● 03/13/09 – (HSM Contest) Concert at Seton High

On Friday, international pop singer and Grammy nominee Natasha Bedingfield gave a private concert to the 550-girl Catholic school as part of a prize package promoting Disney’s “High School Musical 3″ movie.

She was the fourth major star to visit the school in recent years.

Bedingfield, who also performed Thursday night in Newport, belted out many of her most popular tunes in Seton’s performance theater, including “Pocketful of Sunshine,” “These Words” and “Unwritten.”

Seton beat out 3,636 other schools in a national “school spirit” contest last fall that involved showing their devotion to “High School Musical.”

The Seton girls launched an all-out online campaign, texting their votes daily, photographing themselves with movie posters and videotaping school staff singing the movie’s songs.

In addition to the concert, Seton’s seniors won a trip to Disney World in April.

The sea of cheering, waving, shouting girls held up hundreds of cell phones, shooting video and photos as they sang nearly every word back to Bedingfield.

Afterward, they asked her questions about her experiences, taught her a cheer and gave her a pair of pajamas.

Bedingfield, 27, bonded with the girls, advising them against letting people deflect them from their dreams.

“When you have a dream, people think they’re trying to protect you and say ‘Don’t bother,’ ” she said.

“But they can steal your hope. You’ve got to get blinders on, and don’t let the negative things get you down.”

Bedingfield, who is from England, got her start singing Christian music and performing with her sister and brother in Europe.

With two solo CD’s selling more than 10 million copies, Bedingfield says her musical influences are Aretha Franklin, Joni Mitchell, the Cranberries and Bjork.

She also told the girls about an old teacher who encouraged her and her classmates to write stories, poetry and songs.

“One of the most influential places for me was the church,” she said.

“That was where you learn to sing with your soul. You learn music is about more than just yourself.”

Last year, she got engaged to California businessman Matt Robinson but says her wedding plans are secret. She has been touring the United States and other countries for about two years.

“At first, I was star-struck,” said Courtni Nicolaci, a senior who asked her questions and later got an autograph.

“She was so nice and personable, down for anything. I didn’t feel like I was talking to a star; I felt like I was talking to her.”

Also visiting the school Friday was Justin Martin, one of the stars in “High School Musical.”

He introduced Bedingfield and played a trivia game with the girls. One of the students asked him to the prom, but the Atlanta 14-year-old offered to send her flowers instead.

Q102 partnered with Disney in the contest and concert. Last October, Q102 helped bring 2008 “American Idol” runner-up David Archuleta to Seton to thank the girls for raising $3,000 in pennies for cancer research.

In the past decade, ‘N Sync and Ashlee Simpson also have performed at Seton.

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