A young man known as "Little Fatty" is being compared with Susan Boyle after becoming a YouTube sensation.

Lin Yu-chun, 24, a round-faced soprano with a pudding-bowl haircut, sang I Will Always Love You on Taiwan's Avenue To Stardom talent show last Friday and has already racked up some 1.3 million views on YouTube.

The number of views is climbing fast - leading to comparisons with Susan Boyle, who shot to stardom after singing I Dreamed A Dream on Britain's Got Talent.

Lin said the show could change his life: "I now have more confidence in pursuing a singing career.

"You don't have to be a good-looking man or woman to succeed. Just be yourself and try your best."

He said he had long suffered from a lack of confidence because of his plain looks and rotund figure.

"Being fat draws a lot of mockery in our society," he said.

He used to lock himself in his room and sing along with records of Celine Dion and Mariah Carey.

But the artist who really grabbed him was Whitney Houston - particularly the song I Will Always Love You, from the soundtrack to the 1992 film The Bodyguard.

"I played it again and again even though my parents couldn't stand it any more and asked me to stop," Lin said.

Lin has had a bumpy start to stardom.

After graduating from college last year, he failed to make much of an impression on another Taiwanese talent show, where judges criticised both his looks and his high-pitched voice.

"One said I should instead pursue the career of a comedian, and another questioned whether it was right for a man to sing soprano," he said.

Now all that is behind him.

"(The show) has reinvigorated me," he said.

Lin said he is doing his best not to let his new-found fame go to his head.

"I'm trying not to be overwhelmed," he said.