From www.popeater.com- By now you’ve heard of Susan Boyle, the dowdy Scot who dreamed a dream and woke up in the public eye after a rousing debut on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’, which of course led to YouTube stardom and countless morning show appearances around the globe.
When a nervous Boyle sauntered onto the ‘Talent’ stage in a simple dress and frazzled hair, the audience and judge Simon Cowell responded with a collective eye roll. But then she opened her mouth and out flowed ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ from the musical ‘Les Misérables.’ Cue the standing ovation.
The applause has been deafening and nonstop, with a new angle on the story emerging every day.
The original 7-minute clip, perfectly edited and resembling a short film about the ultimate ugly duckling, has so far been viewed about 40 million times on YouTube and shows no sign of slowing down. Since then, it’s been Boyle-a-palooza even in the United States, where the show doesn’t air.
The ever-savvy Cowell is ready to capitalize on the craze and sees gold dust in Boyle’s salt-and-pepper hair. “We will ship between three million and five million copies of a Susan Boyle album,” he told the New York Times this week.
The 47-year-old virgin said she was encouraged by her recently deceased mother to “take the risk” and audition for the show. The aftermath has vaulted her from complete obscurity to a world of record dealings and interviewer questions about her love life. “I’ve been for a meeting with Sony BMG, but I can’t say much about it,” she said this week. “It’s early days.”
She’s truly a phenomenon, but is it too much too soon for the formerly sheltered spinster? Maureen Callahan of the New York Post believes “there is something disturbing” about how quickly Boyle was elevated from talent show joke to heartily embraced star in the matter of minutes. Further, Callahan finds the whole “she’s a plain Jane, but boy what a voice!” narrative patronizing.
“It remains true that this clip, and Boyle’s rendition, would not be so compelling without the contradictions: the beautiful voice possessed by this defiantly unglamorous woman, who can somehow fully inhabit and interpret a love song without ever having been in love.”
In addition, Boyle’s presentation as a total unknown has come into question.
“The notion that Cowell was unaware of Boyle’s existence, let alone discordant looks and talent level, before she ever took the stage, is flatly ridiculous,” Callahan wrote.
Cowell is adamant on this rumor, saying “all I knew about her was a name on a sheet of paper. She came out and she looked a bit odd, and the dress looked odd. I gave her five seconds at most. But then she started singing, and within two seconds everything changed.”
The surly hit maker responsible for British heavies Leona Lewis and Paul Potts and, through his tutelage on ‘American Idol,’ stars like Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, is said to be in talks with Boyle to sign her to his company, Syco.
“Paul Potts sold five million,’ he told the Times. “I think there’s a chance we could double that.”
Callahan describes the whole Boyle saga as “the classic David vs. Goliath” story, with “the primal satisfaction of seeing the bully (Cowell) slain by such a seemingly inferior force.”
“And there is the profound desire for this entire thing to be authentic, which in and of itself suggests that it probably isn’t. Not since P.T. Barnum has there been a show business master of the trompe l’oeil like Simon Cowell.”