 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 <unk> " from Andrew Lloyd Webber 's <unk> . 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 <unk> " . 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 . 
