Is This Woman the Next Susan Boyle?

ABC's Clark Bentson reports from Rome:

Just in time for Christmas, there is another home-grown Italian superstar similar to Susan Boyle, who brought down the house on Sunday night’s “Italy Has Got Talent.”

Carmen Masola, a 38 year old from a small town in northern Italy is currently unemployed.  She is a single, overweight woman who worked multiple jobs to pay for singing classes, but is often supported financially by her family.  Sunday night she performed “Casta Diva” an aria from the opera Norma that brought tears to the judges and loud applause from the audience.

“Italy’s Got Talent” is the latest copycat of the successful talent shows in Britain and the United States. The pilot aired Sunday evening on Channel Five. The striking similarities to the UK version the night of Ms. Boyle’s debut already has the social network sites a buzz over copycat allegations.

Ms. Masola has been singing for years, but until her national performance last evening never struck it big until last night. When she finished she told the panel she had shivers and felt “joy” after singing to the audience.