The 15-year-old King's High pupil impressed the talent competition's judges with her performance of the gospel song Why Me by Jessica Betts.

She competed alongside 10,000 others and was assessed on ability, performance, image and motivation

She will now sing in the regional finals.

Montana said: "At first I was really nervous but I just decided to go for it and give it my all.

"I think I surprised the judges because I'm small and my voice was really loud."

Montana decided to enter the competition after taking lessons from one of the contest's vocal coaches.

As well as being the first competition she had entered, it was also the very first time she had sung in public.

She said: "I got into singing about a year ago when I took part in the musical Les Misérables and you had to do an audition and I realised I could sing."

Montana is hoping to gain the support of Warwick residents and businesses by putting some of her songs on to the internet so the people can hear them before the regional heats.

If successful in the regional heat, Montana will go through to the National Showcase Grand Final in November at the Guildhall in Portsmouth and hopes to be scouted by record labels and agencies.

Montana will now be singing to a live audience at Wulfrun Hall in Wolverhampton during the next stage of the contest. Tickets cost £7.50 and each bought ticket will automatically register two votes for Montana.

They are available from jessplantier@tiscali.co.uk