1971

The **1971** season was the twelfth regular season of *Jay's Music Search*. It followed the 1970 season and preceded the 1972 season.

Soulful singer and pianist Roberta Flack was the winner of the season. Welsh stage singer Shirley Bassey finished second, with Italian singer Mina coming in third, and pop singer Petula Clark coming in fourth.

# Episodes

## Auditions

The first round consisted of about 100 acts auditioning to make the Top 48 that would move into Round 2.

### Episode 1201

**Accepted:**

* **Les Humphries Singers**
* **James Brown**
* **Jackie Edwards**
* **Nicky Thomas**
* **Horace Faith**

**Rejected:**

* Ocean
* Biff Rose
* *The Jaggerz*
* Les Crane
* Friedrich Schütter
* Greyhound
* Derrick Harriot
* Bob & Marcia

## Round 2 Battles

As only 45 of the 48 needed acts made it through auditions, three acts were brought back as audition wildcards to fill out the 48. The three acts were Bobbie Gentry, Sandie Shaw, and The Jaggerz.

## Wildcard Battles

Eight acts eliminated in the Round 2 or Round 3 Battles were given a final chance to make the Top 24. They were put into four wildcard battles, of which the winners would advance.

The battles in the round are listed below, with the winners being in bold.

### Episode 1217

* Allan Taylor vs **Clodagh Rodgers**
* **Lulu** vs Nicky Thomas
* **Oscar Harris and the Twinkle Stars** vs Prince Buster
* Ringo Starr vs **Vikki Carr**

## Top 24

The Top 24 were split into four groups of six. Three from each group advanced and made it into the Top 12.

### Episode 1218

**Advanced:**

* **Cliff Richard** (1st)
* **Aretha Franklin** (2nd)
* **Clodagh Rodgers** (3rd)

**Eliminated:**

* Billy Preston
* Bob Dylan
* Booker T. & Priscilla

### Episode 1219

**Advanced:**

* **Lulu** (1st)
* **George Harrison** (2nd)
* **Jerry Lee Lewis** (3rd)

**Eliminated:**

* Horace Faith
* Kate Taylor
* Leon Russell

### Episode 1220

**Advanced:**

* **Petula Clark** (1st)
* **Roberta Flack** (2nd)
* **Mina** (3rd)

**Eliminated:**

* Les Humphries Singers
* Oscar Harris and the Twinkle Stars
* Rod Stewart

### Episode 1221

**Advanced:**

* **Shirley Bassey** (1st)
* **Sandie Shaw** (2nd)
* **The Guess Who** (3rd)

**Eliminated:**

* The Pioneers
* The Who
* Vikki Carr

## Top 12

In this round, ten acts moved forward, and two were eliminated.

### Episode 1222

**Advanced:**

* **Cliff Richard**
* **Jerry Lee Lewis**
* **Aretha Franklin**
* **Mina**
* **Petula Clark**
* **Roberta Flack**
* **Sandie Shaw**
* **Shirley Bassey**
* **The Guess Who**
* **George Harrison (bottom 3)**

**Eliminated:**

* Clodagh Rodgers
* Lulu

## Top 10

In this round, eight acts moved forward, and two were eliminated.

### Episode 1223

**Advanced:**

* **George Harrison**
* **Jerry Lee Lewis**
* **Petula Clark**
* **Aretha Franklin**
* **Mina**
* **Roberta Flack**
* **Shirley Bassey**
* **The Guess Who (bottom 3)**

**Eliminated:**

* Sandie Shaw
* Cliff Richard

## Top 8

In this round, four acts moved into the finale, and four were eliminated.

### Episode 1224

**Advanced:**

* **Mina**
* **Roberta Flack**
* **Shirley Bassey**
* **Petula Clark (middle 2)**

**Eliminated:**

* Jerry Lee Lewis
* The Guess Who
* Aretha Franklin
* George Harrison (middle 2)

## Finals

This was the final round of the competition, in which the final four all performed three final times, before the winner was decided.

### Episode 1225

* **Winner: ROBERTA FLACK**
* **2nd place: Shirley Bassey**
* **3rd place: Mina**
* **4th place: Petula Clark**

## Trivia

* Due to the lower-than-usual number of successful auditionees after the first eight episodes, this season was the first to include an extra ninth audition episode.
* This season currently holds the record for the most female singers in the Top 12, with eight.
* Additionally, this was the first season with an all-female finals.