Talent TV star Connie lands a record deal

Jun 18 2007 By Emma Cullwick, Birmingham Mail

LITTLE Connie Talbot may look glum after missing out on being crowned Britain's Most Talented - but the six-year-old has plenty of reason to smile having reportedly clinched a £1million record deal.

The Sutton Coldfield schoolgirl captured the hearts of millions of television viewers after appearing on the hit ITV show Britain's Got Talent with a rendition of Somewhere Over The Rainbow.

And despite being pipped by opera singer Paul Potts in last night's final of the competition, the youngster still melted judge Simon Cowell's heart.

He has now reportedly signed her up to a six-figure record deal with his Sony BMG label, and the singer has been hailed as the next Charlotte Church.

"She could easily make a million quid-plus this year, " said music mogul Cowell, who once declared that he hated children but has now confessed that Connie has made him think twice.

"I was practically allergic to kids, but I've got to say this show's softened me," said the 47-year-old.

Connie, a pupil at Blackwood Primary School in Sutton Coldfield, has already been given odds of 2/1 by Ladbroke's to produce a number one hit single by the end of the year, and 10/1 to have this year's Christmas number one hit.

The plucky Foley Road youngster said she had never been daunted by facing the judges. "I was not nervous because I knew Simon Cowell already from the TV," she said.

Her family discovered her talent when the youngster's gran Violet was battling breast cancer and Connie sang to her in hospital.

Proud mum Sharon, aged 38, said: "She never stops singing now."