She won the title of The New Paper New Face 2008 on Friday night - and immediately headed home. But Shahirah Price, 18, wasn't ready to sleep just yet.

The Diploma in Marketing student at Nanyang Polytechnic was preparing for a night of partying with a few of the other finalists, such as Jennifer Polce, 18, and Lydia Norman, 21, at some of Clarke Quay's hottest bars.

The New Paper on Sunday nipped into a taxi with her as she headed home for a quick change of clothes and freshened up for her celebration.

Shahirah was so hyped up about winning, she could barely sit still. Throughout the journey home, she was busy sending messages on her phone, thanking friends for supporting her at the Grand Finals.

She kept saying: 'Oh my god, it's over.' And at one point, she said: 'It still hasn't sunk in yet.'

The first thing Shahirah did when she reached home was to hug her parents - dad Mike Price, 49, and mum Ida, 48.

Her parents run a business specialising in souvenirs.

She said: 'I get along better with my dad, but I get along very well with mum too.'

She joked: 'I can argue with my mum also. She's very fun to argue with!'

Her parents were ecstatic over her win.

Mr Price said: 'I was taking pictures of her on the catwalk, and I noticed that all the pictures of her when she was announced the winner were blurred. I must have jumped for joy at that exact moment!'

And he knew she would win.

'I sent her a message just before she won, telling her that she looked fantastic and she would definitely win - which she did. So it must have been the lucky message for her!'

She's a self-confessed Daddy's girl, who relies on him even for fashion advice. Every time she takes out a dress from her wardrobe, she has to hold it up in front of her father.

'Is this nice?' That is the question she poses to him repeatedly.

Mr Price joked: 'She has thousands of dresses, but she never knows which one to pick! So she always has to rely on me for fashion advice.'

To which Shahirah half protests: 'Dad! Don't tell them that!'

And although she won $10,000 as The New Paper New Face 2008, she still had to ask for money from her dad to go out to celebrate her victory. She took $50 from him to pay for the taxi ride home after partying.

To which he quipped: 'Now that's the Shahirah I know!'

At Clarke Quay, she met up with some of the other finalists at theAzzucar! Latin Soul Party club. By then, it was close to midnight. Screaming in excitement, the group declared it was time to party.

And why not?

After all, as Shahirah put it: 'The holidays are ending and school is about to start. So now, I want to have a good time with all the other girls!'

This article was first published in The New Paper on Oct 12, 2008.