Last Sunday she turned 18 and learned she had been selected as a guest artist in the Otago Daily Times Big Night In community concert in November. Yesterday, Kylie won the Good Morning "Find a Star" national television talent competition.
"It's pretty cool," she said from Wellington after her win.
"I've been sick all week with the flu, so my vocals were touch and go. I wasn't nervous beforehand, but I got nervous about halfway through the song."
Kylie covered Beyonce's version of Ave Maria in the final.
"I was going to do an original, but I really love the ... emotion in the song. There is no other song I relate to like that. It's definitely one of my favourites," the Kavanagh College pupil said.
It was also emotional for her father, Graeme Price, who watched the final at the family's Concord home.
"The phone went just as she started singing, so I just clicked it off," he admitted.
"When she sang that song, I just sat there and cried. . . . I don't think it's sunk in yet. She's just topped the cake. I'm . . . over the moon."
Kylie has been playing guitar since she was 7 and singing since she was 11. She has enjoyed a string of recent successes, winning the New Zealand Gold Guitar intermediate award last year and finishing runner-up in the Tamworth Country Music Festival junior category in Australia this year.
She has also performed in Dunedin Operatic productions Dusty and Miss Saigon.
Her television win prize package includes career-development training with New Zealand musician and promoter Gray Bartlett, a trip to Sydney to meet music industry professionals and a recording deal at Manuka Studios, Auckland.
Judge Tina Cross said Kylie earned a score of 39 out of 40 from the judging panel and also won the public text vote.
"In the song, her voice showed her light, ethereal emotion, plus some grunt in the middle section. She also played so beautifully on guitar," Cross said.
"She has a great future as a performer, because she can perform on her own in any environment."
The Dunedin performer plans to study at the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art in Christchurch next year.
Wanaka country singer Jody Direen (22) also impressed the judges in yesterday's "Find a Star" final, taking third place.
Both singers will perform at the Otago Daily Times Big Night In at Forsyth Barr Stadium on November 12.
