VIDEO: Boy with the talent to beat Susan Boyle
SCHOOLBOY singer Shaheen Jafargholi is being tipped as the only contestant who can give overnight star Susan Boyle a run for her money on Britain’s Got Talent.
The 12-year-old wowed judges and audience with his performance of Michael Jackson’s Who’s Lovin’ You? on Saturday night.
Shaheen, from Swansea, even held his nerve when Simon Cowell stopped him in the middle of his performance of Amy Winehouse’s Valerie and asked him to pick another song.
After receiving a standing ovation from the three judges and audience, Cowell predicted a bright future for the youngster. He said: “This is how one song can change your life. This may be the start of something special with you, young man.”
Fellow judge Amanda Holden said: “It does not happen to me very often but I do the goosebump test. I got it with Paul Potts, with George Samson and I got it with you.”
Shaheen is the closest challenger to Miss Boyle with the bookies who give him odds of 7-2 to win. His audition has also been viewed more than 100,000 times on YouTube.
Miss Boyle, 47, from Scotland, who has wowed the world with her rendition of I Dreamed A Dream, has racked up more than 50 million hits on YouTube. She remains the red-hot favourite with bookies.
Ladbrokes cut Miss Boyle’s odds to 2-5 from 1-2, to win, becoming the shortest-priced favourite at this stage in the history of the show.
A spokesman said that Susan had already attracted 95 per cent of all bets. He added: “The interest in her is unlike anything we’ve ever seen.
“We desperately need Susan beaten and Shaheen looks to be our only chance, although we’re not holding out too much hope. But at least now she has something vaguely resembling competition.
“The hype surrounding Susan has already made her an international star which gives her a huge advantage over the rest.”
The second round of the ITV show on Saturday night received its highest viewing figures since the 2008 final, which saw dancer George Samson take the title. Tenor Paul Potts was the first season’s winner. Saturday’s show won 54 per cent of the audience share with 13.5 million viewers at its peak and 11.9 million watching the entire show.
Yesterday Elaine Paige, a big fan of Susan, sent her a message of support and the offer of a duet.
Ms Paige, who starred as the original Evita in London’s West End in 1978, said there had been a huge reaction to Susan’s performance from listeners to her Radio 2 show.
She described her as “a role model for everyone who has a dream”. After more than a week in the spotlight Miss Boyle was lying low at her Scottish home in Blackburn, West Lothian, yesterday.
She declined to speak to waiting reporters as she returned to her modest four-bedroom council house and refused to give any autographs to fans. A spokeswoman for talkbackTHAMES, which produces the ITV talent show, said: “It has been a big, long, busy week for her.
“She is having a bit of a day off. It is a lot for anyone to take in.” Susan perfected her talents listening to Seventies heart-throb Donny Osmond as a teenager, as a way to escape her childhood bullies.
Her brother Gerard, 54, a businessman from Musselburgh, East Lothian, said: “Susan was what you would call a loner. She was seen as different as she didn’t have the same interests as kids her age. Eventually she retreated into her own world.”
Now for Susan, the real world is her oyster.