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The Air Force Worldwide Talent Contest and its extention into Tops in Blue is one of the most exciting concepts in the entertainment arena today!
In the 1950’s Major Al Reilly noted that the Air Force had a lot of ways for athletes to showcase their skills in competitions but there weren’t contests that featured the many talents our airmen possessed in the performing
arts arena.
Reilly’s idea initially created the Air Force Worldwide Talent contest: 14 categories ranging from comedy to drama, magic to juggling, vocal to instrumental, gospel to pop, and jazz to hillbilly. It provided an excellent setting for every possible form of entertainment. The tremendous quality and diversity of talent from the very first contest made the idea of Tops in Blue a reality. Even today, the competition is the source for a new Tops in Blue team every year. In just the first few years, the contest included competitors Jerry Van Dyke, Frank Gorshin, and the 1953 SPEBSQSA International Barbershop Champions.
The contest was designed for multiple levels before winning a spot on the Air Force Worldwide Talent Contest stage. Thousands of Air Force members competed at base-level contest held at what were then called Service Clubs or Recreation Centers in hopes of going forward to major command competitions. The major commands then assembled their most hopeful competitors into acts and headed to the Air Force-level competition. This 10-day competition included a wide variety of rehearsals, auditions, seminars and technical training, all designed to help the contestants hone their entertainment skills. Whole communities came out to support the shows, as celebrity judges like Barry White, Les Brown, Richard Roundtree, and Esther Williams determined the best in the Air Force.
Competition was fierce and finals night electric, as each four-minute act vie for the first place trophy called “Roger” or the smaller, second place trophy appropriately name “Wilco.” In the 70s, 80s, and early 90s, the thrill of competition and the glamorous excitement of the event brought hopefuls back year after year, each time, gleaning new and improved skills from the process of competition. In the mid-90s, due to funding cutbacks and military downsizing, the advancement process changed, first to regional versus major command competitions, and in 1995 to a streamlined format of video reviews leading up to the live worldwide finals.
Contestants forward the audition tapes directly to Headquarters Air Force Services Agency, Entertainment Branch, where a team of entertainment professionals determine suitability for the Worldwide Talent Contest, held annually at Lackland AFB, Texas. The 10-day competition has been scaled down to six main talent categories and is no longer judged by celebrities, but rather the outgoing Tops in Blue team and the Air Force Entertainment Production staff. Although the process is streamlined, the result is the same. Contestants still feel the thrill of competition, hope for a “Roger” or a “Wilco”, and go through rigorous “casting call” auditions just to be Tops in Blue.
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In the thrill of competition, contestants
hope for a “Roger” or a “Wilco” they
can hold in high esteem for participating
with such an amazing caliber of talent.
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