FAME finally beckons for a disabled singer who was once told by doctors she only had a 20 per cent chance of living.

Doctors said the outlook was bleak for Barnton woman Sandra Perrin when she suffered a brain haemorrhage nine years ago but now the 58-year-old entertainer is preparing to take Britain's Got Talent by storm.

Sandra, of Emmett Street, started performing when she was three years old and will be appearing before the dreaded judges, Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden, this week.

She said: "Doctors gave me a 20 per cent chance of survival so I grasp everything I can and do as much as I can.

"Life is for living, no matter what you've got."

Sandra, who also suffers from osteo and rheumatoid arthritis, appeared before the popular TV talent show's producers last year and got a phone call on New Year's Day to say she was through to the next round - where she'll meet hosts Ant and Dec and the trio of judges at Manchester's Palace Theatre for the first time.

She said: "I'm most scared of Piers Morgan and I most respect Simon Cowell - to me he's a guru.

"Simon knows exactly what he's talking about. You've only got to look at his bank balance to know that."

Sandra, whose first performance as a toddler was for Hanley old age pensioners' club and who still performs shows with her friend, daughter and future son-in-law at retirement homes, will sing Whitney Houstons' One Moment in Time on the show, to be aired this summer.

She said: "Whitney Houston is one of my favourite artists - I like singing her songs and this one in particular.

"It's very fitting because when I was a little girl I used to dream of singing on a big stage in a big city, like in Sunday Night at the London Palladium, and I've never achieved it - this is my moment in time."