Will X mark the spot for Katini?
FIRST Andrew Lawson had the X-Factor, then Darren Percival had the Voice.
And now Maleny's Katini Yamaoka is set to be the latest Sunshine Coast singer to wow TV talent show judges and viewers.
The former Coast Grammar student has scored herself a place in season three of X-Factor.
Her love of singing harkens back to when she was just a child, but it was not until she finished Year 12 in 2008 that the 20-year-old realised she wanted to do something about it.
Katini - half-Japanese and half-Ghanaian born in Tokyo and raised in the Coast hinterland - has already made her mark in the Japanese music scene.
After finishing school, she recorded a demo of the jazz song, Summertime, and sent it to a an American producer living in Japan.
Soon after, she was signed to a contract with a major record label.
X-Factor returns to Australian TV screens on August 20.
Mel B, Guy Sebastian, Ronan Keating and Natalie Bassingthwaighte will again be judges and mentors to the next crop of stars.
This year, the judging panel will also play host to British boy band One Direction, as well as Alicia Keys, Usher and Ke$ha.
