Having battled her way to the final of a national singing competition the grand cash prize is within reach for a Newham schoolgirl.

Terrina Drayton, 13, of Tyron Road, East Ham, has beaten thousands of other hopefuls to the last round of Teenstar.

Singing and dancing with her band, the Bonita Belles, the group are in with a chance of winning £5000.

After impressing the TeenStar judging panel with their mash up of Price Tag by Jessie J and Read All About It by Professor Green, the group have secured themselves a slot in the Birmingham finals on July, 19.

Terrina, who is at St Angela’s Ursuline School in Forest gate, said she’s really excited to have got this far.

She added: “To be honest, the competition was really tough, I didn’t think we would get this far. I’ve always been confident up until now but the last round I was so nervous.

“Because it’s such a big competition winning it would really boost our confidence for the future.”

Terrina is no stranger to the world of showbiz having performed at the West End’s The Lion King as one of the lead lions, Narla.

She was three-years-old when she started singing and dancing and goes to classes at Kerry Jane Dance Academy in East Ham four times a week.

“It does mean I have to have some very late nights to get my homework done, but if you’re committed to something you just find the time.

“I’m not sure what our chances of winning Teenstar are, we haven’t been together as long as some of the other groups but we work really hard.

“We don’t want to get our hopes up but we’re going to try our best and the most important thing is that we entertain people. That’s what I enjoy most.”

TeenStar is a national talent competition for teens and pre-teens which travels the UK in search of the best singers, singer-songwriters, rappers and vocalists.

It is divided into age categories and the winner will also be given an extensive publicity package helping them kick start their musical career.