Hear and watch Faryl Smith singing on last night's show

A 12-year-old opera singer and a crooning plumber have made it through to tomorrow's final of Britain's Got Talent.

And ITV will be hoping the unlikely pair, who were showered with praise by the judges last night, will help them win viewers on the night when rival BBC One talent show I’d Do Anything also announces a winner to take the role of Nancy, in a new West End musical production of Oliver Twist, the Charles Dickens classic.

The precocious Faryl Smith, from Kettering, Northamptonshire, floored the judges with her performance of the Sarah McLachlan tear-jerker Angel.

Simon Cowell, famously critical, turned saccharine, told the schoolgirl: "When you enter a competition like this, you pray to find someone like you. You are literally one in a million.

"Anyone hearing you for the first time tonight should remember this occasion because you have the most incredible future ahead of you. You're super talented."

Voted through to Saturday night’s final by viewers, Smith told the show’s presenters Ant and Dec that it was "absolutely amazing" to win the semi-final.

Scottish plumber Andrew Muir won his place in the final with a cover of Paolo Nutini's hit Last Request that reminded Piers Morgan of last year’s winner.

The judge told him: "You've come on stage tonight and I felt a bit of a Paul Potts moment."

Other contestants did not fair so well. Husband and wife quick-change act Sam and Vicki Lane were slated by all three judges. Morgan, who has just signed a contract to remain with the show for two more series, told the Hull pair that they had committed “complete career suicide.”

Eight more contestants will perform in tonight’s last semi-final, with the winner and runner up set to compete for the £100,000 prize against an eclectic group of 10. As well as Smith and Muir, finalists include teenager Kate Nicholas and her spotlight-loving Border collie Gin, Madhu Singh and Suleman Mirzu, who have wowed viewers with their mix of Michael Jackson and bhangra dance routines, and ballroom dance duo Cheeky Monkeys.

On I’d Do Anything the odds are better. Judges Andrew Lloyd Webber, Barrie Humphreys, Denise Van Outen and John Barrowman have narrowed the field down to three.

Left competing for the part of Nancy in a new West End musical version of Oliver are Jodie Pregner, Jessie Buckley and Samantha Barks.

Bookmakers say Pregner is the favourite, but, after pulling audiences of over 10 million this week, Britain's Got Talent looks set to be Saturday night's real winner.

The I’d Do Anything final screens on BBC One, 8.45pm, Saturday May 31.

The Britain’s Got Talent final screens on ITV1, 6.50 – 8.30pm and then again from 9.30pm.

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