With a crash of drums and a flash of light he hit the nation's television screens and went one step closer to realising his dream.

Any dream may do for most people but Southampton-born Antony Hansen's sights are firmly set on becoming the next star of the West End.

The talented 17-year-old blew away the judges as he sang live on Saturday night in front of a TV audience of millions, securing his place in the BBC's latest musical reality show Any Dream Will Do.

Antony, who found his love for the stage at the age of three when he played a shepherd in the Mansbridge Playschool nativity, is one of 11 wannabe Josephs left on the show.

Over the next nine weeks they will all be fighting it out, trying to win the hearts of the nation in a bid to play the lead in Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber's production Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.

And after his performance of Aerosmith's hit I Don't Want To Miss A Thing, Antony proved his musical credentials, leaving judges Denise Van Outen and John Barrowman confessing that they have fallen in love with him.

Antony, a former pupil at St Swithun Wells Primary School, said: "I am over the moon with the start I have had. I couldn't have asked for better comments from the judges for the first week.

"It was quite tough because I had changed the song I was going to sing midweek because I felt it wasn't right for me, so to get that response was great.

"It was a great confidence boost to hear what the judges had to say, especially as I had not got any positive comments before the show."

However the highs from the first live show were quickly forgotten as the 12 finalists found out who was the first to be booted off the show.

Antony said: "It was quite sad when Chris left especially because he was my roommate. We were all on such a massive high from the show but then we all suddenly realised somebody was leaving and it brought us right back down again."

The Joseph hopeful is aiming to follow in the footsteps of Locks Heath girl Helena Blackman, who reached the final two in the battle for the leading role of Maria in the stage musical hit The Sound of Music last year on the BBC1 show How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?

He said: "I saw how successful Helena was and I just hope I can equal or even go that little bit further than she did with the help of Southampton votes.

"I may be living in Oxford now but I lived in Southampton until I was 12 so I'm a Southampton boy at heart and I hope the city gets behind me.

"I have never been to a school with a drama department so if I get to the last four I plan to put on a concert in Southampton to raise money for schools drama facilities."

Antony already has massive support from his mum, dad and brothers Ben, 19, Louis, 15 and Nicholas, 12, as well as his family who are based in Harefield, and his girlfriend of two years, Natalie Batten.

His mum, Wendy said: "Everyone back in Southampton is right behind Antony. We are always back and forth from the city so it is great to have their support.

"It has been an emotional roller coaster and it just keeps building and building.

"It would be really nice if he made it all the way until the end.

"To go up to London and watch a show like that is fantastic anyway but to see your son up there on the stage just makes it extra special."

His dad Andy added: "Antony performed in his first out-of-school production in Eastleigh with the Mountbatten Players in their production of Aladdin at the Point Theatre.

"Back then it was a big achievement because they didn't really use child actors but they could see Antony's potential and knew he had something special."

With only four tickets for the show each week, his family will be taking turns to go up and support Antony during the live shows.

His brother Louis was one of the lucky ones who got the chance to go up to London and watch Antony in the first live show.

He said: "It was brilliant. There is a lot of competition, they are all amazing singers. Antony just blew me away with his performance.

"We didn't know what song he was going to sing so it was a great surprise to hear him sing the Aerosmith song. It was so tense waiting to hear whether he was in the sing-off."