FROM a bouncing baby to a superstar, Pop Idol sensation Zoe Birkett started performing before she could talk.

Teenager Zoe, from Darlington, had star potential from a very young age and will make her mark on the pop world if, as expected, she storms into the final three of the ITV competition tonight.

Thousands of youngsters auditioned for the chance to become the UK's latest pop idol, but Zoe is the only girl left in the competition.

Her parents, Tracey and John, noticed their daughter had rhythm shortly after she was born in Consett, County Durham, 16 years ago.

Mrs Birkett said: "She used to sing la-la in her cot even before she could talk, and as soon as she was up and about we noticed she had natural rhythm, so we started her at dance classes.

"I was a singer before I became a mum and her dad runs a mobile disco, so it was inevitable Zoe would be into music."

Zoe has also always been a natural in front of the camera. She was crowned the bonniest baby in the North-East and was signed up by a child modelling agency.

Jobs for Marks and Spencer and a supermarket chain followed, and she also came first in a Miss Barbie competition at Butlins.

Her mother said: "She was always putting on little shows for us and always performing in one way or another. She has always been a happy child and very grounded whatever success has come her way."

Zoe started school in Consett but moved to Darlington with her mother when she was five after her parents separated and later divorced.

Mrs Birkett has a new partner, Sam, and Zoe's father remarried seven years ago and has another daughter, five-year-old Leah.

Zoe was a pupil at Darlington's Firthmoor School, before moving to St Teresa's RC Primary School.

In her spare time, she was a member of the Stagecoach stage school, where her dancing skills made her stand out from the crowd. At the age of ten, she was crowned a disco dance champion and went on to attend tap and ballet lessons.

Zoe is still a regular at the stage school, where principal Trudie Hindmarsh said: "She's always been good. For a long time we didn't know she had such a singing voice, because she never put herself forward at someone else's expense, so it was a while before we heard her sing solo."

After junior school, Zoe moved to Carmel RC College of Technology, where her annual performances in the school shows became legendary.

Headteacher James O'Neill said: "The first song she sang at Carmel was Lullaby of Broadway and we knew then she had an extra something."

During her time at Carmel, Zoe attended various auditions and made it to the last 12 for the band S-Club 7, as well as performing for Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones at Buckingham Palace as part of the National Youth Theatre.

Despite having emergency surgery on a dislocated hip two years ago, Zoe's career has gone from strength to strength.

Before the Pop Idol show, her biggest gig was as part of the school choir which sang at Leo Blair's christening.

Despite her ambitions, it was actually her mother's idea for Zoe to enter for the Pop Idol show.

Mrs Birkett said: "She was away in America when I saw it advertised on the TV.

"We did not realise how big it was going to be - it was just another audition she was going for."

Now on her way to superstardom, Zoe is relying on her friends and family to keep her in touch with what is going on at home.

Her mother said: "She is missing home, but she knows there are sacrifices to make.

"She is so grateful for all the support everyone has given her from Darlington."

When the Pop Idol dream is over, Zoe could be heading for the West End following her performance of Judy Garland's Get Happy on the TV show.

Mrs Birkett said: "It left me in tears. I told her she could make it on the stage and she agreed it's something she might want to do one day.