This is my first attempt so apologies if I’ve subconsciously drawn from other grids. Also don’t know if I’ve made it too awkward or difficult by trying to make it less obvious. Don’t annihilate me but advice welcome.

Same as 51774 ( entered twice by mistake ). More annotations in 51774

Good start ( i think- some of thebconnectionsni hadn't heard of).
As for hard/ easy- this is fine and they dont all have to be the same anyway. It is rare that a grid gets better by adding obscurity, except as a " if you know this 1 clue you know the group" giveaway. Difficulty is a bit lile hofstadter's law: grids are usually harder than you think they will be as the setter, even if you know that this is the case.

Age thing but I was thinking Al Jolson- I hope you enjoyed setting, keep going and you'll be hooked. The hardest thig is innovation, you are bound to take ideas from other grids, no worries. Mister Tom speaks true.

Good first attempt. Just a couple of comments / suggestions:

You might want to widen the permitted answers (I used the term "double acts", which wasn't accepted)

The card connection was a little misleading as, if I undertand it correctly, it comes before whereas the others all come after.

Keep up the good work!

Answers as they are at the moment don't include sewing machine in the "singers" quad - it duplicates Jazz. Fun nonetheless!

Thanks for the advice and encouragement everyone.

I’ve amended the permitted answers James ( I tried to think of all possibilities but didn’t think of this obvious one ).

I take your point about grids being harder than you think they’ll be Mister Tom. When I looked at the finished submitted grid I couldn’t even see the connections myself!

I’d deliberately included the card connection James, even though in a different format to the others, so as to be less obvious but now realise I don’t need to be that devious.

You were thinking Al Jolson St John, I was thinking Neil Diamond. Probably many on here too young for either 🙂

Enjoyed TY

Thanks Jmelb. Appreciated from such a seasoned poster as yourself.
Nice to get feedback.