Susan Boyle!

[poohbcarrot]

On Sunday one of my students told me about Susan Boyle and said I had to watch her on youtube coz it brought a tear to his eye. I was busy so didn't watch.

Today my wife also told me about Susan Boyle, so we watched together. I then watched it another 3 times. I'm a hard-rocking indi-music fan, but even I found it pretty amazing

She is already MASSIVE in Japan!!

I'm sure you all know about her, but just in case (like me) you haven't seen the video here it is.

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

[Jan Van Quirm]

Love the attitude as well and it's really something to knock the sneer off Simon Cowell's cynical self-satisfied ugly mug so very quickly and publicly too!

[Batty]

The effect she had was partly due to her appearance. I would think that most people (me included) didn't have any great expectation of her giving a decent performance, and were then totally amazed and enthralled by her.

I hope she doesn't feel the need to change her appearance, as it's her voice that people should judge her by.

[chris.ph]

they had a link on the great dane forum so i gave it a look and i could see wot the fuss about , nearly brought a tear to my eye

[Jan Van Quirm]

That song has to be the biggest tear-jerker ever - and it's deceptively hard to sing as well.

When it's done well it's absolutely overwhelming - hairs standing up on the back of your neck, shivers the lot. I've heard a few really excellent actresses perform that live and she sings it as well as any of them. Give her a long-haired wig and a nightdress and she'd look the part too - without a makeover or even lippy

[Dotsie]

I hope she doesn't feel the need to change her appearance, as it's her voice that people should judge her by.

Whilst I completely agree with you in principle, a person needs "star quality" as well as talent - as Agnes Nitt found out in Maskerade

And really I don't think there's anything wrong with a woman making the best of herself, if she suddenly finds she is in the public eye and has the resources.

[Tiffany]

Susan Boyle has an amazing voice. I had tears in my eyes the first time I heard her sing, that song was a very difficult one to sing.
She has had over a million hits on Youtube & has appeared on American T.V.
She certainly showed them all, as even the audience seemed against her on the programme.
I hope she doesn't change her appearence too drastically either, but I hope she gets a better outfit for the next round.

[poohbcarrot]

She has had over a million hits on Youtube & has appeared on American T.V.

Sorry to correct you Tiff, but she's had over 87 million hits as of now!!

http://www.viralvideochart.com/

[Dotsie]

She does have a great voice, but lots of people do & they don't get as popular as her. The only reason she's being passed around like this is because of her looks - the same thing has happened before on these reality talent shows, & when the fuss dies down whoever the latest victim is ends up with nothing (anyone remember Rick Waller?). So she should have a makeover, if only to stop people oggling her like some kind of freak show, & hopefully postpone the day when TV execs drop her for the latest wierdo with a good voice.

Anyway, she doesn't even look that bad - the panel did all that eye-rolling & smirking to increase the impact. Of course they already know what the contestants will sound like, I very much doubt that standing in front of Simon Cowell et al is really the first stage in the screening process.

[Jan Van Quirm]

Course it isn't the first time - the 2 idiots (PJ & Duncan ) had obviously heard her already and Cowell said he'd thought straight away she'd be surprising - in other words he'd already at least heard her on the preliminary sifts at some stage...

Rick Waller, if he could get his self-pitying attitude sorted, could have a very 'good' career on the cruise ships or elsewhere if he wanted it. Paul Potts (the male equivalent of Susan) is making a decent enough living on recordings, so although they don't necessarily 'make it big-time' Pop Idol or BGT-type contestants can change their lives substantially if they've got the talent and determination.

Then there's the 'marketable' reality talent like Leona Lewis (or Jane MacDonald come to that as she stole The Cruise altogether), so I agree they have to have the 'raw' material and play the image-marketing game like mad and part of that's to do with looks and not the core talent (so pretty but bland Will Smith beat Rick and Gareth Gates on Pop Idol 1).

*Put's bitch-mode hat on* Susan's outfit I thought wasn't really that bad - the dress was fine if not exactly 'right' for her. What really made if naff was her dark tights and maybe the whacking great heels - the tights were actually the clinching chav factor (OMG - CHAV FACTOR! that's a reality show I could watch quite goggle-eyed ).

Next time she's on I'm betting Susan has had her eyebrows thinned out and been for a bloody good haircut if nothing else. Also - did anyone else have a look at the other YouTube vid on her singing 'Cry me a River'? Sung in 1999? Not quite plucked from complete obscurity is she...?

[cols]

Of course they already know what the contestants will sound like, I very much doubt that standing in front of Simon Cowell et al is really the first stage in the screening process.

If it's done anything like X factor there's a previous audition with a seperate panel of judges to determine wether or not to put you before the 'real' judges.
I have to say that this year I think they've sank to a new level as both this week (guy with football) and last week( girl twirling baton) they made a mockery of children. I don't think we're that desperate for entertainment that we need to see a young person paraded for ineptness

[Tonyblack]

Of course, fans of Opera would see nothing unusual in this. Opera singers are famous for their voices NOT their looks. But I'm also reminded of Agnes in Maskerade and I wonder if such a fuss would have been made of a Christine look-a-like singing like this.

Yes, Susan has a very good (if a little nasal) voice and I wish her the best for the future.

I think one of the most incredible things is the way her popularity has soared in a very short time due to the Internet. This sort of thing may not have been possible only a few years ago.

[Tiffany]

She has had over a million hits on Youtube & has appeared on American T.V.

Sorry to correct you Tiff, but she's had over 87 million hits as of now!!

http://www.viralvideochart.com/

Blooming Heck! Pooh! She really has touched the hearts of the World.

[chapelboys]

I watched this go out on ITV and i along with most others was sniggering about her wanting to be like elaine paige. It is incredible, and such talent deserves the exposure. Best of luck to her, i say

[Catch-up]

I loved watching that when it came out! I'm going to pretend Simon's reaction was genuine, because it was so worth it. I think that's a big factor in the number of hits it's gotten too.