Disney's new darling

THE DREARY ROUTINE of school life for 16-year-old Lexi Elven is about to change dramatically. The ordinary but diligent student has been chosen to host the Saturday Disney show next month after viewers gave her most votes in an e-mail poll.

This catapult to fame has taken Elven, a part-time model, by surprise. 'My agent told me that there was a part for me on the Saturday Disney programme,' she says. 'I thought it was just another modelling job.'

The opportunity is a childhood dream come true for her. 'My very first memory of Disney was the Snow White animated feature,' she recalls. 'I dreamed about becoming a cartoon star.'

Being a host for the show will go some way to fulfilling her ambition, she says. The weekly 90-minute bilingual programme on TVB Pearl features three Disney cartoon series and locally hosted segments including arts and crafts, celebrity interviews and games in which local children are invited to take part.

Producer and director of Saturday Disney Jan Volavka started the search in February when current host, 18-year-old Cyrena Chih Hsiao-hui, announced she would leave in August to pursue her studies.

Chih was found by a Saturday Disney search in January last year. 'The contest I entered was held at Times Square where we had to perform on stage live,' says Chih.