A TALENTED Weymouth girl and her band have made it to the final of an international music competition.

Former Budmouth College pupil Elisha Bayliff will perform with her band Eden Canvas at the UK final of the School Jam competition at The Garage in Islington, London, this evening.

The winning band will get the opportunity to compete in the international final at Musikmesse in Frankfurt, the world’s leading music trade festival, later in the year.

Eden Canvas will perform two songs by Elisha, alongside seven other UK bands that were selected by submitting YouTube links.

A judging panel was made up of Tech Music School, music press and some of the world’s leading music equipment manufacturers.

Elisha, celebrating her 17th birthday today, and her band, stand a chance of winning musical equipment for Nexus Music College in Coventry which Elisha attends.

She said: “I’ve taken a gap year from Budmouth to chase my musical ambitions. The opportunity we have is amazing. We’ve never performed in a venue so large and to be performing in London is really exciting.

“It’s been great to be entered with my band and to get so creative together.”

Elisha and her bandmates Danson Gichini, 20, Phil Hardwick, 20, Emar Van Rossum, 18 and Joel Stevens, 19, entered the competition two months ago after it arrived in the UK for the first time.

Elisha’s mum Mary-Jane Wallace said: “Elisha has always wanted to perform since she was small, so the competition is really making her dreams come true.

“The fact that she can help future music students and achieve her goals is so rewarding, I’m proud of her.

“She has written all her own songs and is thoroughly enjoying it. They deserve to do well in the competition”

SchoolJam, is the world’s biggest competition exclusive to schools and colleges aimed to give talented performers a platform to find a larger audience.