Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts (also known as Talent Scouts) is an American radio and television variety show which ran on CBS from 1946 until 1958. Sponsored by Lipton Tea, it stars Arthur Godfrey, who was also hosting Arthur Godfrey and His Friends at the same time.

The concept for the show was that Godfrey had several "talent scouts" who brought their discoveries onto the program to showcase their talents. The winner of each show was determined by a meter which judged the audience's applause. The radio series began July 2, 1946, and was heard on CBS Tuesday evenings at 9pm. The winner on October 1, 1946, was pianist José Melis, who later became a familiar late night television personality as the orchestra leader on Jack Paar's Tonight show.

In the summer of 1947, Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts moved to Fridays at 9:30pm. After August 1947 it aired on Mondays at 8:30pm. The radio show continued until October 1, 1956. With Archie Bleyer leading the orchestra, the show's announcer was George Bryan. The show's opening (to the tune of "Four and Twenty Blackbirds") featured Peggy Marshall and the Holidays singing:

Arthur Morton Godfrey (August 31, 1903 – March 16, 1983) was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer who was sometimes introduced by his nickname, The Old Redhead. No television personality of the 1950s enjoyed more clout or fame than Godfrey until a famous on-the-air incident undermined his folksy image and triggered a gradual decline; the then-ubiquitous Godfrey helmed two CBS-TV weekly series and a daily 90-minute television mid-morning show through most of the decade, but by the early 1960s found himself reduced to hosting an occasional TV special.

Arguably the most prominent of the medium's early master commercial pitchmen, he was strongly identified with many of his many sponsors, especially Chesterfield cigarettes and Lipton Tea. After many years for Chesterfield (during which Godfrey came up with the idea and slogan "Buy 'em by the carton"), he severed the relationship during one of his television programs, when his doctors convinced him that his lung cancer was due to smoking. Subsequently, he became a prominent spokesman for anti-smoking education.

Artists and repertoire (A&R) is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label; every activity involving artists to the point of album release is generally considered under the purview of, and responsibility of, A&R.

The A&R division is responsible for discovering new recording artists and bringing them to the record company. They are expected to understand the current tastes of the market and to be able to find artists that will be commercially successful. For this reason, A&R people are often young and many are musicians, music journalists or record producers.

An A&R executive is authorized to offer a record contract, often in the form of a "deal memo": a short informal document that establishes a business relationship between the recording artist and the record company. The actual contract negotiations will typically be carried out by rival entertainment lawyers hired by the musician's manager and the record company.

Patsy Cline (September 8, 1932 – March 5, 1963), born Virginia Patterson Hensley, was an American country music singer as part of the early 1960s Nashville sound. Cline successfully "crossed over" to pop music. At age 30, she died at the height of her career in a private plane crash. She was one of the most influential, successful and acclaimed female vocalists of the 20th century.

Cline was best known for her rich tone, emotionally expressive and bold contralto voice and her role as a country music industry pioneer. She helped pave the way for women as headline performers in the genre. Cline's was cited as an inspiration by singers in several genres. Books, movies, documentaries, articles and stage plays document her life and career.

Her hits began in 1957 with Donn Hecht's "Walkin' After Midnight", Harlan Howard's "I Fall to Pieces", Hank Cochran's "She's Got You", Willie Nelson's "Crazy" and ended in 1963 with Don Gibson's "Sweet Dreams".

Posthumously, millions of her records sold over a 50-year span. She won awards and accolades, leading some fans to view her as an icon at the level of Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley. Ten years after her death, in 1973, she became the first female solo artist inducted to the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 1999, she was voted number 11 on VH1's special, The 100 Greatest Women in Rock and Roll, by members and artists of the rock industry. In 2002, country music artists and industry members voted her Number One on CMT's The 40 Greatest Women of Country Music and ranked 46th in the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time" issue of Rolling Stone magazine. According to her 1973 Country Music Hall of Fame plaque, "Her heritage of timeless recordings is testimony to her artistic capacity."

Diahann Carroll (/daɪˈæn ˈkær.əl/; born July 17, 1935, in New York, New York) is an American television and stage actress and singer. Diahann Carroll has had a long, successful career that has expanded throughout 5 decades.

Having appeared in some of the earliest major studio films to feature black casts such as Carmen Jones and Porgy and Bess, she starred in 1968's Julia, one of the first series on American television to star a black woman in a non-stereotypical role. Later she created the role of Dominique Deveraux on the popular prime time soap opera, Dynasty.

She is the recipient of numerous stage and screen awards and nominations. Carroll has been married four times and became the mother of a daughter in 1960. She is a breast cancer survivor and activist.

Carroll was born Carol Diahann Johnson in The Bronx, New York, to John Johnson of Aiken, South Carolina and Mabel Faulk of Bladenboro, North Carolina. When Carroll was an infant, the family moved to Harlem where she grew up. She attended Music & Art High School, along with schoolmate Billy Dee Williams. In many interviews about her childhood Diahann Carroll remembers her parents support of her and enrolled her in dance, singing and modeling classes. By the time Diahann Carroll was 15 she was modeling for Ebony Magazine she stood at 6 ft and had a lean build. After graduating high school, Diahann Carroll attended New York University to major in sociology.