Caleigh Wells wins Daily Pilot Idol contest

After counting all of the votes, Caleigh Wells of Newport Beach has been crowned Daily Pilot Idol.

With 169 votes, the 12-year-old bested Nicoli Pittman by 67 votes in the karaoke-style singing competition. The competition pitted contestants from the Newport-Mesa area against each other to see who could garner the most votes on DailyPilot.com.

“I’m so happy for all the support that I have from my family,” Caleigh said.

Caleigh started singing at 9 and has been practicing for three years since.

She just auditioned for admission to the Orange County High School of the Arts and was accepted into multiple singing programs. The Orange County Waldorf student hopes to attend the school to continue her musical studies.

Videos of five locals performing at SongBurst, a singing contest with a $1,000 prize, were posted two weeks ago on the Pilot’s website. The winner’s mother, Kimberly Wells, attributed her daughter’s success in part to the help of family and friends worldwide.

The video of Caleigh was viewed by friends in Germany, family in Scotland and even friends on a cruise around South America, Kimberly said.

Caleigh sang the Broadway show tune “Popular,” from the musical “Wicked.” She identifies with the “spunk and ditziness” of Glenda, the good witch in the musical.

Her competitors were Nicoli Pittman, Haley Smith, Kristen Black and Ashley Maldonado, all of Costa Mesa. They sang everything from country-Western numbers to songs from a Disney movie.

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at alan.blank@latimes.com.