*Bid for Singing Fame*
LIVING it up in a $5m Sydney mansion has been the icing on the cake for former Mowbray and Kurunjang Secondary College student who is trying her luck to be Australia's newest Popstar.Danielle Stearman, 20, is one of six contestants who made the final cut for Channel Seven's television series before the public cast a vote for their favourite every Sunday night until a winner is determined.
Her mother Debra said Danielle had spent the past three weeks in the mansion thanks to her ability to sing a wide range although she favoured the pop country rock-style Faith Hill, Shania Twain and Jewel.
"She's really happy with how everything's going," she said.
"The thing about all of the finalists is that they all have a very different style so it's not like direct competition with somebody else who is doing exactly what you're doing.
"Because they are all so different I don't think the pressure would be as severe so she is having a ball up there and they all get along really well."
She said the singers had been busy with media interviews, autograph signing in Pitt Street Mall and photo shoots.
"They're all having such a great time and every time I speak to her she's very happy and excited.
"She is on a high at the moment - I think all of them in the house are.
"They're all up there living in a $5m mansion - not many people get to do that so that would be an amazing experience in itself, really, just for a few weeks.
However, the nerves on the couch in Avondale Heights haven't been so smooth as Debra and her younger daughter Samantha, 17, eagerly await each episode.
"We sit there on Sundays, and even though up until last week we knew what was going to happen, because it was all prerecorded, we'd be nervous," Debra said.
It's Danielle's second attempt at Popstars.
A CD single Popstars The Finalists has been released with each finalists recording their own cover version of Stevie Wonder's song Superstitious.