A 47-year-old Filipino carer who has been compared to Scotland's Susan Boyle wins X-Factor Israel.
A Filipino carer, once part of a faceless crowd of foreign workers who tend to Israel's infirm and elderly, has surprised the country by winning one of its most popular TV singing contests.
Competing in Israel's X-Factor, Rose Fostanes, 47, swept the judges off their feet with a tear-jerking rendition of Frank Sinatra's "My Way" on the show's live final.
Her victory came as a surprise in Israel, where about 20,000 Filipinos work mostly as carers and cleaners. In the run-up to the final, Ms Fostanes said she hoped her popularity on the show would shine a spotlight on Israel's low-paid foreign workers.
"I didn't expect that I would win," Ms Fostanes told reporters in Tel Aviv. "Because I'm not Israeli and I don't have residence here and I'm only a worker," she said.
For many Israelis, the word "Filipino" has become synonymous with caregiver, and Ms Fostanes' appearance and success on X-Factor could help break the stereotype.
Ms Fostanes, who came to Israel several years ago, has been working for about 20 years across the Middle East, and currently cares for an ailing woman in Tel Aviv.
She has been compared to the Scottish singer Susan Boyle, 52, who shot to fame in 2009 after appearing on the TV show "Britain's Got Talent" and performing "I Dreamed a Dream" from the musical "Les Miserables".
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