A FILIPINO-BORN Gwent woman who was forced to flea her home as a child following a volcanic eruption hopes to be television’s next big singing star.

Elisa Hall, 26, of Griffithstown, whose stage name is Eliisa is a contestant on a new SKY TV talent Show called Initiation to be aired next year after impressing judges with her self-penned song "Cheat on Me" which she uploaded to the show’s website.

If she is successful and reaches the final she is in with the chance of winning £10,000 and a recording contract.

But Elisa’s life could have turned out differently after she and her family had to rebuild their lives when their home in the Tarlac region of the Philippines was destroyed by the volcanic eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991.

Along with her mother Josephine, 52, father Ambrocio, 51, and brothers Michael, 32, Ronald, 30 and Jossel, 28, she moved to her grandparents’ house in the Pamapanga region, where they built a modest house from bamboo and straw.

But a year later they fled for their lives again as the lava from the previous year’s eruption reached the area and destroyed the house.

For five years the family lived out of a one-room rented house in San Fernando, Pampanga, which had no internal water system but Mrs Hall stayed positive through her love of singing.

By the age of 18 she turned her talent into a career and joined local band Intensity 7 playing in bars.

Before long their talent was recognised and they won a contract to perform in China but she never forgot her family and sent 90 percent of her £500 a month earnings back home to support them.

In 2006 while she was working as a resident singer in a hotel in China she met her husband Kevin, 48, who was out there working.

The pair were married in 2008 and moved back to Gwent in 2009 where Mr Hall now she works as a care assistant.

But she never abandoned her love of singing and has performed at festivals all over the UK.

She is currently working with a production company in Kent to promote two of her own songs “Cheat on Me” and “Nothing To Say” and will compete in the UK Open Mic Talent Competition regional finals in Cardiff in October. She said: “I can’t believe I have come this far. It means a lot and I am very happy. I am going to try my best and work very hard.”