Thaindian News

Scottish singing sensation Susan Boyle will take part in tonight’s finale of the 2009 season of Britain’s Got Talent,.

Boyle began the week as a firm favorite to take out the cash prize of £100,000 (about $US162,000) and a date to perform before the Queen of England at the Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium on December 11 this year, but eased in betting after a week of unflattering tabloid newspaper headlines .

Tonight, May 30, Susan Boyle will face off against 10 equally talented performers who have also passed through rigorous preliminary rounds including, 12-year-old singer Shaheen Jafargholi who performed the Michael Jackson hit Who’s Loving You and continued to impress with his semi-final performance Dreamgirls hit, And I’m Telling You.

Also challenging the 48-year-old Boyle is 10-year-old Hollie Steel, who persevered despite a meltdown when given a second chance in the semi-final. There is also the dance troupe Diversity, and the accomplished saxophonist Julian Smith. All told, a remarkable field of contenders.

During the week Britain’s Got Talent judge Piers Morgan told The Early Show that Boyle had “threatened to leave the show because of the amount of pressure on her.”

Describing her as “an incredibly sweet, nice, gentle person” who had turned into “the biggest star on the planet”, he said, “Anybody who has gone through that … transformation is going to be feeling the most unbelievable pressure.

“You could see the nerves almost crippling her on the semi-final show and I just think it’s time that everyone slightly backed off,” he said.

Since Boyle first took to the stage and news of her singing ability spread, more than 100 million people have viewed video clips of her on the video sharing website YouTube, as well as on the shows official website.

Leading into tonight’s finals Boyle can be backed at just even money with both Sportingbet and Ladbrokes, while Jafargholi can be backed at 11/4 with William Hill and 10/1 with Sportingbet.

The winner of tonight’s final will be chosen by public tele-votes, but unlike American Idol each ballot cast costs money — 50 pence or about 80 cents.

London Bookmakers William Hill are expecting ten bets a second to be placed on the show by the time tonight’s finale begins.