Scottish singing sensation¹ Susan Boyle was dealt an unexpected blow when she lost out to a group of young street dancers in the final of the British talent show that made her a global star.

Despite winning praise from the audience and the judges in her final performance on live television, the 48-year-old graciously² accepted second place, saying the "best people won" and wishing the winners "all the best".

Boyle enjoyed a meteoric³ rise to fame over the past two months after video footage of her audition⁴ piece for the show, "I Dreamed A Dream" from the musical "Les Miserables", was posted on video-sharing website YouTube.

It has had about 100 million hits, brought her celebrity⁵ fans including actress Demi Moore and rock star Jon Bon Jovi and seen her feted in the media from the United States to China, Japan and Australia.

Bookmakers made her the favourite to win, but after an unconvincing performance in the semi-final there were fears that the church volunteer, who lives alone with her cat outside Edinburgh, was suffering under the pressure.

However, in a live performance in the "Britain's Got Talent" final Saturday, Boyle proved the critics wrong and repeated her audition piece with gusto.

Judge Piers⁶ Morgan said it was the "greatest performance I've seen on the history of Britain's Got Talent -- you should win the competition, I loved it."

Boyle 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.

More than a million viewers cast their vote following the live performances, and in the end, Boyle lost out to a group of ten young dancers, named Diversity. Saxophonist Julian Smith came in third place.

After singing earlier in the evening, Boyle, wearing a grey-blue, long sequined dress, thanked all her fans.

"I want to thank people for all the support they've given me," she said.

Asked if it was worth all the media pressure, she replied emphatically: "Well worth it!... I really feel at home on stage, I'm among friends."

Boyle put in a shaky performance of "Memory" in the show's semi-finals, singing occasionally out of tune⁷ and out of time, and some fans on YouTube had questioned whether she could handle the weight of expectations.

The British media had also reported some erratic⁸ behaviour over the past week, including how she had lost her temper in the foyer of the London hotel where she was staying prompting police to intervene⁹.

在“英国达人”决赛中，苏格兰歌坛神话苏珊•波伊尔意外败给了一个年轻的街舞组合。之前她曾凭借该选秀节目在全球走红。

尽管48岁的苏珊大妈在现场直播的决赛中赢得了观众和评委的赞誉，但她仍欣然接受了亚军的名次，称“最棒的选手才能夺冠”，并祝冠军“一切顺利”。

波伊尔之前在海选中演唱了歌剧《悲惨世界》的选段《我曾有梦》。在这段视频剪辑被上传至视频分享网站YouTube之后，波伊尔在过去两个月间迅速蹿红。

这段视频的点击量约有1亿次，包括女演员黛米•摩尔和摇滚歌星琼•邦•乔维在内的诸多明星都成为她的粉丝，美国、中国、日本和澳大利亚等国的媒体也对她大加追捧。

波伊尔是赌家投注的夺冠大热，但她在半决赛中的表现并不尽如人意，因此大家开始有些担心这位和她的猫咪一起生活在爱丁堡城外的教堂义工正承受着巨大的压力。

但在上周六举行的“英国达人”现场直播决赛中，波伊尔证明了批评人士的错误，并倾情重演了海选片断。

评委皮尔斯•摩根称，这是“我见过的‘英国达人’史上最棒的演出，你应该胜出，我喜欢你的演唱。”

波伊尔与其他九名选手同台竞争，冠军将赢得10万英镑（合11.5万欧元或16万美元）奖金，以及为伊丽莎白女王献唱的机会。

在现场直播决赛后，超过100万名观众投票选出冠军，最终波伊尔输给了一个由十名年轻的舞者组成的“万象”组合。萨克斯演奏者朱利安•史密斯获季军。

在晚间早些时候结束演唱后，身穿灰蓝色亮片长裙的波伊尔对所有粉丝道谢。

她说：“我想谢谢大家对我的支持。”

在被问及是否值得承受这么大的媒体压力时，她强调说：“当然值得！我在舞台上感觉非常自在，我正和朋友们在一起。”

在半决赛中，波伊尔演唱“回忆”时表现不佳，时而跑调时而跟不上节拍，YouTube网站上的一些粉丝开始担心她能否承受住人们的厚望。

英国媒体还报道了她在过去一周的失态举止，包括她在就住的伦敦酒店休息室里发怒，最终警察赶来解围。

Vocabulary:

meteoric：resembling a meteor in transient brilliance, suddenness of appearance, swiftness, etc（疾速的）

fete：to entertain at or honor with a fete（给予……巨大的荣誉）

sequin：to affix sequins to (a garment, for example）（将衣服饰以圆形小金属片）