Hard to believe I know...she's a Boro girl, she's 16 and she's not pregnant or drinking white lightening 'on the estate'! In fact, she's pretty, talented, hard working and a fine example to young girls, not only in Teesside but everywhere!

Amelia Lily Oliver this weekend beat the tens of thousands of applicants to become one of only four who made it through in the 'girls' category of the X Factor live TV finals.

Clearly the secret love child of Christina Aguilera and Pixie Lott and following in the footsteps of her brother Lewis, who reached the finals of BBC 1's 'Any Dream Will Do' in 2007, she has repeatedly said she wants to make her parents proud, although her dad is already pretty chuffed at being the long lost twin of Paul Weller.

On a more serious note (unusual I know), she genuinly has a truly amazing voice that makes you realise how hard it must be to break into the music business without contacts and makes you aware that shows like The X-Factor can hunt out sensational talent from time to time (Jedward excluded!). Not only that, but the girl has overcome bullying at school and deals with a diabetes problem that sees her having to inject insulin four times a day. To most fully fledged adults, that would be depressing enough but Amelia shrugs it off with a simple statement - "I’ve got it, so I’ve just got to deal with it.”

It's a breath of fresh air to see a 16 year old Teesside lass show the region in a good light due to her pure and raw talent, and I for one will be voting for her (repeatedly) every week....you should do the same.

Oh, she's dyed her hair pink now...hence the headline....took me ages that!