Who was that blonde girl on stage at the Michael Jackson memorial the other day at the Staples Center? It’s the same girl seen in the rehearsal footage released by CNN.

In that footage Michael approaches her while she is jamming, he dances almost over her for a minute then scampers off. Her name is Orianthi Panagaris, but she goes by her first name only. She is a 24-year-old guitar virtuoso from Adelaide, Australia. She started playing at the age of six, by 11 she was on the electric guitar and by 15 she was a professional guitarist supporting Steve Vai. At age 18 she was jamming on stage with Carlos Santana. Her already impressive career seemed glued to destiny as the lead guitarist on the upcoming ‘This is It’ Jackson tour, until his untimely death. Among her other credits are an album, a song on the Bratz soundtrack, touring with Vai and playing alongside Prince. According to her website she is signed to Geffen Records. A performance on the Grammy’s with Carrie Underwood also got her quite a bit of attention.

“If I was going to pass the baton to somebody, she would be my first choice.” Santana said about Orianthi. That’s quite an endorsement for a guitar player, I just hope she works on her vocals more and doesn’t end up like all the other guitar virtuosos, wearing bad shades and overworking her fingers on needlessly complex solos. Her career seems ready to blow up even further, so be on the lookout for this hot rocker to keep on rockin.