A TEENAGE singing sensation has made it through to the live TV finals of a talent contest.

Anastasia Budziszewski, 17, from Preston Crowmarsh, near Wallingford, is one of 20 members of The Songtimers, who stormed through heats of Channel 5 show Don’t Stop Believing to earn a place in the grand final on Sunday, August 22.

She said winning the competition would mean “absolutely everything”, after a decade training at dance classes and theatre school in the hope of launching a career in the West End.

The show, which is inspired by the High School Musical films and hit TV musical comedy Glee, is searching for Britiain’s best show choir.

The Songtimers, made up of theatre school students from across the South East, opened Sunday night’s show with a mix of Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror and Avril Lavigne’s Keep Holding On.

The group earned mixed reviews from the four judges – singers Duncan James and Anastacia, actress Tamzin Outhwaite, and choreographer Charles ‘Chucky’ Klapow – but went on to win the public vote, launching them into the final.

Henley College student Anastasia said: “We were very nervous before we performed.

“There was a sudden realisation that we were on.

“It was a big stage, and just so much energy in the room.

“The performance went very well, but the judges were mixed. Afterwards we went backstage and we were all worried, because other groups had some really good comments. We all decided that we had done the best we could, but we were first on, so we had the longest wait to find out, which was horrible. We really did not think we had won.”

She added: “When they anno-unced the winner, there was a split second when we stood there and thought, ‘Was that us?’ “Then we jumped up and down screaming and hugging each other. It still did not really sink in until the next day.”

Now the group have to go through all the emotional turmoil again when they appear on the show again.

And Anastasia has urged Oxford Mail readers to back The Songtimers in the public vote during the show.

She said: “It would mean absolutely everything to win.

“We have got this far, and to go one step further and win would be amazing.”

Anastasia has been going to The Songtime theatre school, which has branches across the South East, since the age of seven, and as a child played Annie at Reading’s Hexagon Theatre.

She spends 18 hours a week rehearsing, including dance lessons in Wallingford, learning ballet, tap, modern, jazz and street dance.