X Factor favourite Caitlyn back for homecoming gig

IT has been a week since Caitlyn Vanbeck stunned the nation with her jaw-dropping audition on The X Factor.

X-Factor contestant Caitlyn Vanbeck is booked to perform today's Midstock Festival at Dalkeith Country Park. Picture: Ian Georgeson/TSPL

After becoming the bookies’ early favourite to win the show – and being branded “a force to be reckoned with” by judge Nicole Scherzinger – the 18-year-old from Tranent has been coming to terms with her newly acquired fame.

The former Ross High School pupil, who is performing at Midstock Festival in Dalkeith Country Park today, said she is looking forward to singing at home for the first time since her TV appearance, which earned her a place in the second stage of the show.

She said: “It’s crazy, the reaction from people since my audition was aired has just been great. It’s overwhelming seeing yourself on TV. It was something I’d dreamed about for so long and now it’s happened.

“I’m really excited for Midstock, I love the Vengaboys and Scouting for Girls. I know some people that have seen The X Factor have decided to buy tickets to come and see me.”

The teenager, who is studying primary teaching at Edinburgh University, won Edinburgh Has Talent – an Evening News-run contest – when she was just 13.

After being in the cast of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Edinburgh Playhouse when she was seven, Caitlyn said she caught “the bug”.

But throughout her school years she was the victim of bullying, and considered giving up her dream of becoming a singer.

“I went through a difficult time at school, I felt very low, but with the help of my family I got through it. I shied away from music for a while and I was scared to enter Edinburgh Has Talent because of what people might say. Then I realised that I should stop listening to comments,” she said.

Caitlyn is now through to the Bootcamp stage of The X Factor, after originally auditioning for the competition at the Assembly Rooms in George Street earlier this year.

Caitlyn, who is inspired by former X Factor winner Alexandra Burke and pop star Ella Henderson, said: “I’ve watched The X Factor on TV since I was about eight. To be there in person, it felt like I was playing a video game – it was surreal.

“I’m really nervous about Bootcamp, I think it’ll be really tough but the comments I received in the first audition have given me a boost.”

Midstock Festival is taking place today and will see performances from Scouting for Girls and The Pigeon Detectives, among others.

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