On May 22, Madison Dixon, a local 12-year-old, placed top 10 in the Vancouver audition of YTV's The Next Star.

Dixon qualified for the competition – a kind of home grown American Idol for kids – over thousands of other applicants.

It started with a leap of faith. Dixon and her mother, Rebecca Anderson, heard about the competition and decided to drive the approximately 2,400 kilometres to the Vancouver Convention Center to audition for the show.

"There was no pre-enrolment, nothing like that,” said Anderson. "You get there and you get in line. It was a long journey.”

Then there was the wait – about seven hours starting at 6 a.m. for a chance to audition live.

"I finally got to get in front of the judge and I played ‘You Smile' by Justin Bieber,” said Dixon. "The judge said, Madison and one other girl in the group, you're going to be going up. I walked out the door and screamed, I was so excited.”

After three auditions, Dixon ended the day in the top 30 out of 600 other applicants, which the judges eventually narrowed down to 12.

"Within a half hour of leaving, we got a call saying they wanted her back the next day to audition alongside just a dozen others,” said Anderson.

The following day, Dixon performed live, on camera in front of a panel of three judges.

"It was kind of weird to be filmed and on TV,” she said. "I went into the room and the lights were behind me, people were watching, all the cameras were pointed at me, the room was quiet. It was exciting but nerve-wracking at the same time,” she said.

Dixon played "Rolling In The Deep” by Adele and it carried her into the top 10.

For the rest of the day, the judges debated which finalist would continue on, leaving the mother and daughter bound by a confidentiality agreement and unable to tell everyone at home just how far she had come.

In the end, the judges chose another applicant to go on to the final competition in Toronto. But back home in Whitehorse, Dixon is proud of her accomplishment and excited for the opportunity.

"When I came back, everyone asked me, did you get in, did you get in? I told them it's not a matter of if I got in, it's how far I've come,” she said.

She has big plans for a future in music. When asked where she sees herself in the next few years she smiled and said frankly, "I just want to be famous.”

Dixon recently enrolled in another contest, CBC's Cover Me Canada, and is awaiting the results of her application. If she's selected, she'll get another shot

at a national audience and another chance to show the country what a kid from Whitehorse can do.

By MAX LEIGHTON

Star Reporter