Britain�s Got Talent sensation Michael Collings is fueled �by a burning desire to lift his family out of grinding poverty. The 19-year-old apprentice IT engineer Michael lives in a caravan with his parents, faces a daily struggle to make ends meet.

Britain's Got Talent Michael Collings

Michael stormed through to the show�s semi-finals in front of a TV audience of 13 million last night. As he plugged his guitar into the speaker and prepared to perform, judge Amanda Holden turned to Michael McIntyre and quipped: �He looks like he�s going on a long haul flight. �

Michael laughed: �On Easy Jet!�

But they were soon made to eat their words as he belted out a moving version of Tracy Chapman�s Fast Car.

Speaking at this week�s press screening, Holden admitted that she totally judged Michael on how he looked and was subsequently proved wrong, just as she was by international best selling artist Susan Boyle. She said:

�It�s like the Susan Boyle thing, you completely judge people as you see them and it�s always a surprise.�

After wowing the judges with his stunning rendition of Tracy Chapman�s Fast Car, �Michael is dreaming of a life of fame and fortune.

Britain's Got Talent's judges David Hasselhoff, Amanda Holden and Michael McIntyre

Former Baywatch star, David Hasselhoff was blown away by the performance and beamed: �You did a beautiful job and sang with heart. Britain�s Got Talent, you are it.�

Fellow judge Amanda Holden compared his performance to the jaw-dropping moment when series three winner Susan Boyle took to the stage.

Michael � who has an eight-week-old son, Jamie with fianc�e Sarah �hopes to follow in the footsteps of the Scottish singing sensation who has made an astounding �6million since she amazed the judges with her performance of I Dreamed A Dream two years ago.

Michael, from Saltash, near Plymouth, said: �At the moment I�m still in the caravan with my parents so it would be great to get a place for Sophie, Jamie and myself.

�That�s the main reason behind me doing this, to take them with me and provide for my family.

�It would be such a relief not to have to worry about money all the time like we do now.�

Singer-guitarist Michael � an early favourite to land the show�s �100,000 prize and a slot at the Royal Variety Performance � added: �It�s all the little bills that you don�t remember about.

�I�m still an apprentice so I�m not earning anywhere near as much as I�d like to and I worry about bills all the time.

�If this goes well it would be my dream to put a deposit down on a small two bedroom house.�

Michael, whose performance has already had thousands of hits on YouTube, met Sarah three-and-a-half years ago. He did not make the best first impression after he wolf-whistled at her from across the road.

But she fell for his charms and after a few months together he decided to start saving up for an engagement ring. Michael said:� �Because I wasn�t earning much at all I had to save up, but even then I could only afford a �45 ring and a meal in an all you can eat Chinese.

�Still she said yes so it all worked out and hopefully in the future I can treat her to a few more expensive meals.�

It’s true what they say…you can’t stop a person with a burning desire!

Enjoy Michael’s rendition of Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car at this link.

On April 1 1961 (yes, April Fool Day), a Scottish girl was born to a couple who already had nine children. At her birth, her mother was 47 and during the difficult childbirth, the girl was briefly deprived of oxygen and was later diagnosed as having learning difficulties. She was often bullied as a child and was nicknamed “Susie Simple” at school.

After leaving school with few qualifications, she took singing and acting lessons. In 1995 her audition for Michael Barrymore’s “My Kind of People” was filmed. The amateur video shows Barrymore was apparently more interested in mocking her than in her singing ability.

After winning several local singing competitions, she was urged by her mother to enter Britain’s Got Talent. She almost abandoned her plan to enter the show as she believed she was too old and that it was a young person’s game. Her mother’s death motivated her to go on Britain’s Got Talent as a tribute to her mother.

In August 2008 she applied for an audition for the third series of Britain’s Got Talent and was accepted after a preliminary audition in Glasgow. She sang “I Dreamed A Dream” from Les Miserables in the first round. When she first took to the stage, the initially cynical attitude of the audience and the judges was obvious….she was “prejudged”� because of her appearance. This cynicism was transformed into a standing ovation when she finished her rendition of “I Dreamed A Dream”. Her initial demeanour and homely appearance caused the judges and the audience to be “waiting for her to squawk like a duck”.

A new superstar was born and the world came to know about this Scottish lady Susan Boyle. Boyle’s first album “I Dreamed A Dream” was released on November 23 2009 and has enjoyed phenomenal success worldwide, racking up sales of a few million copies so far! Her album raced to the top of the charts in US, UK and many countries worldwide.

Boyle’s story is a like a fairy tale about overcoming adversity and prejudice and a rebuke to people’s tendency to judge others based on their physical appearance. Her performance is a victory for talent and artistry in a culture obsessed with physical attractiveness and presentation.

I bought Susan Boyle’s “I Dreamed A Dream” last week and have been enjoying her renditions of� “I Dreamed A Dream”, “Wild Horses”, “Cry Me A River”, “How Great Thou Art”, “You’ll See”, “Daydream Believer”, “Up To The Mountain”, “Amazing Grace”, “Who I Was Born To Be”, “Proud”, “The End Of The World” and “Silent Night”. You can find the album at Speedy Video in Miri……go buy it and enjoy the music!

I Dreamed A Dream by Susan Boyle