What was Johnston tipped as the favourite to win?
Johnston was entered as a competitor in the second series of Britain's Got Talent by his mother. He passed the first public audition, singing "Pie Jesu" from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem. Amanda Holden, one of the competition's judges, was brought to tears, and the audience offered Johnston a standing ovation. Johnston was tipped as the favourite to win the competition. Later, Johnston described his initial audition as daunting, saying that "it was scary singing in front of 2,500 people. I had never sang on stage before – then there was also Simon, Amanda and Piers". He won his semi-final heat on 27 May 2008, receiving the most public votes on the night and thereby qualifying for the final. He sang "Tears in Heaven" by Eric Clapton; judge Holden told him he had "a gift from God in [his] voice". At the final on 30 May, he again sang "Pie Jesu". He finished in third place, behind the winner, the street dancer George Sampson and runners-up, the dance group Signature. Johnston left the stage in tears, later saying that he "was upset. But when you see the talent that was there, it was an honour just to be in the final". The day after the final, Cowell's publicist Max Clifford said that it was "quite possible" that Cowell would be offering record contracts to some of the finalists, including Johnston. Johnston and other contestants then embarked on a national arena tour.During his initial audition, Johnston claimed that he was bullied and victimised from the age of six because of his singing. When asked how he dealt with the issue, he stated "I carry on singing." There were claims in the Daily Mail, a UK-based tabloid newspaper, that the programme's producers had deliberately overstated the extent of Johnston's bullying as a "sob story", suggesting that sympathy rather than his singing got him many of the votes. However, in The Times, Johnston's success story was described as "the stuff of fairytales", as he was successful despite having been raised in "poverty". Johnston said he did not talk about being bullied because he was told to do so by producers, but "because I believed it would help people who were going through what I had gone through be stronger". Johnston has subsequently visited schools and elsewhere to help other victims of bullying. He said "I want to use my experience of bullies to help other kids".
the second series of Britain's Got Talent