The First Singtao Amateur Singing Contest took place in 1960. Among the thirty finalists was Wong Jum-sum, who had adopted the stage name ‘Wong Jim’ for fear of being embarrassed from losing.

The contest was divided into a Mandarin and a Western pop section, with, rather symptomatically, no Cantonese section. More than a thousand people joined. Their choice of songs reflected closely the musical leanings of the time.

Wong Jum-sum was ousted at the final 15, an event he regretted for life. By contrast his good friend Judy Jim comfortably got the grand prize in the Western pop section, by taking a leaf from the Patti Page songbook.

The winner of the Mandarin section was Cheung Hoi-wan. She received classical music training and sang the ever-popular Liang Le-yin composition ‘The Song about Selling Sweets’ with a tantalizing mix of inflections.

Very soon, singers from both sections would take a big stride forward, stepping into a brave new world we call the 1960s.

歸來吧 (1959)

作曲：Ernesto DeCurtis
作詞：錢君
主唱：王若詩

聽那海洋的呼吸
充滿了柔情蜜意
你的笑語和歌聲
留在我的夢裡

園內陽光明媚無比
嬌花到處放出香氣
對著這麼好的風光
教我怎樣不想你

自從你和我分離
悲哀湧進我的心裡
在這可愛的地方
數著你的歸期

歸來吧 歸來
請不要把我忘記
歸來吧 歸來吧
我在等你

園內陽光明媚無比
嬌花到處放出香氣
對著這麼好的風光
教我怎樣不想你

自從你和我分離
悲哀湧進我的心裡
在這可愛的地方
數著你的歸期

歸來吧 歸來
請不要把我忘記
歸來吧 歸來吧
我在等你