ALL RIGHT Our Jack! Vera Duckworth took a quick break from Roy's caff recently to drop in on her old friend Jack Diamond.

And to help judge the glittering final of Mr Diamond's talent competition at Cleveleys British Legion.

Although none of the six finalists were local, the Legion was still packed out on September 24 to celebrate the culmination of 22 rounds of star searching and also to catch a glimpse of Coronation Street actress Liz Dawn.

Kicking off the night in style and eventually scooping the top prize of £500 was talent show regular Matt Baker from Somerset who rocked the room with Ricky Martin's She Bangs, I Believe I Can Fly and My Girl before finishing with his own song Latin Boy.

Matt has grown in confidence with every Blackpool appearance and deserved to take the winning place this time.

Personally, I preferred the multi-talented Martin Lambert from Manchester who, despite battling a heavy dose of the flu, took the second prize spot and £250 after cleverly combined comedy with a fabulous voice in Roy Orbison's It's Over, Phil Oakey's Electric Dreams and Nessum Dorma in English!

And coming in third was a Liverpool lass who Blackpool folk could soon be seeing a lot more of. Simply named Danielle, she swiped third place, £100 and also a summer season stint next year from late May at the Norbreck Castle Hotel after a stunning set and some deft dance moves in a sexy silver two piece. And the songbird certainly showed her versatile vocal range with everything from the Carpenters to Billie Holiday and hits from the musical Copacabana.

Entertainments, marketing and travel trade manager of the Norbreck and also judge for the night, Warren Tolley, said: "Winner Matt has great potential but for an immediate spot we have taken on Danielle for 22 weeks next summer.

"She is beautiful and bubbly with an amazing personality and has a very established, polished act. She has all round appeal for the people of Blackpool."

Liz Dawn said of the event: "I really admire all the artistes who have come on tonight and given their all.

"There is so much talent about and I would urge all the acts to keep going and remember it's all about being in the right place at the right time."