Newly crowned Talented Teen Twan?e Akila LaShaun Butterfield won the hearts of the judges by singing ‘Open Up My Heart', by Euland Adams at Ruth Seaton James Auditorium on Friday evening.

Twan?e, 16, is no stranger to the stage and has been singing since she was two-and-a-half-years old.

An incredibly modest Twan?e said: “I am very excited to have won.”

She has performed at City Hall in ‘Twan?e and Friends' a youth gospel concert that the talented teen also produced, as well as at weddings and gospel concerts. She made her public stage debut when she was seven and then spent two years taking lessons with Daniel Hill where her talent continued to blossom.

She has attended a home school, The School of Tomorrow for four years and said: “I will be studying for the SAT exams from September.

“I am also studying for the International Computer Driving Licence, which means that when I get to University I can teach people to use the computer.”

Her aims are to attend York University in Toronto and study a minor in musical theatre and major in computer science.

Her mother Gene Butterfield, a dental assistant said: “Twan?e is an A-plus student, she is very competitive, but not so much with other people more with herself - continuously improving her abilities.”

Twan?e dances tap with the United Dance Production, Russian ballet at St. John's Church, is a Menhuin Foundation violinist and debates with the Bermuda Debating Society.

She is an avid sports woman taking part in tennis, track and field, swimming, softball, netball and cross country running.

Twan?ealso holds a part-time job in the Market Place as a cashier and on Saturday she got her first taste of fame. Following her competition win, the store's customers were asking for her autograph.

She won a $500 scholarship that will go towards her education. She would love to become a professional singer and dancer - and according to the organisers of the Hal Jackson Talented Teen Contest, she has what it takes.

Necheeka L. Trott, assistant director said: “This is the second annual Hal Jackson's Bermuda Talented Teen Show show. It was a grand event that will go down in history as a mission accomplished. That mission was to provide and educational scholarship for a young Bermudian talented teenage lady. Twan?e is very talented.”

Twan?e will fly to New York and on July 27 will compete against talented teens from 30 American states and Caribbean nations in the international competition.

Everard Davis II, director of international stage of the event said: “The only thing is that if she wins this year, the prize is a trip to Bermuda and she would have to come back here.”

The first runner up on Friday night was Shari Scott, second runner up, Jana Darrell, and third runner up, Erica Martin. The other contestants were Deidra-Lee Bean, Ramika Lambe, Brenda-June Millett, Rosina Simons and Andrea Smith.

The competition was put on by The Bermuda Youth Development Foundation in association with The Ladies of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.