Collabro win Britain's Got Talent

The boy band beat 10 other acts in the grand final of the ITV1 talent show on Saturday

An operatic boy band have been crowned the winners of this year's Britain's Got Talent (BGT).

Collabro, a classical singing group, impressed the judges and the voting public with their performance of Stars from Les Miserables.

The ITV talent show drew its lowest ever audience for a season finale, with Saturday's programme averaging 10.7m viewers compared to 11.1m last year.

However, the show still attracted more than half of all available viewers.

An ITV spokeswoman said the 51% share of total viewers in Britain at the time was on par with last season's final.

When the show launched in 2007, more than 11 million watched opera singer Paul Potts crowned its first winner.

An audience of 16.4 million saw Diversity dance their way to success in 2009, with 18.29 million tuning in for the separate results show.

Last weekend, the show had its lowest-rated live episode ever, with an average of 7.75 million viewers.

Opera singer Lucy Kay was runner-up in the competition, which saw 11 acts vying for BGT glory - while bookies' favourite, teenage rap duo Bars and Melody, finished third.

'Focused winners'

Collabro won £250,000 and a slot performing at the Royal Variety Performance.

Lucy Kay was this year's runner-up

The group of five, Richard Hadfield and Matt Pagan, Michael Auger, Thomas Redgrave and Jamie Lambert - all in their early 20s - formed a month before their first audition for the show.

Lambert thanked the judges and the public - now dubbed "collaborators" - for their support.

"You know what I like about you guys is that you have steel in your eyes when you sing," said Simon Cowell, who - along with fellow judges Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams - gave the band a standing ovation.

"You are totally focused, you know exactly the kind of group you want to be."

He added: "This was a performance where I could tell you wanted to stamp on this competition and win the competition, and I like people who want to be winners."

Kay, whose performance was hailed by Holden as "faultless", sang Nessun Dorma, which is typically performed by a male singer.

Bars and Melody performed a self-penned, anti-bullying song which has received more than 30 million views on YouTube following their first audition.

Thirteen-year-old Leondre Devries and his friend Charlie Lenehan, 15, who wrote the track, were praised by Cowell, who said: "You are the nicest, sweetest kids I have ever met. I hope my little Eric turns out like you."