South African teenager wins Ryan Seacrest competition

Filipa’s heartfelt cover of the One Direction hit “Story Of My Life” achieved over 75,000 hits on YouTube and came first-place in Seacrest’s competition, taking her online audience by storm.

The polished music video produced for the contest in late 2013 features the 18-year-old singer performing at an airport hangar, ‘Pearl Harbour style’ (as per press release), complete with inspired art direction that evokes the spirit of the 1940s and 1950s. The camera obviously loves Filipa, as she serenades her absent beau on the tarmac.

“I just wanted to share on that platform. I wanted it to seem professional and better than a bedroom selfie thing.”

Filipa is thrilled about her success and thinks of her incredible win as her biggest professional move to date: “Winning this competition has been the highlight of my career so far and to have the support from the media and public both in South Africa and overseas has been mind-blowing.”

She has just recently been accepted to study at the Cape Academy of Performing Arts in Cape Town following her recent matric in Pretoria, and is looking forward to a long music career ahead.

“It’s so incredible. I was competing against guys who have fan bases!”

Among Filipa’s competition was the Irish pop-duo Jedward, who only managed to come in second-place after her – though this may say more about Jedward than about Filipa.

With her popularity going through the roof, Filipa’s been going from one TV appearance to the next, celebrating her new-found fame and looking forward to whatever the future may hold for her. While the online contest may not yield to such long-lasting results as the popular “Idols” franchise and other similar competitions often do, Filipa’s career is still bound to benefit from the exposure and attention coming from her victory – and deservedly so; not every performer succeeds with the talent competition circuit.

It was Seacrest’s production company that had approached the young starlet in the first place to try to get her involved in the competition: “I was a little sceptical at first, but we looked into it and saw that it was legitimate,” Filipa said.

Filipa’s campaign was solidly promoted through Seacrest’s platforms ahead of Sunday’s win, further endorsing the importance of emerging South African talent around the world. Other than being known for being the poster-face of American Idol, Seacrest’s media empire also includes a global radio broadcast, which is also available on-air on local stations in South Africa as well as the UK.

– This article first appeared on TheSouthAfrican.com.