Filipina carer wins X-Factor Israel with rendition of Sinatra's 'My Way'

A Filipina carer has won the televised talent show shooting to fame with her winning rendition of Frank Sinatra's "My Way".

Rose Fostanes, the only foreign contestant on X-Factor Israel, won the competition late on Tuesday night, delighting both Israeli and Philippine audiences.

Fostanes's powerful, soulful singing voice quickly made her an audience favourite from her first audition for the show, which was hosted by four celebrity judges and filmed in studios in the coastal city of Tel Aviv.

Local television, news websites, social media and even the president lavished praise on the unmarried, openly gay 47-year-old, who has worked abroad for more than two decades - including six years in Israel - to support her family.

Fostanes, a carer for the sick and elderly, lives in a crowded apartment in an area inhabited mostly by foreign workers in Tel Aviv and is saving money to support her family and girlfriend back home.

"We know the situation she was in and we are very proud that she has again given the Philippines pride in the showcase of her talent," President Benigno Aquino's spokesman Edwin Lacierda said yesterday.

"The Filipino has an innate advantage when it comes to the arts. ... It clearly shows that the excellence of the Filipino can be expressed anywhere, everywhere, when they are given the opportunity to show their talent."