Quinn Outerbridge has been singing since before she could talk.

Now at just 13-years-old she is making waves as the first winner of the Beachfest Crown Song Competition.

Her hit song Run Girl Run beat out tough competition from more than 50 local artists in a contest organised by PRS for Music and The Chewstick Foundation.

This weekend Quinn was awarded with a prize package worth more than $10,000, which included a scooter and studio recording time.

She didn’t know about the surprise win until Saturday evening, however her mother Carla Ingemann told The Royal Gazette the contest meant a lot to the teenager.

“Every performance is important to Quinn,” Ms Ingemann said. “She is very driven and always wants to do her best, but Beachfest was the first time she got to sing in front of a huge crowd and [event organisers] were always very encouraging and supportive.

“She also got to perform an original song that she helped to write with [local music producers] DemBiez. Plus, she knows that good competition can only make her better.”

Ms Ingemann anticipated her daughter would be speechless after learning she had won.

The proud mother was also a little lost for words when she was informed last week. “When [Chewstick founder] Gavin [Smith] told me that Quinn had won I was like, ‘Could you repeat that? I don’t think I heard you correctly’. I was so happy for my baby, and so proud of her, as usual,” she said.

This was the first Beachfest Crown Song Competition. Stage one of the competition saw 70 songs submitted by local artists, which were then posted on the Beachfest Bermuda YouTube page. The top ten most viewed songs were then picked to go on to the semi-finals, where they were featured on local television Channel 82 and radio station Vibe 103FM.

Next, fans were asked to submit their text votes for their favourite artists, which allowed six competitors to go on the finalists.

“The final round was performed on the beach at Bermuda’s Beachfest Emancipation Celebration and saw each of the finalists perform their hit song before a huge crowd and esteemed panel of judges,” Mr Smith said.

“The judges included Mr English, from Vibe 103, Shaq Durham (a Bermudian producer currently working in top NYC recording facility Premier Studios) and global recording star Daley, who later performed at Beachfest and at the Chewstick Lounge this past Saturday.”

Mr Smith explained that some people were abusing the text to vote portion of the contest, so the winner had to be chosen solely based on the judges’ and audience’s response.

Quinn was deemed the winner. While second place and a $500 prize went to Will B for his song Be True and third place and a $250 prize went to Bruce Perinchief for his summertime anthem Wind Up On It.

Ms Ingemann said her daughter had her heart set on being a performer when she gets older.

“She sings, dances, plays the guitar and she loves to act,” she said. “This year she won the awards for Drama and the Young Innovators Award at Dellwood Middle School’s graduation.

“And she has been on the honour roll every semester since she was in kindergarten.”

The Beachfest Crown Song Competition was supported by Channel 82, Vibe 103, Digicel and PRS for Music.

Mr Smith said planning was already in the works for next year’s contest. Organisers are even hoping to double the prize, and improve the structure of the competition to make it more competitive.

To find out more about The Beachfest Crown Song Competition visit www.BeachfestBermuda.com or e-mail info@chewstick.org.