​IT IS the internet sensation of the year — and a Carmarthenshire actress is at the heart of the musical parody “Newport”.

The Welsh themed video parody of Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’s hit Empire State of Mind has received more than 2 million hits since it was posted on YouTube a fortnight ago (July 20).

The success of Newport (Ymerodraeth State of Mind) has propelled Terema Wainwright, the 25-year-old actress who imitates Alicia, to instant fame.

Terema, from Pencarreg, near Llanybydder, told the Post: “It’s been crazy.

“We were really surprised how the hits were going up.

“We were hoping to hit a target of 1,000 and we were over the moon with that.”

But the hits rocketed when celebrities such as popstar Lilly Allen and Gavin and Stacey actor Rob Brydon praised the video through social networking site Twitter.

Key to the parody’s popularity have been lines such as “On the dance floor raving, pack of 16 Benson/Someone fighting bouncers ... turns out it’s Gavin Henson” written by Leo Sloley, Tom Williams and director Morgan- Jane (M-J) Delaney.

Terema said: “A group of talented people came together with a good idea and just did it.

“M-J did this off her own back. She said she thinks it cost less than £100 to make.

“None of us got paid for it. It’s just something we wanted to do and we just put our heart and soul into it.”

As a result of that effort, Terema and co-star Alex Warren, 24, who played Jay, are in negotiations about releasing the song as a single.

They played at the re-opening of Newport’s Transporter Bridge last Friday (30/7) and are lined up to appear at the Ryder Cup concert at the Millennium Stadium.

Terema has also been asked to strip off by lads’ magazine Zoo, but the actress declined because she is not a model.

Although Terema now lives in Hertfordshire, coming from Carmarthenshire played a key role in her landing her breakthrough part.

The former Llanybydder Primary School pupil said: “They were looking for an actress who could do a Welsh accent and I thought, ‘I grew up in Pencarreg, I can to do that’.

“They said after the audition ‘you blew us away’.”