A budding musician from The Kings School wows judges in the Live and Unsigned music competition.

A budding musician from The Kings School in Ottery St Mary is reaching for the stars after wowing industry judges in a national music competition.

Emma Lauren Dickson, who performs under the stage name Emma Lauran, made it through to the next stage of the Live and Unsigned competition following an impressive audition at the Plymouth Guildhall last weekend.

The 16-year-old said: “I didn’t feel too nervous and just focused on singing and playing my guitar the best I could”

However, up until 18 months ago the budding musician had never picked up a guitar and taught herself to play during the summer of 2009 by watching videos on YouTube.

She has become a familiar face at the Princesshay shopping centre in Exeter where she regularly busks.

As part of the next stage of the competition, which takes place at the Plymouth Guildhall on March 19, Emma will have to perform in front of a live audience, who will be casting their votes to decide who goes through to the area finals.

She is no stranger to performing as she has been dancing and singing for many years, appearing in various productions with Sidmouth Youth Theatre and East Devon Dance as well as playing at an open mic night at the Sidmouth Folk Festival last summer.

Emma added: “I’m really looking forward to playing in front of a live audience and hopefully they’ll like my act.”

The chosen finalists will then perform in the grand final at the 02 arena in London where the winner will receive prizes including a management and recording contract, up to �15,000 towards a single release package and a UK tour of up to 100 shows.