A SONGSTRESS recently auditioned for X Factor by singing to a crowded shopping centre.

Amara-Leigh Hull, a Year 10 student at Pool Academy, travelled to Bristol to queue up with thousands of other hopefuls to take part in auditions.

Amara-Leigh has a passion for music and has taught herself how to play the keyboards and the guitar.

She said: “We had to audition in front of ITV production professionals. I had to sing to them in a shopping centre and there were thousands of people. It was quite a big audience which was scary, but I wasn’t nervous.

“I sang and played my guitar. They said my guitar playing was really good despite the fact I have only been learning it for about three or four months."

She arrived at the shopping centre in the city three hours early, before performing a song by artist Birdy called Not About Angels.

It was the first time she had taken part in an audition recorded with professional film cameras. She will find out if she has been chosen to take part in the next series before the end of July.

Her mother Miss Hull said: “I am extremely proud of her. She has taught herself to play the guitar and the keyboards. She is dedicated and has a strong passion for her music. Fingers crossed she gets through the audition.”

Everyone who turned up on the day over the age of 14 years old were guaranteed an audition and it was open to any style of singer.