The Southland Times review of the Mazda Foundation National Young Performer of the Year Awards, by Cassandra Pokoney. 19 October.

New Zealand's performing arts are in good hands if last night's National Young Performer of the Year Awards are anything to go by.

The country's supreme young performers entertained a large audience at Invecargill's Civic Theatre, their creative efforts supported with well-deserved applause.

Modern and highland dancers, instrumentalists and budding thespians vying for a top spot, pulled out all the stops to put on their best performances, not only for the audience but also the adjudicators watching and listening to their every move.

For a few of the youngsters it was an opportunity to not only show their skills but also earn precious prizemoney.

The show, the end of a jampacked weekend of competitions, was a well-run production.

The Civic Theatre always lends itself well to shows of musical and dramatic persuasion, and this was no different.

The performers, moulded by years of training, were as skilled and entertaining as someone with years more experience and, while backstage was no doubt a hive of activity, on stage nerves were held at bay.

Overall, the two-hour awards whoe, which also featured the stellar talents of world-class soprano and Bluff local Rebecca Ryan, herself a past young performer of the year, was testament to the talents that not only Southlnad but the rest of New Zealand has to offer.