Susan Boyle, the dowdy¹ Scottish spinster whose mighty² singing voice has catapulted her to global fame thanks to YouTube, won through to the next round of talent show "Britain's Got Talent" Saturday.

A clip of Boyle, 47, singing "I Dreamed A Dream" from musical Les Miserables in the show's auditions³ has been watched some 60 million times on the video sharing website since April and her fans include actress Demi Moore.

As the "Britain's Got Talent" auditions round ended Saturday, Boyle was named among 40 acts who will go through to the live semi-finals from Sunday, when she will make her eagerly-awaited second appearance on the show.

When asked how she felt after the judges made their decision, Boyle said: "On top of the world, it's fantastic", punched the air and did a dance.

Speaking of the semi-finals, she added: "I really want to do my best, get out there and do my best, and anything can happen."

The grand finale takes place on Saturday May 30 and Boyle - nicknamed the "Hairy Angel" by the British press - is the bookmakers' hot favourite to win.

Boyle's rivals in Sunday's show will include Darth Jackson - a postal⁴ worker called Phil who dresses as "Star Wars" character Darth Vader and dances like Michael Jackson.

Also featuring alongside her is extreme street performer Nick Hell, whose act includes attaching a dustbin to his ears with chains and swinging it around, and Latvian belly⁵ dancer Julia Naidenko.

Boyle is a charity volunteer who says she has never been kissed and lives alone in Blackburn, near Edinburgh, with a cat called Pebbles⁶.

She told US chat show host Oprah Winfrey in an interview this month: "I am not lonely. Everyone has been so nice. I've got millions of new friends now."

"Britain's Got Talent" invites members of the public to show off their hidden entertaining skills in front of a panel of three judges - impresario⁷ Simon Cowell, former newspaper editor Piers⁸ Morgan and actress Amanda Holden.

The winner of the show, screened on ITV channel, wins the right to perform at the Royal Variety Performance before Queen Elizabeth II later this year - plus a 100,000 pound ($160,000) cheque.

其貌不扬的英国单身大妈苏珊•波伊尔于上周六在“英国达人”选秀比赛中成功晋级。此前，她的天籁之音被上传至YouTube网站，并因此在全球一举成名。

现年47岁的波伊尔曾在选秀节目中演唱歌剧《悲惨世界》的选段“我曾有梦”，自四月份以来，被上传至视频分享网站的该演出片断已被点击收看大约六千多万次。女演员黛米•摩尔也是她的粉丝。

“英国达人”选秀比赛于上周六结束海选，波伊尔跻身前40强，她将和其他选手一道参加从上周日开始的现场直播半决赛，观众热切盼望她在节目上再度亮相。

在被问及顺利晋级后的感想时，波伊尔说：“就像身处世界之巅，感觉棒极了。” 她向空中挥了挥拳头，还做了几个舞蹈动作。

她在谈到半决赛时还说：“我真想尽力做好，拿出我的最高水平去参赛，一切皆有可能。”

总决赛将于5月30日（本周六）举行，被英国媒体昵称为“毛茸天使”的波伊尔是赌家投注的夺冠大热。

在周日的比赛中，波伊尔的竞争对手将包括“达斯•杰克逊”，这位名叫菲尔的邮差因穿着类似于《星球大战》中的达斯•维达，舞步酷似迈克尔•杰克逊而得名。

其他热门选手还包括表演形式较为极端的街头艺人尼克•海尔，他在演出中用链子将一只垃圾桶挂在耳朵上，然后将它来回摆动。另一位则是拉脱维亚肚皮舞女朱莉娅•奈登科。

波伊尔是位慈善志愿者，她称自己还未献出初吻。她独居在爱丁堡附近的布莱克本，与一只名叫“鹅卵石”的猫咪为伴。

她在本月接受采访时告诉脱口秀主持人奥普拉•温弗瑞：“我并不孤单，大家对我都很友好，现在我有了数百万新朋友。”

“英国达人”的参赛者都是平民，他们在舞台上展示未被发掘的娱乐天分，三位评委分别是娱乐圈老板西蒙•考威尔，前报社编辑皮尔斯•摩根，以及女演员阿曼达•霍尔登。

这档选秀节目在英国独立电视台（ITV）播放，节目的最终胜出者将有机会在今年晚些时候参加英国皇家文艺汇演，英国女王伊丽莎白二世将亲临演出。赢家还将获得10万英镑（合16万美元）奖金。

Vocabulary:

dowdy：not stylish; drab; old-fashioned（过时的，邋遢的）

catapult：to move or spring up suddenly, quickly, or forcibly, as if by means of a catapult（抛射，快速移动）

grand finale：决赛，终场演奏，结局