The search is on for local entertainers with the 'pier factor' to join the cast of a seaside showbiz spectacular.

The search is on for local entertainers with the "pier factor" to join the cast of a seaside showbiz spectacular.

Cromer's summer show has just finished another successful season, but work is already forging ahead planning next year's - and there is a renewed invitation for a local act to share the stage.

Teenage magician Luke Cook filled the slot this year, after winning the first ever Find a Star talent competition backed by the EDP and BBC Radio Norfolk.

Now the hunt is on for his successor, with show bosses saying they are looking for the "pier factor".

With the nation gripped with the annual television quest for an X Factor star, Cromer show promoters Openwide International are casting their net across Norfolk for an act to appear in their nationally renowned variety show.

But they want that special ingredient needed by someone who will be part of a show, which encourages all-round entertainers to get involved in song and dance routines and comedy sketches, as well as their own speciality acts.

Spokesman Bruce Stratton said: "They need to be talented, original, entertainers - but also able to work outside their comfort zone."

It gave performers an opportunity to hone their stage skills working with one of the top summer variety deviser-choreographers, and to broaden their horizons for other work, as the show was watched by entertainment agents, as well as 40,000 people each year.

Next year's local act could be a classical musician, as the show has woven the talents of Bulgarian violinist Teadora Ilieva and flautist Julie Groves into its rich tapestry in the past. Or it could be a modern dance troupe like Diversity who won this year's Britain's Got Talent.

Seventeen-year-old Luke, from Oulton Broad, near Lowestoft, who won last year's Find a Star competition says his season at Cromer helped him polish his act and gain new skills, including singing and dancing.

Entries for this year's competition close on October 31, with successful acts being invited to audition in front of judges only at Cromer Pier on Saturday, November 7.

The best ones will go on to a showcase final, in front of an audience, the same evening. Tickets for the final are already on sale for �10 from the box office on 01263 512495.

Entrants should send details of their act, a biography, colour head and shoulders picture (and a DVD if available) to Norfolk Find a Star, The Box Office, Cromer Pier, Cromer, Norfolk, NR27 9HE.

All entrants must be aged 17 or over on or before April 1, 2010, and able to commit to a show season and rehearsal schedule running from June to September.