Frankie Stevens (born Francis Donald McKechnie Stevenson) is a New Zealand entertainer and singer. He is best known as a judge for all three seasons on the reality series New Zealand Idol.
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He began his career at the age of 16, when he moved to Sydney, Australia to join a group called "Peter Nelson and the Castaways". After several years of touring and recording with the group, he went solo.
As a solo artist, his first record "My Elusive Dreams" in 1969 was a major hit in New Zealand. [1]
The next year, he moved to London where he won the talent show Opportunity Knocks six times in a row, sang at both The Palladium and Albert Hall, represented Great Britain in several song contests, winning the Silver Prize in the Second Tokyo Music Festival, the Bronze Medal in Caracas Venezuela, and the Gold Medal at the Golden Orpheus Song Festival in Bulgaria.
Through the 1970s, he toured extensively, working with many major acts including Olivia Newton John, Shirley Bassey, Milton Berle, Sammy Davis Jr. and acting in Hawaii Five-O [2].
In 1982, Stevens returned to New Zealand and has been based there since.
In 1994, he played the High Priest Caiaphas in the New Zealand tour of Jesus Christ Superstar, and later the '94-95' tour of Australia - with his younger brother Jon playing Judas.
From 2004, he was a judge on all three seasons on New Zealand Idol.