The last show before the Gala Final on April 2 saw a group of heat winners and ‘near misses,’ those contestants scoring 100 or more without winning the show, compete for a place on the final show.

This show also featured ten acts, instead of the more usual seven, making this the biggest line-up in the history of the show.

Despite the huge increase in the number of acts, they were all still allowed a full three minutes in front of the panel, which featured George Elrick, Jack Parnell, Bridie Reid and Terry Wogan.

• Kenny Day (vocalist) – winner 6.25
• Jimmy Crawford Blend (vocalist / guitarist) – near miss 6.25
• Mel Danser (vocalist) – winner 6.24
• Joe Jones (comedian) – near miss 6.22
• Soft Pedal (six-piece group) – winner 6.22
• Rogers & Hammersmith (comedy duo) – near miss 6.21
• Jamie Michael Stewart (vocalist) – near miss 6.20
• Alan J. Bartley (comedian) – near miss 6.27
• Cass Nova (vocalist) – near miss 6.27
• Patti Boulaye (vocalist) – winner 6.27

For the ninth time in New Faces the judges couldn’t decide on a single winner. They were unable to split the top two acts, both scoring 379 points out of the 400 available on this type of show.

The joint winners, vocalist Patti Boulaye and comedian Alan J. Bartley, appearing on their second show together, booked themselves a spot on a third show and a place in the following week’s Gala Final, where a Las Vegas appearance was the prize on offer.

Following his success, Jarrow comedian Alan said ‘It would be wonderful to win that [the Gala Final] as well, but I don’t know what the Americans would make of my Geordie accent.’ Alan’s previous appearance had already led to a flood of bookings and he’d managed to secure shows in Malta as well as a summer season in Jersey. Judge, Terry Wogan, referred to Alan as ‘the funniest comedian I’ve ever seen on New Faces.’

Sharing the top spot with Alan was 24-year-old Nigerian vocalist Patti Boulaye, who on her first appearance (show 6.27) became the first New Faces act to record 120 points, the maximum possible score.

Making their second appearance of the series were the duo Jimmy Crawford Blend, who on this appearance performed the Mike Nesmith song Rio. It has been reported that Jimmy wanted to repeat their version of The Good, The Bad and the Ugly from their first appearance but they were not allowed to perform the same song again.

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