Cosmo, YouTube looking for new music star

NEW YORK, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- Natasha Bedingfield, Solange Knowles and Damien Fahey have helped kick off Cosmopolitan and YouTube's efforts to discover the next hot female recording artist.

The winner of Cosmopolitan's "StarLaunch" will get $10,000 in cash, a three-track demo, created alongside a hit-making producer and 10 performances at Cosmopolitan Magazine-sponsored events, attended by music industry insiders, representatives for the competition said in a release.

"Fun, fearless female" musicians and singers are invited to upload videos to YouTube via www.youtube.com/cosmostarlaunch of themselves performing an original song from now until Oct. 6.

The videos will be studied by industry experts, artists and fans with the top three going to New York to open for Bedingfield and Knowles Dec. 5.

MTV video jockey Damien Fahey is to preside over the event, organizers said.