
Episodes featuring a Young Talent Time team member graduating are extra popular with fans.
This clip from Joey Perrone’s last episode in 1984 is a fine example of a formula the show established for these rites of passage. Shots of Joey’s family, a group farewell set-up and speeches reminiscent of those at a 21st birthday party are used to heighten emotions.
Johnny Young’s tribute to Joey’s talent and professionalism – and Joey’s emotional reaction – adds to the sequence’s raw emotional power.
The coverage of this moment is handled well in a live studio setting using multiple cameras. Apart from members of Joey’s family crying, a cut-away of a tearful audience member wearing an ‘I love Joey Perrone’ T-shirt raises the stakes of the farewell and exemplifies the dedication of the show’s fans.
Joey was a team member from 1980 to 1984. Examples of other farewell episodes include Tina Arena and Dannii (then known as Danielle) Minogue.
Joey chooses a joyful rendition of ‘All Night Long (All Night)’ – written and made famous by American singer Lionel Richie in 1983 – as his final song before breaking his composure to cry in the arms of his fellow team members.
This clip comes from episode 84/37 and was broadcast on 20 October 1984.
Notes by Beth Taylor
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia acknowledges Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live and gives respect to their Elders both past and present.