stage around the world in major international productions of shows including "Cats", "Les Miserables", "Phantom of the Opera", "Hello Dolly" and "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum".
In 2003, three performers associated with Young Talent Time were simultaneously in the United States
Billboard Magazine Dance Top 10 and series regulars, Tina Arena
with "Never (Past Tense)" and both Dannii Minogue
with "I Begin to Wonder" and her sister Kylie Minogue
.
Produced in Australia, it starred the current senior members of the Young Talent Team - Dannii Minogue, Vince Del Tito, Natalie Miller, Lorena Novoa, Beven Addinsall, and a new member, black teenager Keith Williams, who was imported from Los Angeles.
It also featured regular guest appearances from the younger members of the current Young Talent Team who were billed as "The Young Generation" (Jamie Churchill, Johnnie Nuich, Joey Dee, Courtney Compagnino, Juanita Coco and Rikki Arnot).
Interestingly none of the surnames of any of the young performers were ever mentioned on this version of the show. They were only referred to by their first names.
The New Generation was hosted by American Michael Young, the host of the Emmy Award winning "Kids Are People Too".
13 x 30 minute episodes were produced by Johnny Young's Television House and Fries Entertainment (US) and screened on The Family Channel
in the US.
In 1973 Johnny Young, The Young Talent Team and Denis Walter
supported the "TV Week King of Pop" Jamie Redfern in a series of live concerts. "The Jamie Redfern Show" sold out a number of shows at Melbourne's Festival Hall
, with the Team filling the first half of the night and Redfern belting out his hits in the second half.
Years later, in 1987, the Team were booked to appear in concert at the Westfield Shopping Centre, Parramatta
. The centre had not anticipated the turnout of over 4,000 fans, and a near riot took place. Some fans were crushed in the crowd and the concert was cancelled as the team were hastily bundled out of the shopping centre, some of them in tears.
7,000 fans attended the 1988 concert at the Rockhampton Music Bowl in Queensland.
But probably the biggest Young Talent Time concert took place in 1988. Over 12,000 people attended the outdoor concert held in Brisbane at the 1988 World Expo on the banks of the Brisbane River. It was broadcast the following week.
The Final Concert Tour: Johnny Young, The Young Talent Team and The New Generation performed a series of concerts just before Christmas 1988. Venues included the Perth Entertainment Centre, The Seagull Stadium on the Gold Coast, Memorial Drive in Adelaide, the Sydney Entertainment Centre and a final concert at the Melbourne Tennis Centre on 23 December 1988, the same night that the last episode of Young Talent Time went to air on Network Ten.
The Team also appeared in concert at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl on Australia Day 1989 - the day after the announcement of the shows demise.
However, in its final years Young Talent Time began to struggle for ratings, particularly following the decision of the rival Nine Network
to move its popular early morning variety show Hey Hey It's Saturday
to an evening slot in 1984, putting it in direct competition to YTT on Saturday nights at 6.30pm.
In October 1988 Network Ten finally decided to move YTT to Friday nights at 7.30pm. The move of nights and timeslots did not help.
On 25 January 1989 Renny Cunnack, General Manager of Channel 10 Melbourne, officially announced to the media that Young Talent Time would "not be resuming production in 1989". (Interestingly Renny Cunnack himself was let go as General Manager just three months later - two weeks after his boss Ian Gow had departed)
The cancellation of the show was a shock to the cast, crew and fans. Johnny Young had invested a large amount of money in building his own studio and recording complex in the hope of producing the show himself and selling it back to Network Ten.
Network Ten continued airing compilation episodes in early 1989, initially as "The Best of Young Talent Time" at 7.30 on Friday nights, then as "Young Talent Time Favourites" at 11.00 on Saturday mornings. The last of these aired in Melbourne on Saturday 1 April 1989.
On Saturday 6 May 1989 Johnny Young and his company Television House held a private party at Channel 10's Studio A, YTT's 18 year home-base studio, as an official "thank you to the YTT Family" - the cast and crew and their families who had worked on the show over the years.
In 1990 Johnny Young used his own television studio and recording complex to produce a one-off direct-to-video special "Young Talent Time Now - 1990" featuring the six final members of the Young Talent Team - Jamie Churchill, Johnnie Nuich, Joey Dee, Courtney Compagnino, Juanita Coco and Rikki Arnot, with a guest appearance by former Team Member Beven Addinsall.
One of the shows original judges, Fred Tupper, died on 15 March 1976.
Evie Hayes, the American-born music theatre star who appeared as a judge on the show for many years died on 26 December 1988 aged 76, after a long battle with Multiple Sclerosis. (On the Australian stage she had played the lead roles in hit shows including "Annie Get Your Gun", "Kiss Me, Kate", "Oklahoma!", "Call Me Madam" and "Funny Girl".) In the 1960s and 1970s Evie became a prominent Melbourne singing teacher, coaching Young Talent Timers's including Jamie Redfern. Just eight weeks before her death she performed at a World Expo ‘88 variety concert at the Lyric Theatre in Brisbane (26–27 October 1988).
The death of former cast member Juanita Coco
in 1993 devasted the cast, crew and fans. Coco, aged 17, was a passenger in a vehicle involved in an alcohol-related accident. She was a Passenger on the way home from her boyfriends birthday party. He was not driving and survived the accident. Unfortunately, his mate, who was another Passenger, was also killed.
Another former cast member, Julie Ryles, died in January 2011.
Two of the shows Directors, Garry Dunstan and Terry Higgins have since passed away, as has Ross Burton, a long-time musical director on the show.
Sponsored by the Caravan Trade & Industries Association "Caravan Holiday" was completed by early 1972 and released in cinemas across Australia as a supporting feature to Peter Bogdanovich
's hugely popular US comedy picture What's Up, Doc? which starred Barbra Streisand
and Ryan O'Neal
.
A Lewis/Young Production, in association with Ansett Television Films, "Caravan Holiday" starred Rod Kirkham, Vikki Broughton, Philip Gould, Debbie Byrne, Jamie Redfern, Jane Scali and the two most recent additions to the team, Greg Mills and Julie Ryles.
It also features comedian Buster Fiddess (as 'Mr Crawley') and Addie Black, and guest appearances by Johnny Young, Evie Hayes and John Farnham
(then known as Johnny Farnham).
Fiddess died just a few days after he finished filming his scenes.
The film was written by Gillian Wadds and Produced and Directed by Rob Weekes, with Original Music by Johnny Young.
The very loose storyline follows Buster Fiddess leading the four YTT boys, and Addie Black leading the four YTT girls in two separate caravans on a short "Caravan Holiday". They keep running into Johnny Young, who appears in various guises (sheep farmer, petrol pump attendant, etc.), and Jamie Redfern and Jane Scali bump into "their idol" Johnny Farnham at a Caravan Park. Debbie Byrne almost drowns at the beach but is rescued by a bunch of hunky red speedo-wearing lifesavers!
(Jane Scali's name is misspelt in the credits as 'Jane Scarli', and Vikki Broughton's name is misspelt as 'Vicki Broughton'.)
It features the opening title song "Reach For The Sun (Summer Holiday)" (released as a single to coincide with the film's release) and a memorable music-fantasy sequence, where the Team perform a cover version of The Cowsills 1967 song "The Rain, The Park & Other Things".
It screened on television just once, on Christmas Eve 1972. It was then unseen for three decades until a restored version was featured as a Bonus Extra on the 2002 DVD "Young Talent Time: The Collection" (Universal Pictures - 2002)
, were reunited in a one-hour television special (documentary) titled "Young Talent Time Tells All" to mark the show's 30th Anniversary in 2001. It aired across Australia on Monday 29 October 2001 and was watched by 1.7 million people. It was Network Ten's highest rating special of the year. It featured clips, behind the scenes footage and interviews with 32 of the 40 Team members talking openly about their experiences on the show. It was created, produced and hosted by former Young Talent Team member John Bowles and co-produced by the shows Audience Warm-Up Artist Jeremy Kewley
.
, Dannii Minogue
and Johnny Young
) was held in Melbourne in October 2003 to celebrate the release of an extended version of the "Young Talent Time Tells All" documentary on DVD (through Universal Pictures).
The DVD, which contained added bonus features and rare footage, was titled "Young Talent Time: The Collection".
Bonus features on the DVD include a restored version of the 1972 short film "Caravan Holiday" featuring Johnny Young and the Young Talent Team; full biographies of all 40 Team Members and Johnny Young; Nicole Kidman
's appearance as a guest on the show to promote her 1983 film BMX Bandits
; assorted television commercials featuring members of the team; footage of some of the Team when they appeared as contestants on the show; and the full-length clip of sisters Dannii Minogue
and Kylie Minogue
performing the song "Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves".
Rare footage includes a nine year old Jamie Redfern (pre-Young Talent Time) appearing with 'Happy' Hammond on a Channel Seven test broasdcast of colour television in 1968, seven years before Australian television actually began broadcasting in colour.
1) Young Talent Time (Festival Records - 1971)
2) Young Talent Time: Volume 2 (Festival Records - 1972)
3) Johnny Young and the Young Talent Team Sing The Hits (L&Y Records - 1973)
4) Young Talent Time Hits! Volume 4 (L&Y Records - 1974)
5) Young Talent Time: Favourite Hits - Volume 5 (L&Y Records - 1975)
6) Johnny Young & The Young Talent Team: Mother's Favourites (L&Y Records - 1976)
7) The Young Talent Team Salutes ABBA (L&Y Records - 1976)
8) Sing Sing Sing with the Young Talent Team (Pisces Records - 1977)
9) Johnny Young & The Young Talent Team Sing The Hits (J&B Records - 1980)
10) Johnny Young & The Young Talent Team: Just For Fun (Hammard Records - 1981)
11) The Young Talent Team 10th Anniversary Album (K-Tel Records - 1981)
12) Young Talent Team: Now & Then - 15th Anniversary Album (Hammard Records - 1985)
13) Young Talent Team: Phenomenon (Hammard Records - 1987)
13a) The New Generation (“Phenomenon” album repackaged for the USA) (Hammard Records - 1987)
14) The New Young Talent Team Super Hits 88/89 (Hammard Records - 1988)
15) Johnny Young & The Young Talent Teams: The Final Farewell (Hammard Records - 1989 - only released as a Double Cassette Tape Gift Pack)
Team Singles
1) Reach For The Sun - Johnny Young & The Young Talent Team / What Have They Done To My Song Ma? - The Young Talent Team (Festival - 1972)
2) Sing - The Young Talent Team / If I Could Write A Song - Evie Hayes (L & Y Records - 1973)
3) Do The Right Thing - The Young Talent Team / Happy Disco - The Young Talent Team (Festival Records - 1979)
(The songs "Reach For The Sun" and "Happy Disco" were both written by Johnny Young)
Individual Singles
In the early years of the show, many of the Team Members released a range of their own singles and albums, some of them through Kevin Lewis and Johnny Young's own label L & Y Records and through Kevin Lewis's former label Festival Records.
The singles included:
Rod Kirkham - "Wobbly" and "I Can't Get Sunday Out of My Mind"
Vikki Broughton - "Good, Good Morning" and "Don't You Knock On My Door"
Philip Gould - "Have I The Right?"
Debbie Byrne - "He's A Rebel" and "Da Doo Run Run"
Jamie Redfern - "The Little White Cloud That Cried", "When You Wish Upon A Star", "Venus" and "Rainbow On The River"
Jane Scali - "Having A Good Time"
Trevor Hindmarch - "Milly Molly Mandy"
Sally Boyden - "Shirley Got Married"
Derek Redfern - "Put Your Head On My Shoulder"
Karen Knowles - "Why Won't You Explain?"
Johnny Bowles - "I Can Jump Puddles"
, Graham Kennedy
, Nicole Kidman
, Dame Edna Everage
, Davy Jones
, Micky Dolenz
, Phyllis Diller
, Debbie Reynolds
, Kylie Minogue
, Johnny O'Keefe
, Peter Allen
, Lovelace Watkins
, Normie Rowe
, Russell Morris
, Billy Thorpe
, Demis Roussos
, Jason Donovan
, John Paul Young
, Kamahl
, Renee Geyer
, Denise Drysdale
, John Williamson
, Ian 'Molly' Meldrum and Denis Walter
, and bands including Sherbet
, The Mixtures
, The Four Kinsmen, Little River Band
, The Reels
and even The Wombles
!
Sports stars to guest on the show include Pat Cash
, Jeff Fenech
, Lionel Rose
, Max Walker
and jockey Darren Gauci
(who ended up marrying YTT member Karen Dunkerton after meeting on the show!).
Sight Acts, Magicians and Illusionists who appeared on the show include Tim Ellis
, Ross Skiffington
, Sam Angelico, Zig & Zag, Ron Challinor, Chris Kirby, Ron Blasket and Gerry Gee, Syd Heylen Jnr, Marty Coffey and Hubert the Super Magician.
(as Danielle Minogue), Vince Del Tito, Debbie Hancock, Natalie Miller, John Bowles, Tina Arena
(as Filippina Arena), Robert McCullough, Karen Knowles
, Jodie Lobert, Joey Perrone, Johnnie Nuich, Lorena Novoa, Vanessa Windsor, Steven Zammit, Vanessa Windsor, Mark McCormack and Trevor Hindmarch.
Other well-known Australian performers who also got their start as a contestant on the show include Asher Keddie
, Alyce Platt
, John Foreman, Maria Mercedes
, Sylvie Paladino, Marty Fields
and Michael Cormick.
Best Australian Musical Variety Show of 1971
Best Australian Musical Variety Show of 1973
Best Australian Musical Variety Show of 1974
Best Australian Musical Variety Show of 1975
Special TV Week Logie:
Award for Sustained Excellence (presented in 1982)
Other TV Week Logie Awards:
1971 Jamie Redfern - George Wallace Memorial Award Best Newcomer
1974 Debbie Byrne - Best Australian Teenage Personality
1975 Debbie Byrne - Best Australian Teenage Personality
1990 Johnny Young - Logie Hall Of Fame
To be produced out of Sydney, the Young Talent Time re-boot will be hosted by former Australian Idol 2003 contestant Rob Mills
and, like the original YTT, will feature a regular Young Talent Team, along with weekly (youthful) contestants and special guest acts.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
variety program screened on Network Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
, running from 1971 until 1988. The series features a core group of young performers in the vein of The Mickey Mouse Club, and a weekly junior talent quest
Talent Quest
Talent Quest is an organization which organizes a singing contest which is conducted in the United States. Singers perform songs with karaoke background music tracks, and are judged by vocal ability, stage presence, and presentation/appearance...
. The "Young Talent Team" regularly performed popular classics along with the top hit songs of the day. The program was the creation of host Johnny Young
Johnny Young
Johnny Young is an Australian singer, composer, record producer, disc jockey, television producer and host. Originally from Netherlands, his family settled in Perth, Western Australia in the early 1950s...
and launched the careers of a number of Australian performers including Jamie Redfern, Tina Arena
Tina Arena
Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena is an Australian singer, songwriter and musical theatre actress. She has won several awards, most notably 6 ARIA Awards and in both 1996 and 2000 she received the World Music Award for the world's best selling Australian artist...
and Dannii Minogue
Dannii Minogue
Danielle Jane "Dannii" Minogue is an Australian singer-songwriter, actress, television personality, radio personality, fashion designer and model...
.
The popular family show spawned numerous hit singles, fifteen Young Talent Time albums, a film, swap cards, a boardgames, toys, and numerous Logie Awards.
The first episode (#1) aired on Channel 0 in Melbourne at 7.00pm on Saturday 24 April 1971.
The final episode (#804) aired on Network Ten at 7.30pm on Friday 23 December 1988.
Young Talent Time will return on Network Ten in 2012. The program will be hosted by musician and actor Rob Mills
Rob Mills
Rob Mills is an Australian singer best known as one of the finalists from Australian Idol 2003. He was a co-host on the late-night quiz show The Mint as well as a regular singer on the game show The Singing Bee both on the Nine Network...
.
Production details
Young Talent Time (or simply "YTT" as it is sometimes referred to) was produced by Lewis-Young Productions (the production partnership between host Johnny YoungJohnny Young
Johnny Young is an Australian singer, composer, record producer, disc jockey, television producer and host. Originally from Netherlands, his family settled in Perth, Western Australia in the early 1950s...
and his friend and colleague Kevin Lewis, one of the directors of Festival Records) and was taped mainly at the studios of ATV-10
ATV-10
ATV is a television station in Melbourne, Australia, part of Network Ten - one of the three major Australian commercial television networks.-History:...
in Nunawading, Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
although occasional shows were taped at the TEN-10
TEN-10
TEN is the callsign of Network Ten's flagship Sydney television station. It was originally owned and operated by United Telecasters Sydney Limited , and began transmission on 5 April 1965 with the highlight of the opening night being the variety special TV Spells Magic.-History:TEN often lagged in...
studios in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
or on location.
Many of the episodes from the early-mid 1970s no longer exist as the tapes were wiped for re-use, being the official Network Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
policy at the time. Some later episodes from the series were repeated by pay TV
Pay TV
Pay television, premium television, or premium channels refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by both analog and digital cable and satellite, but also increasingly via digital terrestrial and internet television...
broadcaster Foxtel
Foxtel
Foxtel is an Australian pay television company, operating cable, direct broadcast satellite television and IPTV services. It was formed in 1995 through a joint venture established between Telstra and News Corporation....
in the late 1990s.
Because the series ran for such a long time and featured young performers, Young Talent Time made an indelible mark on the psyche of several generations of Australian children, leading them to believe that if they tried hard enough, they too could be a 'star' like the kids they saw on television.
One memorable aspect of the show was the regular closing number, where Johnny Young would croon a ballad version of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' song "All My Loving
All My Loving
"All My Loving" is a song by The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney , from the 1963 album With The Beatles. Though it was not released as a single in the United Kingdom or the United States, it drew considerable radio airplay, prompting EMI to issue it as the title track of an EP...
" (with which Young had had an Australian hit in the 1960s), accompanied by the entire cast, in an almost lullaby style, individually wishing all of the cast good night.
On average, 44 episodes were produced per year for 18 years. The episodes were broadcast in black & white from April 1971 to April 1975, thereafter in colour.
The final episode of the show - a Christmas-themed episode - aired in 23 December 1988. It was episode 804.
Network Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
announced on 17 August 2011 that it would revive the Young Talent Time format. The new series, slated to begin airing in early 2012, will be hosted by singer and actor Rob Mills
Rob Mills
Rob Mills is an Australian singer best known as one of the finalists from Australian Idol 2003. He was a co-host on the late-night quiz show The Mint as well as a regular singer on the game show The Singing Bee both on the Nine Network...
and co-produced by Johnny Young
Johnny Young
Johnny Young is an Australian singer, composer, record producer, disc jockey, television producer and host. Originally from Netherlands, his family settled in Perth, Western Australia in the early 1950s...
.
Alumni
In the original run of the show, from 1971 to 1988, there were a total of 40 Young Talent Team members.Members of the Team who found continued success after leaving the series and continue working as performers include Tina Arena
Tina Arena
Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena is an Australian singer, songwriter and musical theatre actress. She has won several awards, most notably 6 ARIA Awards and in both 1996 and 2000 she received the World Music Award for the world's best selling Australian artist...
, Jane Scali, Jamie Redfern
Jamie Redfern
Jamie Redfern born 9 April 1957, is an Australian television presenter and pop singer. Redfern was a founding member of the Australian show Young Talent Time and currently presents Jamie Redfern's Rascals, which can be viewed on Aurora TV. He is also the director of the Australian Showbusiness...
, John Bowles, Dannii Minogue
Dannii Minogue
Danielle Jane "Dannii" Minogue is an Australian singer-songwriter, actress, television personality, radio personality, fashion designer and model...
, Beven Addinsall, Karen Knowles
Karen Knowles
-Early career:Knowles was educated in Melbourne at the Methodist Ladies' College. She became nationally famous on the popular television program Young Talent Time, where she was a member of the Young Talent Team from 1975 to 1980....
, Philip Gould, Joey Perrone, Sally Boyden and Debra Byrne
Debra Byrne
-Career:Byrne made her television debut on Brian and the Juniors, an early predecessor of Young Talent Time, which was hosted by a young Brian Naylor. She stayed with the show for 12 months. In 1971 she was cast as one of the original six Young Talent Time cast members...
.
Original Team members: Rod Kirkham went on to produce children's television shows while Vikki Broughton toured Europe with iconic artists such as ABBA and Cliff Richard. Phillip Gould was never out of work when he moved to London's West End and during the same period, Jane Scali was dominating the Australian Cabaret circuit.
Gould and Scali later appeared on stage together in musicals including "Annie".
Three other early members of the 'Young Talent Team' - Trevor Hindmarch, Derek Redfern and Julie Ryles - elected not to continue their singing careers after years of service. Hindmarch served three years as a soldier in the Australian Army Reserve and has since directed his own business in the Australian Thoroughbred Racing Industry. His Racing Software, Profiler, is regarded as the most reliable program for Australian thoroughbreds.
Julie Ryles formed her own PR company and Derek Redfern chose to work for his local council.
Greg Mills became Young Talent Time's Musical Director after assisting previous Director Ross Burton for many years.
Sally Boyden spent many years in London with her own band as a professional singer/composer and is now based in the USA.
John Bowles has performed on stage around the world in major international productions of shows including "Cats", "Les Miserables", "Phantom of the Opera", "Hello Dolly" and "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum".
In 2003, three performers associated with Young Talent Time were simultaneously in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Billboard Magazine Dance Top 10 and series regulars, Tina Arena
Tina Arena
Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena is an Australian singer, songwriter and musical theatre actress. She has won several awards, most notably 6 ARIA Awards and in both 1996 and 2000 she received the World Music Award for the world's best selling Australian artist...
with "Never (Past Tense)" and both Dannii Minogue
Dannii Minogue
Danielle Jane "Dannii" Minogue is an Australian singer-songwriter, actress, television personality, radio personality, fashion designer and model...
with "I Begin to Wonder" and her sister Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
.
The New Generation
In 1988 Johnny Young launched an American version of the show re-titled "The New Generation".Produced in Australia, it starred the current senior members of the Young Talent Team - Dannii Minogue, Vince Del Tito, Natalie Miller, Lorena Novoa, Beven Addinsall, and a new member, black teenager Keith Williams, who was imported from Los Angeles.
It also featured regular guest appearances from the younger members of the current Young Talent Team who were billed as "The Young Generation" (Jamie Churchill, Johnnie Nuich, Joey Dee, Courtney Compagnino, Juanita Coco and Rikki Arnot).
Interestingly none of the surnames of any of the young performers were ever mentioned on this version of the show. They were only referred to by their first names.
The New Generation was hosted by American Michael Young, the host of the Emmy Award winning "Kids Are People Too".
13 x 30 minute episodes were produced by Johnny Young's Television House and Fries Entertainment (US) and screened on The Family Channel
The Family Channel
The Family Channel may refer to:* Television networks preceding ABC Family, an American cable television network that ran from 1988 to 1998 by Christian Broadcasting Network...
in the US.
Concerts & Live Appearances
Over the 18 years of the original show, Johnny Young and the various Teams made numerous live appearances all over Australia, sometimes performing full concerts or just making short publicity appearances at venues ranging from large theatres, concert stages, sporting venues, theme parks, RSL Clubs, outdoor concert arenas (like Melbourne's Myer Music Bowl) and shopping centres.In 1973 Johnny Young, The Young Talent Team and Denis Walter
Denis Walter
Denis Walter is an Australian media personality and singer.Throughout his music career Walter has recorded 14 albums. For many years until his resignation in November 2008 to join Melbourne radio 3AW full-time, Walter was the host of the evening news in the regional areas of Victoria for WIN TV...
supported the "TV Week King of Pop" Jamie Redfern in a series of live concerts. "The Jamie Redfern Show" sold out a number of shows at Melbourne's Festival Hall
Festival Hall, Melbourne
Festival Hall is a concert and sporting venue, located at 300 Dudley Street, West Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is one of Melbourne's larger concert venues and has hosted a variety of local and international acts over many years....
, with the Team filling the first half of the night and Redfern belting out his hits in the second half.
Years later, in 1987, the Team were booked to appear in concert at the Westfield Shopping Centre, Parramatta
Westfield Parramatta
Westfield Parramatta is a shopping centre in Parramatta, a city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The centre is owned and managed by The Westfield Group. It has a net leasable area of approximately 137,269m² and contains 488 shops built over five levels, making it Australia's fourth...
. The centre had not anticipated the turnout of over 4,000 fans, and a near riot took place. Some fans were crushed in the crowd and the concert was cancelled as the team were hastily bundled out of the shopping centre, some of them in tears.
7,000 fans attended the 1988 concert at the Rockhampton Music Bowl in Queensland.
But probably the biggest Young Talent Time concert took place in 1988. Over 12,000 people attended the outdoor concert held in Brisbane at the 1988 World Expo on the banks of the Brisbane River. It was broadcast the following week.
The Final Concert Tour: Johnny Young, The Young Talent Team and The New Generation performed a series of concerts just before Christmas 1988. Venues included the Perth Entertainment Centre, The Seagull Stadium on the Gold Coast, Memorial Drive in Adelaide, the Sydney Entertainment Centre and a final concert at the Melbourne Tennis Centre on 23 December 1988, the same night that the last episode of Young Talent Time went to air on Network Ten.
The Team also appeared in concert at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl on Australia Day 1989 - the day after the announcement of the shows demise.
Final years
In 1988 Johnny Young finally realised his long-held dream of shooting an episode of the show in America. A two-hour special "Young Talent Time at Universal Studios" aired on 13 August 1988.However, in its final years Young Talent Time began to struggle for ratings, particularly following the decision of the rival Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
to move its popular early morning variety show Hey Hey It's Saturday
Hey Hey It's Saturday
Hey Hey It's Saturday was a long-running variety television program on Australian television. It initially ran for 27 years , debuting on the Nine Network on 9 October 1971 and broadcasting its last episode on 20 November 1999. Its host throughout its entire run was Daryl Somers, who would later...
to an evening slot in 1984, putting it in direct competition to YTT on Saturday nights at 6.30pm.
In October 1988 Network Ten finally decided to move YTT to Friday nights at 7.30pm. The move of nights and timeslots did not help.
On 25 January 1989 Renny Cunnack, General Manager of Channel 10 Melbourne, officially announced to the media that Young Talent Time would "not be resuming production in 1989". (Interestingly Renny Cunnack himself was let go as General Manager just three months later - two weeks after his boss Ian Gow had departed)
The cancellation of the show was a shock to the cast, crew and fans. Johnny Young had invested a large amount of money in building his own studio and recording complex in the hope of producing the show himself and selling it back to Network Ten.
Network Ten continued airing compilation episodes in early 1989, initially as "The Best of Young Talent Time" at 7.30 on Friday nights, then as "Young Talent Time Favourites" at 11.00 on Saturday mornings. The last of these aired in Melbourne on Saturday 1 April 1989.
On Saturday 6 May 1989 Johnny Young and his company Television House held a private party at Channel 10's Studio A, YTT's 18 year home-base studio, as an official "thank you to the YTT Family" - the cast and crew and their families who had worked on the show over the years.
In 1990 Johnny Young used his own television studio and recording complex to produce a one-off direct-to-video special "Young Talent Time Now - 1990" featuring the six final members of the Young Talent Team - Jamie Churchill, Johnnie Nuich, Joey Dee, Courtney Compagnino, Juanita Coco and Rikki Arnot, with a guest appearance by former Team Member Beven Addinsall.
Deaths
Kevin Lewis, Johnny Young's business partner (at L & Y Productions and L & Y Records) died in the late 1970s.One of the shows original judges, Fred Tupper, died on 15 March 1976.
Evie Hayes, the American-born music theatre star who appeared as a judge on the show for many years died on 26 December 1988 aged 76, after a long battle with Multiple Sclerosis. (On the Australian stage she had played the lead roles in hit shows including "Annie Get Your Gun", "Kiss Me, Kate", "Oklahoma!", "Call Me Madam" and "Funny Girl".) In the 1960s and 1970s Evie became a prominent Melbourne singing teacher, coaching Young Talent Timers's including Jamie Redfern. Just eight weeks before her death she performed at a World Expo ‘88 variety concert at the Lyric Theatre in Brisbane (26–27 October 1988).
The death of former cast member Juanita Coco
Juanita Coco
Juanita Suzanne Coco was an Australian singer and actress best known for her role on the popular talent/variety show Young Talent Time in the late 1980s...
in 1993 devasted the cast, crew and fans. Coco, aged 17, was a passenger in a vehicle involved in an alcohol-related accident. She was a Passenger on the way home from her boyfriends birthday party. He was not driving and survived the accident. Unfortunately, his mate, who was another Passenger, was also killed.
Another former cast member, Julie Ryles, died in January 2011.
Two of the shows Directors, Garry Dunstan and Terry Higgins have since passed away, as has Ross Burton, a long-time musical director on the show.
"Caravan Holiday"
In the Christmas break between the 1st and 2nd seasons of Young Talent Time, Johnny Young and the Young Talent Team shot a 22 minute colour film. (At the time YTT still screened in black and white on Australian television.)Sponsored by the Caravan Trade & Industries Association "Caravan Holiday" was completed by early 1972 and released in cinemas across Australia as a supporting feature to Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich is an American film historian, director, writer, actor, producer, and critic. He was part of the wave of "New Hollywood" directors, which included William Friedkin, Brian De Palma, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Michael Cimino, and Francis Ford Coppola...
's hugely popular US comedy picture What's Up, Doc? which starred Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
and Ryan O'Neal
Ryan O'Neal
Charles Patrick Ryan O'Neal , better known as Ryan O'Neal, is an American actor best known for his appearances in the ABC nighttime soap opera Peyton Place and for his roles in such films as Paper Moon , Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon , A Bridge Too Far , and Love Story , for which he received...
.
A Lewis/Young Production, in association with Ansett Television Films, "Caravan Holiday" starred Rod Kirkham, Vikki Broughton, Philip Gould, Debbie Byrne, Jamie Redfern, Jane Scali and the two most recent additions to the team, Greg Mills and Julie Ryles.
It also features comedian Buster Fiddess (as 'Mr Crawley') and Addie Black, and guest appearances by Johnny Young, Evie Hayes and John Farnham
John Farnham
John Peter Farnham, AO, formerly billed as Johnny Farnham , is an English-born Australian pop singer. He was a teen pop idol from 1964 to 1979, and has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer. His career has mostly been as a solo artist although he briefly replaced Glenn Shorrock as...
(then known as Johnny Farnham).
Fiddess died just a few days after he finished filming his scenes.
The film was written by Gillian Wadds and Produced and Directed by Rob Weekes, with Original Music by Johnny Young.
The very loose storyline follows Buster Fiddess leading the four YTT boys, and Addie Black leading the four YTT girls in two separate caravans on a short "Caravan Holiday". They keep running into Johnny Young, who appears in various guises (sheep farmer, petrol pump attendant, etc.), and Jamie Redfern and Jane Scali bump into "their idol" Johnny Farnham at a Caravan Park. Debbie Byrne almost drowns at the beach but is rescued by a bunch of hunky red speedo-wearing lifesavers!
(Jane Scali's name is misspelt in the credits as 'Jane Scarli', and Vikki Broughton's name is misspelt as 'Vicki Broughton'.)
It features the opening title song "Reach For The Sun (Summer Holiday)" (released as a single to coincide with the film's release) and a memorable music-fantasy sequence, where the Team perform a cover version of The Cowsills 1967 song "The Rain, The Park & Other Things".
It screened on television just once, on Christmas Eve 1972. It was then unseen for three decades until a restored version was featured as a Bonus Extra on the 2002 DVD "Young Talent Time: The Collection" (Universal Pictures - 2002)
Young Talent Time Tells All documentary
Many of the cast, including Johnny YoungJohnny Young
Johnny Young is an Australian singer, composer, record producer, disc jockey, television producer and host. Originally from Netherlands, his family settled in Perth, Western Australia in the early 1950s...
, were reunited in a one-hour television special (documentary) titled "Young Talent Time Tells All" to mark the show's 30th Anniversary in 2001. It aired across Australia on Monday 29 October 2001 and was watched by 1.7 million people. It was Network Ten's highest rating special of the year. It featured clips, behind the scenes footage and interviews with 32 of the 40 Team members talking openly about their experiences on the show. It was created, produced and hosted by former Young Talent Team member John Bowles and co-produced by the shows Audience Warm-Up Artist Jeremy Kewley
Jeremy Kewley
Jeremy Leo Kewley is an Australian actor, based in Melbourne, who made his professional acting debut at the age of 14 in the feature film The Devil's Playground .-Early life:...
.
Young Talent Time DVD
A small reunion of YTT cast and crew members (including Tina ArenaTina Arena
Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena is an Australian singer, songwriter and musical theatre actress. She has won several awards, most notably 6 ARIA Awards and in both 1996 and 2000 she received the World Music Award for the world's best selling Australian artist...
, Dannii Minogue
Dannii Minogue
Danielle Jane "Dannii" Minogue is an Australian singer-songwriter, actress, television personality, radio personality, fashion designer and model...
and Johnny Young
Johnny Young
Johnny Young is an Australian singer, composer, record producer, disc jockey, television producer and host. Originally from Netherlands, his family settled in Perth, Western Australia in the early 1950s...
) was held in Melbourne in October 2003 to celebrate the release of an extended version of the "Young Talent Time Tells All" documentary on DVD (through Universal Pictures).
The DVD, which contained added bonus features and rare footage, was titled "Young Talent Time: The Collection".
Bonus features on the DVD include a restored version of the 1972 short film "Caravan Holiday" featuring Johnny Young and the Young Talent Team; full biographies of all 40 Team Members and Johnny Young; Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, singer, film producer, spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm...
's appearance as a guest on the show to promote her 1983 film BMX Bandits
BMX Bandits (film)
BMX Bandits is a 1983 Australian children's adventure film featuring one of Nicole Kidman's earliest appearances.The film follows the exploits of two young BMX experts, P.J. and Goose , and their friend Judy , also starring James Mackay as the bike mechanic, after stumbling upon a box of...
; assorted television commercials featuring members of the team; footage of some of the Team when they appeared as contestants on the show; and the full-length clip of sisters Dannii Minogue
Dannii Minogue
Danielle Jane "Dannii" Minogue is an Australian singer-songwriter, actress, television personality, radio personality, fashion designer and model...
and Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
performing the song "Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves".
Rare footage includes a nine year old Jamie Redfern (pre-Young Talent Time) appearing with 'Happy' Hammond on a Channel Seven test broasdcast of colour television in 1968, seven years before Australian television actually began broadcasting in colour.
List of team members 1971-1988
Team members from 1971 to 1988 in order of appearance:- Rod Kirkham (1971–73)
- Vikki Broughton (1971–73) (sometimes billed as 'Vicki')
- Phillip Gould (1971–74)
- Debra ByrneDebra Byrne-Career:Byrne made her television debut on Brian and the Juniors, an early predecessor of Young Talent Time, which was hosted by a young Brian Naylor. She stayed with the show for 12 months. In 1971 she was cast as one of the original six Young Talent Time cast members...
(1971–75) - Jamie RedfernJamie RedfernJamie Redfern born 9 April 1957, is an Australian television presenter and pop singer. Redfern was a founding member of the Australian show Young Talent Time and currently presents Jamie Redfern's Rascals, which can be viewed on Aurora TV. He is also the director of the Australian Showbusiness...
(1971–72) (left the show after just 9 months to pursue a solo career in the USA) - Jane Scali (1971–76) (sometimes billed as 'Jane Scarli')
- Greg Mills (1971–75)
- Julie Ryles (1971–76) (died 2011)
- Trevor Hindmarch (1972–76)
- Sally Boyden (1973–76)
- Derek Redfern (1973–76)
- Karen KnowlesKaren Knowles-Early career:Knowles was educated in Melbourne at the Methodist Ladies' College. She became nationally famous on the popular television program Young Talent Time, where she was a member of the Young Talent Team from 1975 to 1980....
(1975–80) - Steven Zammit (1975–80)
- Debbie Hancock (1976–79)
- Robert McCullough (1976–79)
- Nicole Cooper (1976–81)
- John(ny) Bowles (1977–81)
- Tina ArenaTina ArenaFilippina Lydia "Tina" Arena is an Australian singer, songwriter and musical theatre actress. She has won several awards, most notably 6 ARIA Awards and in both 1996 and 2000 she received the World Music Award for the world's best selling Australian artist...
(1977–83) (longest serving Team Member - 6 Years 6 Months - Bobby Driessen (1979–83) (Jan Driessen)
- Jodie Loebert (1980–83)
- Joe(y) Perrone (1980–84) (Guiseppe Aurelio Perrone)
- Michael Campbell (1981–83) (Michael Jackman)
- Karen Dunkerton (1981–85)
- Katie Van Ree (1981–86)
- Mark McCormack (1982–83)
- Dannii MinogueDannii MinogueDanielle Jane "Dannii" Minogue is an Australian singer-songwriter, actress, television personality, radio personality, fashion designer and model...
(1982–88) (Danielle Minogue) - Vince Del Tito (1983–88) (Vincenzo Deltito)
- Beven Addinsall (1983–88)
- Vanessa Windsor (1983–87)
- Greg Poynton (1984–88)
- Lorena Novoa (1984–87)
- Tim Nelson (1984–87)
- Natalie Miller (1985–88)
- Mark Stevens (1985–88)
- Courtney Compagnino (1986–88)
- Juanita CocoJuanita CocoJuanita Suzanne Coco was an Australian singer and actress best known for her role on the popular talent/variety show Young Talent Time in the late 1980s...
(1987–88) (died 1993) - Joey Dee (1987–88) (Joseph DiBenedetto)
- Rikki Arnot (1987–88)
- Jamie Churchill (1988)
- John(nie) Nuich (1988) (shortest serving Team Member - 5 months)
Recordings
Team Albums1) Young Talent Time (Festival Records - 1971)
2) Young Talent Time: Volume 2 (Festival Records - 1972)
3) Johnny Young and the Young Talent Team Sing The Hits (L&Y Records - 1973)
4) Young Talent Time Hits! Volume 4 (L&Y Records - 1974)
5) Young Talent Time: Favourite Hits - Volume 5 (L&Y Records - 1975)
6) Johnny Young & The Young Talent Team: Mother's Favourites (L&Y Records - 1976)
7) The Young Talent Team Salutes ABBA (L&Y Records - 1976)
8) Sing Sing Sing with the Young Talent Team (Pisces Records - 1977)
9) Johnny Young & The Young Talent Team Sing The Hits (J&B Records - 1980)
10) Johnny Young & The Young Talent Team: Just For Fun (Hammard Records - 1981)
11) The Young Talent Team 10th Anniversary Album (K-Tel Records - 1981)
12) Young Talent Team: Now & Then - 15th Anniversary Album (Hammard Records - 1985)
13) Young Talent Team: Phenomenon (Hammard Records - 1987)
13a) The New Generation (“Phenomenon” album repackaged for the USA) (Hammard Records - 1987)
14) The New Young Talent Team Super Hits 88/89 (Hammard Records - 1988)
15) Johnny Young & The Young Talent Teams: The Final Farewell (Hammard Records - 1989 - only released as a Double Cassette Tape Gift Pack)
Team Singles
1) Reach For The Sun - Johnny Young & The Young Talent Team / What Have They Done To My Song Ma? - The Young Talent Team (Festival - 1972)
2) Sing - The Young Talent Team / If I Could Write A Song - Evie Hayes (L & Y Records - 1973)
3) Do The Right Thing - The Young Talent Team / Happy Disco - The Young Talent Team (Festival Records - 1979)
(The songs "Reach For The Sun" and "Happy Disco" were both written by Johnny Young)
Individual Singles
In the early years of the show, many of the Team Members released a range of their own singles and albums, some of them through Kevin Lewis and Johnny Young's own label L & Y Records and through Kevin Lewis's former label Festival Records.
The singles included:
Rod Kirkham - "Wobbly" and "I Can't Get Sunday Out of My Mind"
Vikki Broughton - "Good, Good Morning" and "Don't You Knock On My Door"
Philip Gould - "Have I The Right?"
Debbie Byrne - "He's A Rebel" and "Da Doo Run Run"
Jamie Redfern - "The Little White Cloud That Cried", "When You Wish Upon A Star", "Venus" and "Rainbow On The River"
Jane Scali - "Having A Good Time"
Trevor Hindmarch - "Milly Molly Mandy"
Sally Boyden - "Shirley Got Married"
Derek Redfern - "Put Your Head On My Shoulder"
Karen Knowles - "Why Won't You Explain?"
Johnny Bowles - "I Can Jump Puddles"
Notable guests
Over the years many celebrities and performers made guest appearances on the show including John FarnhamJohn Farnham
John Peter Farnham, AO, formerly billed as Johnny Farnham , is an English-born Australian pop singer. He was a teen pop idol from 1964 to 1979, and has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer. His career has mostly been as a solo artist although he briefly replaced Glenn Shorrock as...
, Graham Kennedy
Graham Kennedy
Graham Cyril Kennedy, AO was an Australian radio, television and film performer, often called Gra Gra and The King of Australian television.-Childhood:...
, Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, singer, film producer, spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm...
, Dame Edna Everage
Dame Edna Everage
Dame Edna is a character created and played by Australian dadaist performer and comedian, Barry Humphries, famous for her lilac-coloured or "wisteria hue" hair and cat eye glasses or "face furniture," her favorite flower, the gladiola and her boisterous greeting: "Hello Possums!" As Dame Edna,...
, Davy Jones
Davy Jones (actor)
David Thomas "Davy" Jones is an English rock singer-songwriter and actor best known as a member of the Monkees.-Early life:...
, Micky Dolenz
Micky Dolenz
George Michael "Micky" Dolenz, Jr. is an American actor, musician, television director, radio personality and theater director, best known as a member of the 1960s made-for-television band The Monkees.-Biography:...
, Phyllis Diller
Phyllis Diller
Phyllis Diller is an American actress and comedian. She created a stage persona of a wild-haired, eccentrically dressed housewife who makes jokes about a husband named "Fang" while pretending to smoke from a long cigarette holder...
, Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds is an American actress, singer, and dancer.She was initially signed at age 16 by Warner Bros., but her career got off to a slow start. When her contract was not renewed, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer gave her a small, but significant part in the film Three Little Words , then signed her to...
, Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
, Johnny O'Keefe
Johnny O'Keefe
John Michael O'Keefe, known as Johnny O'Keefe was an Australian rock and roll singer whose career began in the 1950s. Some of his hits include "Wild One" , "Shout!" and "She's My Baby"...
, Peter Allen
Peter Allen
Peter Allen was an Australian songwriter and entertainer. His songs were made popular by many recording artists, including Elkie Brooks, Melissa Manchester and Olivia Newton-John, with one, Arthur's Theme, winning an Academy Award in 1981...
, Lovelace Watkins
Lovelace Watkins
Lovelace Watkins was a Las Vegas-based singer and performer who achieved fame in America as well as in Europe and Australia....
, Normie Rowe
Normie Rowe
Norman John "Normie" Rowe AM was a major male solo performer of Australian pop music in the 1960s. Known for his bright and edgy tenor voice and dynamic stage presence, many of Rowe's most successful recordings were produced by Pat Aulton, house producer for the Sunshine Records, Spin Records and...
, Russell Morris
Russell Morris
Russell Norman Morris is an Australian singer-songwriter who had five Australian Top 10 singles during the late 1960s and early 1970s...
, Billy Thorpe
Billy Thorpe
William Richard "Billy" Thorpe, AM was a renowned English-born Australian pop / rock singer-songwriter and musician...
, Demis Roussos
Demis Roussos
Artemios Ventouris Roussos is a Greek singer and performer, best known for being the main musical partner of movie soundtrack composer Vangelis and a string of international hit records as a solo performer in the 1960s and 1970s...
, Jason Donovan
Jason Donovan
Jason Donovan is an Australian actor and singer. He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap opera Neighbours, before beginning a career in music in 1988. In the UK he has sold over 3 million records, and his début album Ten Good Reasons was one of the highest-selling albums of 1989...
, John Paul Young
John Paul Young
John Paul Young is an Australian pop singer who had a 1978 worldwide hit with "Love Is in the Air"...
, Kamahl
Kamahl
Kamahl is the stage name of Kandiah Kamalesvaran , an Australian singer and recording artist, perhaps best known for "The Elephant Song", and his repertoire of popular music.-Early life:...
, Renee Geyer
Renée Geyer
Renée Rebecca Geyer is an Australian singer who has long been regarded as one of the finest exponents of jazz, soul and R&B idioms. She had commercial success as a solo artist in Australia, with "It's a Man's Man's World", "Heading in the Right Direction" and "Stares and Whispers" in the 1970s and...
, Denise Drysdale
Denise Drysdale
Denise Anne Christina Drysdale, is an Australian television personality and comedian. She is often affectionately called Ding-Dong.-Childhood:...
, John Williamson
John Williamson
John Williamson is the name of:* Jack Williamson , American science fiction writer* John H. Williamson , American, North Carolina politician and newspaper publisher* John N. Williamson , American, U.S...
, Ian 'Molly' Meldrum and Denis Walter
Denis Walter
Denis Walter is an Australian media personality and singer.Throughout his music career Walter has recorded 14 albums. For many years until his resignation in November 2008 to join Melbourne radio 3AW full-time, Walter was the host of the evening news in the regional areas of Victoria for WIN TV...
, and bands including Sherbet
Sherbet (band)
Sherbet was one of the most prominent and successful Australian rock bands of the 1970s. Their biggest singles were "Summer Love" and "Howzat" , both reaching number one in Australia. "Howzat" was also a top 5 hit in the UK. Though the band's success in the U.S...
, The Mixtures
The Mixtures
-Biography:Australian musicians Terry Dean and Rod De Clerk met in Tasmania in 1965. They then met Laurie Arthur, a member of The Strangers, and the three decided to form a band together after a jam session. They quickly signed to EMI that same year and released three singles. They went through...
, The Four Kinsmen, Little River Band
Little River Band
Little River Band is an Australian rock band, formed in Melbourne in early 1975.The group chose the name after passing a road sign leading to the Victorian township of Little River, near Geelong, on the way to a performance. Little River Band enjoyed sustained commercial success in not only...
, The Reels
The Reels
The Reels is an Australian rock/indie pop group which formed in Dubbo, New South Wales in 1976 and initially disbanded in 1991, they eventually reformed in 2007. Their 1981 song, "Quasimodo's Dream", was voted one of the Top 10 Australian songs of all time by a 100-member panel from Australasian...
and even The Wombles
The Wombles
The Wombles are fictional pointy-nosed, furry creatures that live in burrows, where they help the environment by collecting and recycling rubbish in useful and ingenious ways. Wombles were created by author Elisabeth Beresford, originally appearing in a series of children's novels from 1968...
!
Sports stars to guest on the show include Pat Cash
Pat Cash
Patrick Hart "Pat" Cash is a retired Australian professional tennis player who won the men's singles title at Wimbledon in 1987.-Early career:...
, Jeff Fenech
Jeff Fenech
Jeff Fenech is a retired Australian boxer and a three-time world champion who is now a boxing trainer.-Boxing career:...
, Lionel Rose
Lionel Rose
Lionel Edmund Rose MBE was an Australian bantamweight boxer, the first Indigenous Australian to win a world title.-Early life:...
, Max Walker
Max Walker
Maxwell Henry Norman Walker AM is a former Australian cricketer and VFL/AFL footballer. Formerly an architect, he currently works as a media commentator and motivational speaker and has diverse business interests.- Football career :...
and jockey Darren Gauci
Darren Gauci
Darren Gauci is an Australian jockey. Born in Melbourne on 26 December 1965, he won the Senior Victorian Jockeys Premiership in 1983-84, 1985-86, and 1990-91. He has come close to winning Australian racing's greatest prize on three occasions, with seconds in the Melbourne Cup on Chagemar , Super...
(who ended up marrying YTT member Karen Dunkerton after meeting on the show!).
Sight Acts, Magicians and Illusionists who appeared on the show include Tim Ellis
Tim Ellis
Tim Ellis is an Australian performer, author and lecturer in the world of magic and illusion.-Biography:Ellis began performing magic at the age of 9 after his grandfather gave him a magic set as a gift. At the age of 14 he was the youngest magician ever admitted to The Magic Circle of Victoria and...
, Ross Skiffington
Ross Skiffington
Ross Skiffington is a New Zealand-born Australian magician, actor, and theatre director, who has received two lifetime achievement awards for his contributions to magic.- Biography :...
, Sam Angelico, Zig & Zag, Ron Challinor, Chris Kirby, Ron Blasket and Gerry Gee, Syd Heylen Jnr, Marty Coffey and Hubert the Super Magician.
Notable contestants
Many members of the 'Young Talent Team' actually began on Young Talent Time as contestants before being hired as regular cast members. They include Dannii MinogueDannii Minogue
Danielle Jane "Dannii" Minogue is an Australian singer-songwriter, actress, television personality, radio personality, fashion designer and model...
(as Danielle Minogue), Vince Del Tito, Debbie Hancock, Natalie Miller, John Bowles, Tina Arena
Tina Arena
Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena is an Australian singer, songwriter and musical theatre actress. She has won several awards, most notably 6 ARIA Awards and in both 1996 and 2000 she received the World Music Award for the world's best selling Australian artist...
(as Filippina Arena), Robert McCullough, Karen Knowles
Karen Knowles
-Early career:Knowles was educated in Melbourne at the Methodist Ladies' College. She became nationally famous on the popular television program Young Talent Time, where she was a member of the Young Talent Team from 1975 to 1980....
, Jodie Lobert, Joey Perrone, Johnnie Nuich, Lorena Novoa, Vanessa Windsor, Steven Zammit, Vanessa Windsor, Mark McCormack and Trevor Hindmarch.
Other well-known Australian performers who also got their start as a contestant on the show include Asher Keddie
Asher Keddie
Asher Keddie is an Australian actress who is perhaps best known for her role in the Australian television series Offspring. She is also known for her theatre work and leading roles in the television series Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo, Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities and Love My...
, Alyce Platt
Alyce Platt
Alyce Platt is an Australian actress known for her roles in television soap operas, and as a television presenter.Her acting roles include Amanda Morrell in Sons and Daughters from 1983–1985, a guest role in the short-lived serial Family and Friends in 1990, and the on-going part of Jen Handley in...
, John Foreman, Maria Mercedes
Maria Mercedes (actor)
Maria Mercedes is an Australian actress who has many credits in television, movies, and theatre.Mercedes has had starring roles in the television comedy/variety series Greeks on the Roof as Poppy, the mother of Effie, and in the comedy series Kick as Dora Mavros...
, Sylvie Paladino, Marty Fields
Marty Fields
Marty Fields is an Australian award-winning stand up comedian, host/mc, actor, writer, musician and radio presenter from Melbourne.The son of Australian comedy legends Maurie Fields and Val Jellay, Fields has had long running roles on Hey Hey It's Saturday, Blue Heelers, Blankety Blanks and various...
and Michael Cormick.
TV Week Logie Awards
Logies Awarded:Best Australian Musical Variety Show of 1971
Best Australian Musical Variety Show of 1973
Best Australian Musical Variety Show of 1974
Best Australian Musical Variety Show of 1975
Special TV Week Logie:
Award for Sustained Excellence (presented in 1982)
Other TV Week Logie Awards:
1971 Jamie Redfern - George Wallace Memorial Award Best Newcomer
1974 Debbie Byrne - Best Australian Teenage Personality
1975 Debbie Byrne - Best Australian Teenage Personality
1990 Johnny Young - Logie Hall Of Fame
2012 revival
On 17 August 2011, Lachlan Murdoch announced that Network Ten - in conjunction with Johnny Young and Johnny Young Music - would produce an all-new version of Young Talent Time as part of their 2012 programme line-up.To be produced out of Sydney, the Young Talent Time re-boot will be hosted by former Australian Idol 2003 contestant Rob Mills
Rob Mills
Rob Mills is an Australian singer best known as one of the finalists from Australian Idol 2003. He was a co-host on the late-night quiz show The Mint as well as a regular singer on the game show The Singing Bee both on the Nine Network...
and, like the original YTT, will feature a regular Young Talent Team, along with weekly (youthful) contestants and special guest acts.