SOUTHAMPTON Boat Show is home to what could be the next chart sensation - aspiring Pop Idol Katy Pullinger.

The 23-year-old is soon to be splashed on TV screens across the nation as one of the final 50 hopefuls left in the talent show after a gruelling audition process.

Katy is working on the Arvor boat stand at the show in order to fund extra singing lessons to prepare her for a showdown with famously sharp tongued Pop Idol judge Simon Cowell.

The professionally trained vocalist, from Weybridge in Surrey, has already had one run-in with the millionaire pop mogul, where he branded her style as "old fashioned".

Katy isn't unduly concerned.

She said: "Simon told me I looked old fashioned but I just laughed at him and so did the rest of the panel. I think, in the next round, the judges are all going to worry me. They all have the potential to take people down and reduce them to tears. It was very nerve-racking."

Katy, who says she is influenced by Sheryl Crow, Pink and Carly Simon, reckons she's in with a chance of victory, although the competition is fierce.

"There's an awful lot of good people. I am going to go on and just do my best. I'd love to win and be a pop star, it would be great."

Should Katy make it to the top of the charts a few times, she may well find herself in the market for one of the many luxury boats on the show's pontoons.

Poole-based company Sunseeker has 15 of its floating mansions on display, including a 94ft yacht - a snip at £3.6m.

Spokeswoman Tracey Clarke said: "If a pop idol wanted to entertain, then this yacht has room for up to ten guests, or they could sing in the jacuzzi. It also has state-of-the-art audio visual facilities."

The wealthy were certainly out in force at the show - Sunseeker has already taken three pre-orders for its biggest boat to date, the as yet unfinished 108ft Predator, which is set to cost £5m.

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