The phone rang around 4am. Shaye Quinn's father was still sleeping. He had work in a few hours, but he wouldn't get back to rest again. Across the Pacific, in Florida, his daughter had just received her first agent callback.
And not just one. Four agents had shown interest in Shaye's talents on stage and on screen after an impressive performance at the finals of the NEXT Star Production Showcase, put on by the US-based Talent Scout Agency, at Orlando.
Shaye, a Wallsend high school student, had travelled to Sydney earlier this year to compete in the local rounds of the talent quest with her eye on a career on the stage.
After making it to the final stages of the Sydney competition, she travelled to Disney World at Orlando earlier this month where she performed a track from the Disney hit Moana, titled 'An Innocent Warrior', which she said reached her on a deep level.
"The song is a message from a spirit or ancestor sent particularly to Moana to tell her about her mission," Shaye told Topics in July, "I have always wanted to know what my mission is; what is the goal, the purpose I have in life.
"Singing allows me to connect with people on deeper levels and especially with songs that you can relate to. It's about connecting with the emotion and experience of the whole thing; connecting with people and telling them who you are through your music."
Her performance was a hit. One of the agencies captivated by the young Novocastrian, Drew Right Music Inc. - the same agency to have worked with such teen stars as Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers - dubbed her a "firecracker", and moved quickly to offer her a role in an upcoming music video to be shot in LA.
"We're just waiting on emails now," Shaye's elated mother, Vanessa Quinn, said on Friday.
"It was just phenomenal," Mrs Quinn said, "I've never felt anything like it; we're just so proud of everything she has done".
Shaye, 17, is the youngest of three Quinn children, and was born with a hereditary form of dwarfism and overcame extensive surgery as a baby. She is deaf and legally blind in one eye, and a chronic skeletal condition impacts the strength of her bones. At 20 months old, the bones of her skull were hardening faster than they should, leaving only millimetres for her developing brain to grow, prompting major surgery.
The young Hunter performer has defied the predictions of her specialists to reach ever greater achievements and is home after her whirlwind trip, inspired by the friends she made during the competition.
"All of the contestants that were in the showcase were the nicest people," she said. "I have made so many friends there - everyone was so nice to me."
A GoFundMe campaign helped Shaye along her way and on Friday, she shared her gratitude for the support.
"I'm really happy," she exclaimed, revealing her four callbacks after the competition closed, "I want to give a big thank you to everyone who has given me so much support - everyone in the community who contributed to the GoFundMe - my family, friends, my partner for their constant support."
