Singing for Pope 'beyond wildest dreams' for Boyle

Singing sensation Susan Boyle has said that her chance to sing in front of the Pope at an open-air Mass on Thursday was "beyond her wildest dreams".

The 49-year-old is expected to perform three songs, including her smash hit I Dreamed A Dream, which catapulted her to fame on TV's Britain's Got Talent.

On Tuesday evening, Boyle, from Blackburn in West Lothian, rehearsed at Bellahouston Park in Glasgow, where the open-air Mass, expected to be attended by an estimated 65,000 pilgrims, will take place.

Speaking about what the event meant to her, she said: "It's hard to describe it. It's hard to put into words, really. But it will be a very humbling experience, a very indescribable experience. It's beyond my imagination, beyond my wildest dreams."

Speaking about her late mother, Bridget, she said: "It will be very poignant tomorrow. She died about four years ago but she will be here in spirit and, I think she will be very proud."

When asked what exactly she would be singing, she said: "Watch and see. Big secret, big secret."

In the first state visit by a Pope to Britain, Pope Benedict XVI will meet the Queen and Prime Minister David Cameron during his four-day tour. He arrives in Edinburgh on Thursday before travelling to Glasgow and later London and Birmingham.