Charming, punk underdog Jude Harrison shocks everyone by winning the first ""Instant Star"" songwriting contest, landing a prestigious record contract and a life that will never again just be ""normal"".

Jude loses the cover of a major music magazine to Eden, the snotty push-up-bra’d runner-up in the Instant Star songwriting contest. So Tommy Q. takes Jude -- and her increasingly resentful older sister Sadie -- to a wild hip- hop party being thrown by the magazine’s publisher -- someone with whom Tommy has a very complicated history. Jude tries to “play the game” and one-up Eden with disastrous results. Ultimately it’s Jude’s genuine connection with someone unexpected that saves the day…

Jude is suddenly given a first-class ticket to popularity central when her publicist arranges for Jude to perform her first single in front of the entire school. Jude allows herself to get swept up in all the attention until hit with two unexpected and painful truths: some of the students are planning anti-Jude walkout during the televised concert, and more importantly, her best friend Jamie HATES her new song.

The record company freaks out when Jude plays her new song for the radio powers-that-be and gets some very negative reactions. Tommy's so disappointed in himself that he even threatens to quit. Desperate to keep her number one producer (and crush) in the picture, Jude hatches the perfect plan –insisting that she and Tommy just need to ""get away"" with nothing but a guitar and four-track to perfect Jude's sound. Things get complicated when the isolated mentor and his student find themselves connecting over more than just the music…and things get downright messy when Jude's hot sister Sadie shows up.

Jude's finally starting to feel comfortable at G Major -- and more than comfortable with Tommy -- when her world and her producer are yanked out from under her, thanks to the arrival of seventeen year-old hip-hop sensation Shay. But Jude's determined not to give up her musical territory without a fight. When Jude goes too far and is forced to apologize at Shay's big concert, she's shocked when her would-be enemy serenades her with a love song. After all, she'd NEVER fall for such a spoiled, arrogant jerk…would she?!