Jai McDowall has been crowned winner of Britain's Got Talent 2011.
The support worker turned singer emerged victorious from the ITV contest after beating competition favourite Ronan Parke, young dance troupe New Bounce and seven other acts in tonight's public vote.
Speaking to hosts Ant & Dec after the result, McDowall described the competition as "absolutely amazing" and "much more, so much more" than he could have ever dreamed of.
Gracious in defeat, 12-year-old Parke claimed to have "loved" his time on Britain's Got Talent and added: "Thank you to everyone who voted, thank you so much... congratulations to Jai as well."
Commenting on the surprise poll, judge Simon Cowell asserted that the 24-year-old was a "worthy winner" for managing to outperform some of the bigger names in tonight's final.
He said: "We said tonight there was going to be a shock result, not doing [McDowall] any disservice, [but] he wasn't any of the favourites coming in tonight.
"But... he nailed the song, the public, we can always trust their decision and I think he's a worthy winner."
Fellow panellist Amanda Holden also congratulated McDowall, but confessed that she would have been more satisfied by Parke's victory after the fix claims that have plagued his appearance on the show.
"I'm thrilled for Jai, this is a massive, massive night for him, but I did really want Ronan to win," she said.
Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 11:17 pm