The reigning champion of Warren Central Idol is belting out tunes for a shot at a big-time recording contract.

Ashley Proctor, 17, of Vicksburg surpassed hundreds of other contestants at the American Idol auditions in Denver, Colo., and will compete in Hollywood in the show’s second round Wednesday or a week from today.

The Warren Central junior is back at school but has an agreement with the Fox network not to talk about her experience on the television show, said her father, Kenneth Proctor.

She told American Idol producers that her musical family was her biggest inspiration to audition and that she has been performing for almost as long as she can remember.

“The first time I sang in public was when I was really, really young because my parents — my mom and my grandfather — are in a band together, so they’ve been playing together for a while,” she said in a video interview on “American Idol’s” website. Her mother is Melissa Proctor.