TURNING on in readiness for the news, I only saw the tail end of 'Talent of Tomorrow,' an entertainment special on Granada TV on New Year's Eve, in which youngsters from the North-East competed in a talent contest.

But I was surprised and pleased to see a young boy - the last contestant - playing a xylophone quite brilliantly, performing the old 1914 favourite classic 'Twelfth Street Rag' - a remarkable challenge for one so young who, it was said, was also gifted at playing the piano and drums.

Most unfortunately, his performance was ruined for viewers due to some bungling sound technician operating the control inefficiently and producing a terrible vibrating rumble from the accompaniment of the lone double bass, with which the super 1998 sound system was evidently unable to cope, thus spoiling the lad's chances with the 'judges' in the viewing audience.

J A MARSDEN, Scarborough Road, Blackburn.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.