Singing sensation Susan Boyle ends as runner-up in "Britain's Got Talent," Diversity walks away with top honors

Boyle, who has enjoyed a meteoric rise to fame over the past two months and has captured the hearts of millions of people on YouTube where a video footage of her singing has been uploaded, belted out her audition piece with gusto, and moved the heart of Piers Morgan, one of the three judges, who called her act the "greatest performance I've seen on the history of 'Britain's Got Talent.'"

"You should win the competition, I loved it," Morgan said.

Agrees fellow judge Amanda Holden. "I have never heard such powerful confident vocals," she said.

Music promoter Simon Cowell, who was the third judge on the show, also said she was "the biggest phenomenon" he ever saw in any of his shows.

Even the bookmakers said Boyle, who was up against nine other acts to win the show, which brings with it a cheque for 100,000 pounds (115,000 euros, 160,000 dollars) and the chance to perform for Queen Elizabeth II at the Royal Variety show, was the favorite.

But it was not to be and the dowdy spinster, who hails from small-town Scotland with a voice worthy of Broadway, finally was outvoted and lost out to a multi-ethnic posse of 10 street dancers aged 12 to 25 from London and Essex called Diversity.

According to the Times of London, Boyle received just over 20 percent of the 4 million telephone votes cast, while Diversity won nearly 25 percent of the votes. Saxophonist Julian Smith, 39, from Birmingham, came third in the closely fought competition.

However, Boyle, who is an unemployed church volunteer and lives alone with her cat outside Edinburgh, graciously accepted the decision, saying the "best people won" and wished the winners "all the best."

Boyle also thanked those who cheered and rooted for her all the way to the final even as some wondered whether she could handle all that pressure after she put in a shaky performance of "Memory" in the show's semi-finals last weekend, singing occasionally out of tune and out of time.

"I want to thank people for all the support they've given me," Boyle, who wore a floor-length sequined gown, said after her name was announced as the runner-up.

Boyle also said she had no future plans as such except perhaps cutting an album. "I'll just play it by ear. What a journey - unbelievable, and very humbling," she gushed.

Indeed, Boyle's dream run at the British talent show may have ended on a bitter note, but if Cowell, a household name in the United States as a judge on "American Idol," is to be believed, he has very big plans for her and her lifelong dream of singing in the Broadway might actually take off.

ABOUT SUSAN BOYLE

Susan Boyle, who hails from Blackburn where she is well known for singing karaoke in the local pub and works as a church volunteer, had posed singing with a hairbrush at her home in Blackburn, Scotland, on April 16, 2009 and a video clip of her performance, which was uploaded on YouTube, were viewed over 12 million times, and soon, the 47-year-old, who says she has never been kissed, became an overnight sensation, gaining a phenomenal fan base from India to China to the United States.

In the first audition of "Britain's Got Talent," UK's version of "American Idol," when Boyle walked onstage, her frumpy appearance and quirky manner had initially drawn snickers from the judges and members of the audience. However, when she began singing, everyone was left awestruck her her angelic voice and some even believed she would be the runaway winner in the show.

Meanwhile, Boyle, who had rarely left her home town and never gotten a driver's license, was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey and Larry King in the United States but her instant stardom appeared to make her wilt under pressure and there were instances, where she did not perform well in the competition and occasionally snapped at others. Not surprisingly, some people had written her off and the famously harsh London tabloids turned against her and even urged people not to vote for the singer they had dubbed the "Hairy Angel."

However, as the weeks wore on, the Scottish spinster not only recovered her composure but also proved her critics wrong by appearing at the final round more polished - and animated - than in previous appearances and went on to wow the judges with a powerful performance.