Britain's Got Talent

[Guest andrewd]

Wow. Not at all what you would expect. This is very touching, amazing, and moving. Please watch, you'll be glad you did.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

 

"Beware so long as you live, of judging people by appearances." La Fontaine

[Guest Wetnwildbear]

Judge Not Lest Ye Be Judges!

 

Thanks Andrew!

 

What a great reminder that beauty comes from within

 

and can be found in even the least likely of places.

 

 

WOW - What a voice!

[JT Brooklyn]

Fantastic Voice

 

Wow. Not at all what you would expect. This is very touching, amazing, and moving. Please watch, you'll be glad you did.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

 

"Beware so long as you live, of judging people by appearances." La Fontaine

 

 

Damn Straight Looks aren't Everything! Phenomenal Singing Voice!

[+ David-SF]

she is completely beautiful and charming

 

she will soon be kissed and someone out there is bound to fall head over heals in love with her.

 

http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/92464?fp=1

 

"American Idol" isn't the only launching pad for aspiring singers. Across the pond, "Britain's Got Talent" scored a huge boost in the Buzz after an unassuming contestant gave an amazing performance.

Susan Boyle (remember that name) became a Web phenomenon after singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables. The performance brought the audience to its feet and left the judges (including Simon Cowell) either speechless or in tears.

Before going on stage, Ms. Boyle admitted some self-deprecating facts about herself (she's never been kissed and lives alone with her cat, Pebbles). For those reasons and more, audiences were expecting the female William Hung. They were wrong.

Lookups on the sudden star posted huge gains. A no-name just the other day, Ms. Boyle quickly surged into our top 5,000 overall searches. Blogs and gossip rags went wild. The Mirror jumped on the story, reporting that while Ms. Boyle thought she "looked like a garage" on TV, she received a standing ovation when she showed up at her local church.

Other sources write that as a child, Ms. Boyle was the target of bullies because of a disability. But, with her newfound fame, she is getting the last laugh. In fact, she's already meeting with officials from Mr. Cowell's Sony BMG label. This may have been the first you've heard of her, but it certainly won't be the last.

[seeker630]

Beautiful! Thanks...

 

for sharing that! I think most of us need to reminded every now & then not to make assumptions based on appearances. (I do, anyway.)

[EXPAT]

Absolutely amazing.

[Racketjock]

Agreed

 

Thanks, Andrew, for posting this link. It was a heartwarming jolt to a cynical heart about the true value in giving everyone their chance in the sun to shine. Very classy lady that set an example for many to follow.

[MsGuy]

I don't recall any other singer ever capturing a hostile crowd so completely & so quickly. She stunned them silent with the the first line and owned them by the third. My eyes teared up.

 

A wonderful voice and a wonderful post.

 

Thanks.

[Guest TNT Ted]

I enjoyed that so much. Thanks, Andrew, for posting it.

[uwsman2]

When will they issue her first recording?

 

I'll be standing in line to get it!

Of course, there is no necessary correlation between musical talent and physical beauty. It is so easy for us to be deceived by looks. The true beauty is INSIDE.

[Guest andrewd]

She made NBC Nightly News tonight...

 

I think maybe this sums up the overnight, internet phenom she has become. From EW.com:

 

http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/04/susan-boyle-why.html along with about 320 other related news articles about her when you Google her name.

 

"I'm pondering why the experience of watching and listening to Ms. Boyle makes so many viewers cry, me among them. And I think I've got a simple answer, at least for me: In our pop-minded culture so slavishly obsessed with packaging -- the right face, the right clothes, the right attitudes, the right Facebook posts -- the unpackaged artistic power of the unstyled, un-hip, un-kissed Ms. Boyle let me feel, for the duration of one blazing showstopping ballad, the meaning of human grace. She pierced my defenses. She reordered the measure of beauty. And I had no idea until tears sprang how desperately I need that corrective from time to time."

 

"the meaning of human grace" "She reordered the measure of beauty."

 

Enough said...

[Guest ncm2169]

Beautiful beyond any possible words. I'm still wiping the tears 10 minutes after watching.

[TruthBTold]

The song, too

 

I think that it was the combination of her voice and the meaning of the song - perhaps even in her own life - that made it such an incredible experience.

[+ sf westcoaster]

Andrew, heaps of thanks for posting this video clip. What an amazing wake-up for all of us, who too often judge based on physical appearances rather on the inner make-up and soul of an individual. Thanks again.

[+ Charlie]

I normally don't read threads about pop culture, and I have never watched American Idol or shows like it, but I happened upon this one thread, and after reading the enthusiastic comments from everyone, I decided to play the youtube video. I had never heard the song (which shows you how oblivious I am to popular music), but I thought the performance was sensational. How could that voice have gone completely undiscovered for so long?

[best hotel]

...thanks.....that really was very moving

[MsGuy]

I normally don't read threads about pop culture, and I have never watched American Idol or shows like it, but I happened upon this one thread, and after reading the enthusiastic comments from everyone, I decided to play the youtube video. I had never heard the song (which shows you how oblivious I am to popular music), but I thought the performance was sensational. How could that voice have gone completely undiscovered for so long?

 

According to CBS, she has been living at home looking after her invalid mother. Thursday morning the Early Show (CBS) will feature her singing in her kitchen.

[bobchitown]

I don't recall any other singer ever capturing a hostile crowd so completely & so quickly. She stunned them silent with the the first line and owned them by the third. My eyes teared up.

 

A wonderful voice and a wonderful post.

 

Thanks.

 

Well, there was Paul Potts last year (or was it two years ago?). I guess he's had his 15 minutes.

[Guest ncm2169]

Charlie, bless your heart, I would agree that you are perhaps just a few degrees separated from Pop Culture and Pop Music.

 

The song Ms. Boyle sang so unbelievably exquisitely is "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables (the musical).

 

Now, I am sure that Victor Hugo, who wrote Les Miserables in 1862, would be astonished and rightfully proud that his work is considered to be Pop Culture in 2009.

 

But that wouldn't be fair to French composer Claude-Michel Schonberg, who wrote the musical version in 1980. Still, 29 years is a long time for Pop Music to be considered Pop Music.

 

I am actually wondering how much moola she will be signed for in a Contract (if some smart operator hasn't already snapped her up). Anyone care to venture a guess?

[MsGuy]

NCM, according to David's post, Cowell already has her in talks with Sony. I hope she has a good agent. Cowell strikes me as no better than he should be.

[kjun]

This story was on NPR tonight. The played quite a bit of her singing.

[+ bigjoey]

so far over ten million views on youtube!!! thank goodness others admitted to tears on seeing the video; i thought it was just me.

 

in today's world of plastic, phoney "stars" with their botox, nips and tucks, professional hangers-on, it is refreshing to see someone who is just themself, no "polish" just honesty as to who they are. no pretense!!

 

bravo to her and her courage to be herself.

[Guest ncm2169]

USA Today Online:

 

< Have you heard the name Susan Boyle?

 

She's the hottest thing around right now, ever since a clip of her on this past weekend's Britain's Got Talent show surfaced. She's a 47-year-old British charity worker. Before appearing on stage to sing I Dreamed a Dream from the musical Les Miserables, Boyle said she lived with her cat Pebbles and had never been married or kissed. One of the judges just happened to be Simon Cowell, who called her singing "extraordinary." This YouTube clip has been viewed more than 5 million times. >

 

Hmmm. Anyone wanna bet on any changes in either her financial life or her love life?

 

< Checks Yellow Pages ... Lawyers ... Prenuptial Agreements >

 

I jest, of course. I wish her every success however she defines the word. :) Somehow I have the feeling that she will be giving at least as good she gets for a long, long time.

[seaboy4hire]

Go girl!

 

I loved the video and her voice! It always makes me happy when the ugly duckling/under dog comes out on top and owns what they have and that is something that she did with pride and confidence. I wish her lots of luck and fortune in all she does.

 

Hugs,

Greg

[+ Italiano]

A second thought...

 

Even if it is indeed very nice to be able to see a simple ordinary woman to get such a reaction from people who would not usually give a standing ovation to a singer looking like her, this all huge success made me reflect.

 

Listening to her singing with my eyes shut and pretending not to know who she actually is and/or looks like, makes me react like: "oh, it's a nice voice" but nothing spectacular and/or unique to deserve such an ovation.

The fact that she looks like a village chubby middle-aged lady is definitely a BIG part of the reaction. And for some reason it disturbs me instead of making me smile with a little tear in the corner of my eye like most people, here and everywhere else.

 

It makes me think that pity and emphaty for her state and looks make people react in order to feel a bit at peace with themselves, as in "oh my God, you are so ugly and you have a nice voice, but even if you are not extraordinary I will treat you like you are because you are ugly!".

 

I am pretty sure that if she was a beautiful young blonde lady she would have been applauded, praised, but definitely not with those reactions on this clip as they were listening to a young Withney Houston for the first time.

 

Her case makes me think to Andrea Bocelli. A nice voice, nothing special, that became in one day the star of a similar (even if much less publicized) TV program in Italy about 15 years ago, and shortly after a HUGE worldwide star, mainly because of him being blind.

If Bocelli wasn't blind of course he would have never become what he became.

 

The money machine begins to work immediately in the back as soon as these "bizarre" people appear in the market.

It is obvious to me that everything was accurately "prepared". Do you really believe that Simon and the other two were so "surprised" by her performance?...

Come on!

They (producers, organizers etc) knew perfectly how nice (I can not say spectacular!) her voice was and created the right atmosphere to make her an immediate Star.

The ugly ducking with a little swan inside makes people react.

 

And helping to prepare such a reaction makes people think how nice these shows are, how wonderful Simon and the others are, how blessed we are to witness that people love a beautiful voice and how fair we are to praise a pop/musical singer even if she doesn't look like one.

Bullshit!

People loved her because in their mind she is a freak. She is not supposed to have a nice voice and be part of the mechanism, but being a freak yes, she deserves that and she can be "admitted" to stardom.

 

Yes, she will be famous, she will definitely not be looked anymore as the ugly village dumb, she will become rich, most probably she will soon find many men who want to kiss her.

 

But for some reason I have a bit of a sad/bitter feeling about all this.