A TALENTED singer from Worcester is in the running to perform on the same stage as R&B stars Lemar, Jamelia and Sean Paul - but she needs the help of Worcester News readers if she is to do so.

Carla Manganiello has beaten 75,000 hopefuls to reach the final of a competition that could see her sing her own song at the prestigious Urban Music Awards (UMA).

The 17-year-old of Lobelia Close in St Peter's said she was excited about making the final 20 and has now set her sights on trying to win the Best Unsigned Act category.

"It would be unbelievable if I won," she said. "It would be my biggest achievement by far."

Miss Manganiello sang her self-penned song Walk Away - an R&B track - in London when public voting started last week. Although a regular in the pubs and clubs around the county, the Worcester Sixth Form College student admitted the competition is a big step up for her.

"It was so scary but it was nice to see what talent is out there, not just in Worcester and the Midlands, because it was a national thing," she said. "When I heard the other acts they were so amazing, I just felt lucky to be there. Some of them are in a completely different league but after being there and being with all the people it's made me realise that it is definitely what I want to do now."

Miss Manganiello, who started singing at the age of four and entered and won her first competition at 14, got to the final of the competition after she was spotted singing in Sin during the club's Text Factor competition earlier in the year.

Miss Manganiello, who ranks Aretha Franklin and LeAnn Rimes among her idols, now needs people to vote for her online if she is to realise her dream.

"It is just a public vote so I have been going around all of my friends asking them to vote for me and they have asked all of their friends," she said. "It would be a chance for me to try something different and it would be an amazing experience to sing at the awards, but it is such an achievement to have got this far in something so big at an early age."

The winner of the competition will be announced at the fifth UMA ceremony in London on Saturday, November 3.