URMSTON'S singing sensation Danielle Hope said she is on “cloud nine” after winning the BBC1 talent show Over the Rainbow.

“It’s amazing! It’s just starting to dawn on me now that I have won.

“I didn’t expect to win and I was so shocked, I just remember being on stage and hugging Sophie and the next minute I was in a hot air balloon.

“Thank you never seems like enough, but thank you for my hometown and everything that everyone has done. I really genuinely wouldn’t be here without the support, so thank you for giving me this opportunity,” the 18-year-old said.

Danielle, who will now take on the part of Dorothy in Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s new West End musical The Wizard of Oz, said it had been ‘non-stop’ since Saturday’s show.

Life has changed overnight for the Knutsford High School student and former Highfield Primary School pupil, who this week has been swept up in a media frenzy, appeared on ITV’s This Morning and filmed her first music video.

The teen beat more than 9,000 contenders to make it onto the programme, where she received consistently high praise from Lloyd-Webber and panelists Sheila Hancock, Charlotte Church and John Partridge throughout the show.

On Saturday, Danielle proved she was the nation’s favourite Dorothy when she beat finalists Lauren Samuels and Sophie Evans in a public vote.

Lloyd-Webber said Danielle was a “fantastic talented kid”.

"I'm really pleased with the result, the nation has never got it wrong yet... Now the hard work starts but my goodness me you can act with soul and that's something that's very, very special," he said.

Danielle said she couldn’t wait to start rehearsing for The Wizard of Oz, which will be performed at The London Palladium from March next year.

As well performing on the West End, Danielle will also release Over the Rainbow as a single with proceeds going to Prostate UK and the BBC Performing Arts Fund.

She said she planned to keep in touch with the other finalists, who she had grown very close to during the two-month show.

“There were no losers in this competition, it was always a win win situation,” she said.