The 2009 winner for the Success Series: Singing for Success, Dion Ming told how he is humbled by his winnings but plans to go for his dream.

Mr. Ming competed with four other contestants for the chance to win a $10,000 scholarship towards a performing arts school of their choice.

The 27-year-old winner said: "It is a great honour to be named the winner of the Success Series: Singing for Success 2009 Competition.

"I am proud of myself as this is a big accomplishment for me. This journey for me was very personal and it was validating when the results were verbalised.

"Yes, I Can. This is definitely the beginning and I look forward to what the future has in store for me as an artist."

The Pembroke native said he is interested in applying to either Juilliard School of music in New York, Berklee College of Music in Boston, or a performing arts school in United Kingdom.

Currently Mr. Ming is the assistant manager of Brown and Co. on Front Street in Hamilton he said: "The prize goes into effect this upcoming year which is good because it gives me time to get my finances together.

"Ultimately, my goal is to assume the label of singer/songwriter/actor whilst maintaining my background in business. I look forward to seeing where my career will take me and while I am a freshmen in the game, I cannot wait until Senior Year."

The modest winner said of the other competitors: "The competition was indeed a stiff one. Each and every one of the contestants put up a good fight as we put our hearts out on the stage.

"As a collective body we were all inexperienced, as far as working with a live band, but in the moment, we stayed true to the opening song (performed) by The Secret — it was indeed our time to shine. I had the opportunity to share the stage with four talented and beautiful young women."

In the first round he sang, 'A Song For You' by Donny Hathaway, for round two: 'I Love Music' by The O'Jays, He concluded with 'Time' by Billy Porter.

"The nerves were definitely present. I can honestly say that I had the shakes and I felt like I was going to drop the (mic) at one point during the first song. In my personal opinion, nervous energy is good energy when put to good use," he said.

The third season winner of American Idol, Fantasia Barrino was the guest performer of the show with George Huff, who was also a finalist that season, who hosted the event.

"It was great to have shared the stage with Miss Barrino. Fantasia is undoubtedly a brilliant performer and she owned the stage and floor of the Mid-Ocean Amphitheatre for the duration of her performance," he raved of the superstar.

The Success Series competition is the vision of Kevin Bean of KDB Entertainment. A few years ago Mr. Bean held a dancing competition, which featured George Huff and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson. That competition brought forth what is now known as the Success Series incorporating Dancing for Success, Acting for Success and Singing for Success where young people will have the opportunity to compete for scholarships to enhance their talents.

KDB also worked with The Wall Street Band directed by musician Robert Edwards and The Calibre Horns.

Mr. Ming said: "Kevin Bean is definitely a man with vision. It is great to see the measures he is taking to put forward great talent.

"Robert Edwards is the truth and I look forward to working with the likes of Robert again in the future. It was a great pleasure working with the both of them.

"One fundamental that I learned while in the rehearsal stages of the competition is trust. As a singer, it is imperative that you maintain a level of trust in the band and background vocals.

"I have always wanted to work with a live band and now that I have experienced it I don't think I want to perform with a track ever again in life."

Mr. Bean said of the competitors: "You can clearly see Dion had more stage experience and was more experienced than the rest of the performers.

"I was very excited about everyone's performance. These are the kinds of performances I was looking for because they are fresh and young, straight out high school."

He added: "I wanted more inexperienced people to audition and I figured they would have no problem this year because last year there were a lot of experienced performers who auditioned and I figured a lot of people would not want to audition because they knew they would be up against those experienced people."

The Success Series plans to incorporate a five-city tour into its repertoire this year. In November, KDB Entertainment plans to arrange tours to Jacksonville, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; Washington, DC; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and New York City with the tour concluding in Bermuda.

An enthusiastic Mr. Ming said: "I am excited for the tour and I cannot wait to work with both the local and foreign acts.

"I would like to thank KDB Entertainment for conceptualising the Success Series and starting each and every one of us on a path to endless possibility.

"I would also like to thank my parents Derek and Rochelle Ming for their support and words of wisdom and my brothers Jamelle for lending a hand in the midnight hours going through my choreography and Damon for being a sounding board leaving me with words of encouragement.

"I would like to thank my family and friends for always supporting my endeavours and the producers, cast and crew of The Railway Children for their patience with me as I was committed to both projects simultaneously and I tried on several occasions to be in two places at once. Lastly, I would like to thank Mrs. Edith Vanlowe for being instrumental in my decision to choose singing as a career."