Susan Boyle to sing in show final

By Mike Collett-White

LONDON (Reuters) - Global Internet sensation Susan Boyle competes in the final of "Britain's Got Talent" on Saturday amid signs she is struggling to cope with her sudden rise to stardom and constant media intrusion.

The 48-year-old unemployed church volunteer from Scotland, who once joked she had never been kissed and has been described by newspapers as "frumpy" and a "hairy angel," threatened to pull out of the popular television contest this week.

"She's been in tears repeatedly," Piers Morgan, one of the show's judges, told "Inside Edition" in an interview aired in the United States earlier this week.

In his blog, Morgan wrote: "Let me tell you now, there is a downside to fame. People start criticising you, sniping at you, trying to trip you up, belittle you, harass you.

"I am calling today for everyone to just give her a break."

Boyle's performance of the song "I Dreamed a Dream" last month in the first round of Britain's Got Talent has been downloaded more than 150 million times on the Internet and turned her into a major celebrity.

Film crews camped outside her home in the small town in rural Scotland where she lives alone with her cat, tabloid reporters have followed her every move and she is front page news almost every day in Britain.

Boyle appeared on U.S. chat shows hosted by Oprah Winfrey and Larry King and is a media sensation from Chile to China.