TEENAGE Pop Idol sensation Zoe Birkett has quit her North-East A-level studies and is pinning her hopes on a showbiz career alongside Will Young and Gareth Gates.

With a smile as big as the Scotch Corner sign which welcomed her back to the North-East, to perform in two shows at Newcastle's Telewest Arena, Zoe feels she's made the right decision.

The 16-year-old, who lives with her mother Tracey in Welbeck Avenue, Darlington, made the surprise move to leave the town's Carmel Technology College when she was voted off Pop Idol in fourth place.

She said: "I've quit college to concentrate on my new album, and because I am doing a lot of promotion for the Pop Idol Big Band Album released on Monday and appearing on TV.

"I've got no regrets. This is an opportunity I've always dreamed about to work with someone like 19 Management, who've taken The Spice Girls and Take That to success.

"It's such an honour for me to work with Simon Fuller and I've got to grab this chance."

But, perhaps with an eye on the longer-term future, Zoe said: "The thing about education is that it's always there and if it all fails - and I hope it doesn't - I can always go back."

Mrs Birkett has also decided to leave her hairdressing job at Dominique of Darlington, which produced the unusual hairstyles that showbiz-mad girls are desperate to copy.

"I need my mum's skills and emotional support," said Zoe, who is desperate to release Get Happy as her first solo single and base an album around big band numbers.

She said: "I'm doing big band music with the Big Blue Band and Get Happy is a possible single. I love singing Get Happy so much. I do five songs on the Pop Idol album, which is more than anyone else."

Zoe is 17 on June 16 and only scraped into the ITV contest, which was for 16-year-olds and above, by a week.

She said she was not intimidated by all the interest in Will and Gareth.

"All three of us are individuals. Gareth sings pop and I do big band music. The plan is for me to help bring big band music back into the charts. It won't be 1940s-style, but given a more contemporary feel - possibly with a DJ doing some scratching during one of the songs."

Of the huge public interest in her and the sell-out tour, she said: "This time last year I was at Wembley watching Lauren Hill, and the following year I'm on the same stage. It's such a weird feeling, like living a dream, a fantasy. At Manchester, I cried because they turned the lights on and I saw there were 15,000 people watching."

And of the continued speculation about a romance with Gareth, particularly as they now duet together, she said: "I don't have time to think about that kind of thing. I'm only 16 for goodness sake.

"There will be time for all that when I've got to where I want to go," she said, with a smile.

The second 11,000-ticket sell-out Pop Idol show takes place at Newcastle's Telewest Arena tonight.

Pop Idol The Big Album is released on Monday.