Jenn Shelton (24), a vocal tutor, is through to the final 12 of TV One's Countdown to 2011 in the Freshly Squeezed talent competition.
Ms Shelton sent a home recording of her rendition of Mr President by Pink to the competition last month, and said she "couldn't believe how quickly it all happened".
"The auditions were two weeks ago, and now I'm rehearsing and getting ready for this big New Year's Eve performance," she said.
In her category, Ms Shelton will compete against Cheryl Anderson and Olivia McBride, both of Invercargill, and Stella Mitsoulis, of Auckland.
Queenstown musical producer Margaret O'Hanlon told Ms Shelton about the competition while they were both working on the David Bowie inspired musical Rock and Roll Suicide in October.
On December 5, Ms Shelton performed three a capella songs at an audition in Dunedin, and the following Friday she received a call to say she had been chosen as one of the top four female vocalists in the country.
Last week, Ms Shelton was flown to Auckland for a five-day intensive training camp, where she learnt to perform to a camera, and work with the accompanying band.
"It was completely new for me, trying to catch the camera with the red light ... the band are just so amazing and incredible to work with," she said.
On the night, each performer will sing one song with the band, and the decision will be left up to a viewer phone and text voting system.
"I'm singing 'Simply The Best' by Tina Turner ... I just love that song, and I think Tina Turner is amazing. It's a good performance song which people can easily relate to," she said.
The New Year's Eve show will be hosted by TV personalities Jason Gunn and Matt Gibb and the winner of each category will receive $5000 and a chance to perform at the Auckland Sky City Casino for a month.
