A Hendon musician is appealing for support in her bid to perform at the handover of the torch for the 2012 Olympics.

Nathalie Nahai, 25, beat off hundreds of bands to reach the final of the ITV Local London competition, which took place in Stratford Shopping Centre last Sunday.

Filmed for ITV's London Tonight, Miss Nahai and three bands - Hoover Manoeuvres, Freerun and We Were Heroes - performed in front of a large crowd in the hope of getting enough votes to perform at an event in London in August, after the Bejing games.

Miss Nahai said: "People should vote for me as I was born and bred in London and have a very diverse background, and London is a very diverse place. It would be a great honour to play."

As well as playing to shopping centre crowds, she and the finalists also perform at the O2 Centre, in Finchley Road, after the Sugababes cancelled.

She said: "It was fabulous. There were several thousand people there. Amazingly I felt quite calm, but the crowd response was incredible."

Miss Nahai describes her music as "simple, poignant folk-blues". Her love of music began with the violin, which she picked up aged three, before teaching herself the guitar, piano and songwriting.

After studying at Central Saint Martin's School of Art and Design, in Holborn, she recorded her debut album in 2006 and launched her own label. Last year she toured the UK and recorded her second album, Fortune Teller.

u To vote for Nathalie, go to itvlocal.

com/london. Voting closes on April 18.