Susan Boyle may not have taken top honors during last summer's Britain's Got Talent finale, but the 47-year-old Scottish singer won over American audiences during the U.S. version's final taping Wednesday.
Taking the stage to belt out the world premiere of her first single, "Wild Horses" — from her Nov. 24 debut "I Dreamed a Dream" — Boyle's appearance was her first on the American counterpart of the reality TV hit that earned her overnight success.
During her appearance, Boyle opened up about her hospitalization at a London clinic last May following the finale, as a result, she says, of severe exhaustion.
"From [having] no pressure to having all this pressure, I found it a bit suffocating," the singer revealed prior to her performance.
"I dont remember much about it after the final…all I remember is getting in an ambulance and getting taken to this clinic," she continued. "I never felt so tired and didn't know what was wrong with me. I look back at it now and it was a necessity because I was tired."
Still, says Boyle, who lives alone with her cat, insists she is adjusting to fame well.
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"I used to be a spectator looking out at the world, but now I'm part of that world. I embrace it, because I feel a bit more confident in myself now," she told viewers. "I'm ready to get on with it now and not afraid to be myself."
Chicken catcher Kevin Skinner, who wowed audiences with his country crooning, beat out cancer survivor-turned-operatic singer Barbara Padilla for the show's ultimate prize of $1 million and a headlining showcase in Las Vegas.
