IF YOU haven't heard of Stacey Young, you soon will.

The 32-year-old singer has already convinced a local radio DJ to play one of her original songs on air and hopes it will finally set her on the road to success.

Stacey, a former Miss Canterbury, even has her own fan club on Facebook and is working on recording her first album at a studio in Whitstable.

She said: "It is fantastic. It is really busy. I had never thought of myself as a singer because life and my job got in the way. But it would be my dream come true.

"Singing is what I love the most and it is all coming together with help from Paul Creed, a producer and songwriter who has a studio at his home in Chestfield."

Stacey grew up in Canterbury and started her singing career as a member of the East Kent Girls Choir.

Stardom first beckoned in 1995 when she was 17 and still studying for A-levels. She made it to the final 10 to form a new girl band but she admitted: "I was the youngest and very inexperienced."

Perhaps it was just as well. The band went on to release its first single at the same time as the Spice Girls and was dwarfed by Scary, Posh, Sporty, Baby and Ginger.

Stacey met Davina McCall after auditioning for Popstars: The Rivals, the talent show that spawned Girls Aloud, and reached the second stage of X Factor.

After five years of singing in a London band and rubbing shoulders with actors from Emmerdale and EastEnders and meeting celebrity shoe designer Jimmy Choo – who said he loved her rendition of a Leann Rimes song – she returned to Kent in 2008 to become a careers adviser.

Stacey said: "Music became something I did on the side. Now I would like to get an album recorded and launch it with an acoustic showcase to see what happens."

The blonde beauty admits pop is her first love although the album will include some rock and jazz numbers, too.

Stacey said: "It is fantastic working with Paul again. We make a great team. I am learning the songs in an hour then starting to record them. It reminds me of my time in the East Kent Girls Choir when the director Colin Samuel would teach us songs in the same way.

"We are both perfectionists and we are going for quality. I think it is turning out well.

"My next step is to get a manager. It is all very new to me.

"I would like to do it properly and go to drama school or performing arts college. My experience has helped me mature as a singer. I hope that now is my time."

She has recorded a cover version of the Olivia Newton-John hit Xanadu and has had rave reviews for her self-penned song What Do I Do Now.

Stacey was Miss Canterbury in 1998 and Miss Kent Carnival Queen in 200. She came third in the Kent Idol singing contest in 2001 which was broadcast live from the Maidstone River Festival. She also went to university in Canterbury.