Singer aimsfor conteststardom

Laura Cook, of Cross Lane, Wessington, will be pitching her talents in the TeenStar event at Sheffield Memorial Hall on April 6.

She said: “I am very excited because I love singing and it’s my favourite thing to do.

“I entered the competition last year but didn’t get through the auditions so I decided to not give in and try again.”

A pupil at Highfields School, Matlock, Laura first sang in public when she was on holiday in Halkadiki. She said: “My grandma said I was so good I should have singing lessons, so when I was seven I had singing lessons and have had them ever since, despite having about four different teachers.”

Laura scooped her place in the regional final after impressing audition judges with her rendition of Christina Aguilera’s Beautiful.

She is currently working on a different song for the next stage of the competition which has attracted thousands of entrants.

Laura recorded tracks for a demo disc at Curly Lead studios in Nottingham earlier this month. She sang covers of Let It Go from Frozen, Make You Feel My Love by Adele and Hallelujah by Alexandra Burke.