TORFAEN Totstar Demi Holborn was pinning her hopes on Pontypool's pop fans today as her debut single heads towards the charts.

The ten-year-old from Trevethin released her first record, a double A-side of the New Seekers' hit I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing, and My Boy, an original composition, on Monday.

And as the timing means she is going head to head with Pop Idol runner-up Gareth Gates, she was visiting the Woolworths store in her home town today to sign up a new army of supporters.

Demi, a Pont-newynydd Pri-mary School pupil from Belle Vue Close, Tre-vethin, was signing copies of her first single, released after she won a GMTV competition to become the na-tion's Totstar.

Demi beat around 7,000 children nationwide to win, polling 116,365 of the 200,000 votes in a phone poll for the final four.

Pontypool Woolworths manager John Ferris said the battle between Demi and 17-year-old teen heart-throb Gareth and his single, Any One of Us - dubbed Pop Idol versus Tot Idol by bookmakers - is hotting up.

"Demi is selling exceptionally well here across the board," he said. "We had a huge delivery on Monday and that sold out yesterday, and now we are on our second."

Elton John entered the fray on Monday with a charity version of his first hit, Princess Diana's favourite Your Song, in aid of BBC's Sport Relief, a sporting fundraiser organised by the brains behind Comic Relief.

Bookmakers Jack Brown predicted Sir Elton would take the number-one spot this Sunday, but are still taking odds on which of the two prodigious pop stars - Demi or Gareth - will have the highest place in the Top 40.

Mr Ferris added: "On Tuesday we sold 120 copies of Demi's single, eight of Gareth's and just two of Elton John's, so if that's mirror-imaged across the country, she will be number one for sure.

"We have had reports to say she should go into the Top Ten on Sunday. "She will be number one in Pontypool, if nowhere else."