THE church halls of Hampshire stood empty - for good reason.

Am-dram schedules were put on hold as the Richard Geres and Renee Zellwegers of the local acting scene swapped their usual draughty surroundings for the glamour of Winchester Guildhall - to discover the winners of this year's Daily Echo Curtain Call Awards.

Hosted by Daily Echo editor Ian Murray and Curtain Call co-ordinator Tracie Billington-Beardsley, with celebrity guest Nicholas Parsons presenting the gongs, the awards recognised the talents of amateur theatre groups in a total of 34 categories.

For the last 12 months a dedicated panel of reviewers has spent their evenings assessing the merits of actors, directors and backstage crews in 70 amateur theatre productions from Southampton to Salisbury.

An astonishing wealth of talent has been unearthed in the process, with part-time performers proving themselves every bit a match for the professionals in categories from Best Actor and Actress to Best Lighting and Effects.

Now in its fourth year, the glittering Oscars-style ceremony has been expanded to incorporate Shakespeare and opera sections.

Veteran actor, comedian and presenter Nicholas Parsons told the audience:

"A lot of people in our profession are very disparaging about amateur dramatics, but I think it is absolutely essential.

"It brings people into the environment of theatre and encourages you to support live entertainment. This is where professionals learn their craft."

Am-dram groups from Hampshire and beyond found it hard to contain themselves as Mr Parsons revealed the contents of those all-important golden envelopes.

With only a short pause for a musical excerpt from Southampton Operatic Society's Annie Get Your Gun, the evening rattled towards its climax - the announcement of the coveted Production of the Year Award. It went to the Hamble Players for their First World War drama Journey's End - a play described by our reviewers as "flawless in every department".

Director Kay Baker, who also scooped Best Director of a Drama, put the show's success down to teamwork.

"Everyone participated. To win such an accolade for the Hamble Players means everything to me - they're such a big part of my life and the life of Hamble," said Kay, who has been involved with the Players for 23 years.

She added: "I had such a good feeling about the play from the auditions right through to the very last performance."

Praising the efforts of this year's nominees, Ian Murray described standards as "exceptionally high".

"Our reviewers saw more than double the amount of shows they saw in the previous year.

"There have been a lot of innovations this year and a lot of groups have been brave enough to put on less well-known shows.

"I'm always amazed by what they manage to achieve."

The Daily Echo would like to thank Mike Andrews of Lite Relief, Audio Leads, Winchester Guildhall and Marks & Spencer Winchester for their help in staging the awards.