A LOCAL musician has struck all the right chords to secure a place as a finalist in a prestigious international song writing competition.

Lynn Van De Mortel beat thousands of other talented hopefuls to become a finalist in this year's UK Songwriting Contest.

The 48 year-old from Newton le Willows made it into the final twenty-one in the Dance Music category with her song 'Everytime'.

Lynn, who also goes by the name DJ Tasha, wrote the track on her home computer and is now looking for sponsorship to record it professionally at either Star Trax Studios in Newton le Willows or Frog Studios, Warrington.

The UK Songwriting Contest is the country's leading song writing event and one of the world's major international song competitions.

Organised in association with The Brit Trust, Taxi.com, Music Aid and the Guild of International Song Writers and Composers, the event attracts invites contestants from all over the world to try their hand in ten different categories including Pop, R&B, Folk, Jazz and Gospel.

Prizes include publishing deals, song-writing software, discount vouchers and society memberships, but more importantly the competition can open doors for entrants into recording, management and publishing opportunities.

Having already scored a hit in the Soundclick.com Top 100 Dance Chart with the downloadable track 'I'm In Heaven', Lynn now hopes that her success in the songwriting contest will pathe the way for her to produce music for film, television and theatre.

If you would like to sponsor Lynn or for more information go to www.soundclick.com/djtashauk