Phoebe, 17, a former Orange High School student, won the Fast Track Sydney Showcase earlier this month after making it through the heats, winning one of three semi-finals and beating 19 other competitors in the grand final.

She is currently completing her Higher School Certificate at the Australian Institute of Music and decided to test herself against Sydney’s best.

“Everyone did really well - I tried my hardest and I hoped,” she said.

“It was amazing, such a good experience and to win was a bonus - every experience you learn from.”

The win earned her $1000 cash, a meeting with a Warner Bros artist and repertoire consultant, and recording sessions at Oxygen Recording Studios to produce a single.

Phoebe sang her interpretations of Michael Jackson’s Billy Jean and Chet Faker’s I’m Into You to take out the title.

A guitarist accompanied her for Billy Jean, but she shouldered all responsibility for I’m Into You by accompanying herself on piano.

 Phoebe said her long-term goal was to write and produce her own music.

“I want to be an artist in myself and be successful at it,” she said.

She said her style was alternative, but found it difficult to define herself as any set genre.

“I just sing to feel the music and tell the story of the music,” she said.

She hoped to record one of her original songs with her winner’s package, but said she would concentrate more on performing once she finished her HSC later this year.

“I want to get as much as I can out of it, but I’m not taking my eye off music,” she said.

Phoebe lives with her father in Sydney, while her mother, singer Gabe Middleton, lives in Orange.