Teen Teah takes singing top spot
St Leonards native wins in London
ANDREA LAMBROU
An East Kilbride songbird has landed a dream album deal after taking the TeenStar UK title.
Teah McCafferty won the top prize in the talent competition after wowing a panel of judges with a stripped back version of ‘You’re the One that I Want’ from the Grease soundtrack.
The 15-year-old, who is originally from St Leonards, has been singing since she was three-years old.
Earlier this month, she beat off stiff competition from 31 performers in the final heat in London’s O2 arena to scoop both best singer and best overall performance after being selected from 10,000 hopefuls.
The young talent is now preparing to launch a single ahead of a full album of original material after winning the chance to work with a top London music producer.
Teah, who is studying for her GCSE’s, has also bagged a coaching session with Leona Lewis’ voice coach CeCe Sammy at the London Voice Academy and will feature on Carrie and David Grant’s BBC Radio London show.
The modest teen, who now lives with her family in Durham, told the
News: “I’m really excited to have won – I wasn’t expecting it at all.
“I’m looking forward to finishing my GCSEs and then going to London to start writing and producing my single and album as part of the overall prize.
“I also won a session with leading vocal and performance coach CeCe Sammy who works from Los Angeles and London. It will be great having the opportunity to write my own material as it will be something completely new for me and is something I have always wanted to do.”
Teah started singing when she was just three-years old and first started entering Teenstar competitions when she was eight.
And she has been competing ever since.
She added: “I attended Shona Halford Theatre School in East Kilbride from around five until I was 13.
“I am part of a girl group Loxie who perform in and around the Glasgow area, we backed the Three Degrees in the Village Theatre a few years ago, which was a great experience.”
Commenting on her win, proud dad Stephen added: “We are all over the moon.
“Teah was told she had great vocals and control and a great stage presence.
“I was speechless when she won first place for singing and the overall prize. It’s a great achievement and a fantastic opportunity for her.
“Although she loves to sing she doesn’t like being in the limelight so she hasn’t even told her school pals about it.
“I think she is in awe, it’s exciting for her.
“She now has a lot of support to get her up and running.”
Despite moving down south, Teah is remains one third of South Lanarkshire girl group LOXIE.
On the same day she performed in front of major record label A&R in the final of another one of Britain’s largest music competitions, Open Mic UK, alongside band mates Emily Downie, from East Kilbride, and Holly Thornton, from Cambuslang.
The hardworking trio met at the Shona Halford’s Musical Theatre School in East Kilbride and decided to form a group together.
The girls have since performed alongside the likes of X Factor runner-up Nicholas McDonald.
They aimed to impress judges with their three part harmonies, but their twist on Elle King’s X’s and O’s failed to hit the right note at the live finals.