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.
Composer: Dimitri Tiomkin
Lyricist: Paul Francis Webster
Vocalists: Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson
The sun is sinking in the west
The cattle go down to the stream
The redwing settles in the nest
It's time for a cowboy to dream
Purple light in the canyons
That's where I long to be
With my three good companions
Just my rifle, pony and me
Gonna hang (gonna hang)
My sombrero (my sombrero)
On the limb (on the limb)
Of a tree (of a tree)
Coming home (coming home)
Sweetheart darling
(sweetheart darling)
Just my rifle, pony and me
Just my rifle, my pony and me
(Whippoorwill in the willow
Sings a sweet melody
Riding to Amarillo)
Just my rifle, pony and me
No more cows (no more cows)
To be roping (to be roping)
No more strays will I see
Round the bend (round the bend)
She'll be waiting (she'll be waiting)
For my rifle, pony and me
For my rifle, my pony and me
