THIRTEEN-year-old Lauren Wright, of Kilgetty, was among 1,000 young hopefuls who attended the Disney Channel Star Ticket workshop at St. David's Hall in Cardiff on Saturday.

The Disney Channel, in association with BN biscuits, is offering children nationwide the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform on stage alongside top UK and international music stars such as Blue and S Club

Through a series of five national workshops, Star Ticket will make five children's dreams come true, by giving them the opportunity to perform in front of a live audience of 12,000 fans at this year's Disney Channel Kids Awards on October 12 and millions watching on TV.

Throughout May and June, nearly 5,000 young performers between the ages of nine and 14 years have been invited to perfect their singing, dancing and presenting skills working with a panel of specialist voice coaches, choreographers, regional radio DJs, plus pop favourites 3SL, allSTARS and Liberty X.

Given the chance to sing their favourite pop anthems, the rising stars were also taken through new dance routines and learned top presenting tips from the Disney Channel presenters and Lauren will be holding her breath to see if she will be one of the 10 finalists selected from the Wales region to go further in the talent hunt.

The 50 regional finalists will then all compete in a live television vote on the Disney Channel to find the five ultimate winners of the 'Star Ticket'. The Disney Channel audience will be the ultimate band managers deciding the band's name, dress, song and even video style – the final band will truly be the viewers' choice.

Star Ticket will begin broadcasting on the Disney Channel on Friday, June 28, and will run for 17 weeks, with programmes on the final band members transmitting in September.

The Disney Channel Kids Awards will be broadcast on the Disney Channel on October 13.

Disney Channel viewers will be able to vote for their Star Ticket favourites via telephone, website and SMS texting.