
Before The Voice, before The X-Factor, there was... Australia's Amateur Hour!
Australia's Amateur Hour was a radio talent show that Australians took to their hearts. It ran from 1940 to 1958, and featured First Nations artists as well as performers from diverse cultural backgrounds.
Among the significant performers to appear on the show were Johnny O'Keefe, Jimmy Little, Olive and Eva and Frank Ifield.
The NFSA holds approximately 60 episodes out of the 925 that aired.
Listen to clips below featuring Chad Morgan, the Trinamics (a quartet featuring Keith Potger, later of the Seekers), Albert Namatjira, Paula and Olga Perledo from Greece, and more.
WARNING: this collection contains names, images or voices of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
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.