A science career can sometimes bear more than a passing resemblance to leading a life on the stage. Never has there been greater demand for the kind of investigator willing to exude a bit of razzle-dazzle in order to communicate with the wider public. Now, the organizers of one British science festival have taken the science-showbiz connection to new heights. Tearing a page directly out of the Pop Idol and American Idol handbooks, they've held a nationwide talent contest to find the "new face of science."