The Susan Boyle phenomenon continues to fascinate. I think there are some clear reasons why. 1. Read the full post.
Apr 17
2009
03:54 PM ET
5 reasons why Susan Boyle is different from your usual overnight sensation
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The Pet Shop Boys revel in artifice? Since when does reflecting on aesthetics equal being fake? For me their music is extremely authentic, and they speak much closer to my heart and reality than Bruce Springsteen (who I like fine) does.
You hit the nail on the head on this article. Kudos to your good balanced analysis.
I am one of the millions that saw Miss Boyle on the internet and she brought tears to my eyes. The cameras kept giving us the audience’s facial expressions that really showed us how little they thought of her based on appearance, but when she sang the expressions and the standing ovation told the whole story. What a great story it is and I hope to see her again blowing audiences out of the water.
Wow someone who can actually sing,is not 20years old and half naked,with a personality too!I hope she wins.
She touches us partly because the woman actually developed her talent instead of sashaying up to a mike one day and thinking she’d become a superstar just because she had a good voice. In one of her interviews she said she had nearly 100 singing lessons in her 30s. That had to be one of the places she learned her beautiful posture and gestures that so well complement her magnificent voice. Without being all that conscious of it, we feel and react to the skill that underlies the raw talent. And why doesn’t someone in the media track down that gifted music teacher??? We all stand on the shoulders of the giants who taught us, and I’d like to give that one a round of applause!
Paul Potts, and now Susan Boyle. Singers who actually sing. England apparently has more talent in these two than any one on American Idol.
Before you assume she is a one-note wonder, pull up the recently posted Cry Me A River which she did about ten years ago. It is even more heart stopping. Such a voice and such courage — I hope someone gives her a shot on the stage; she’s absolutely made for the theater.
Susan Boyle is a good singer but only “conservative” audience liked her style. I doubt that she can ever break out her current style to sing and dance like Madonna or Britney Spears. It takes a lot of training and courage to show more skin and to dance like having sex with an invisible man.
Susan is a beautiful person, inside and out and has given us a gift of inspiration. Why not just appreciate that and stop forecasting, judging, criticizing, and, instead, thank her, wish her the very best, and get on with trying to appreciate our own lives, and life in general.
did you fire Adam Markovitz yet? he is a moron…
Step back from the story and you’d have to say she sings pretty well but certainly not so well as to deserve the full press lionization she is getting. She is a plucky lady from Scottland and she sings pretty good when compared to most American Idol singers. Leave it at that.
Michael I am sure Susan Boyle will say she is definately NOT ENGLISH in anyway shape or form.
Scots yes and British yes, but Please Please do not insult a lady with a marvellous voice
People in their 40′s feel left out?? Have you SEEN the top grossing acts on tour lately? AC/DC, KISS, Metallica, Madonna. I feel bad for the youngsters that got “left out” and have to settle for lip synching manufactured pop icons. Thank God they have Guitar Hero to show them what real music is, notice where most of the songs for the most popular video game ever came from. As for Boyle, she can sing her rear off, how do YOU sing? Age and wisdom will allow you to understand what is real.
I’m as cynical as anyone, and I NEVER watch AI, but this performance was stunning. I think the I-can’t-believe-I’m-seeing-this out-of-nowhere quality of it is why this is such a huge deal right now. The real question is was this just a single jaw-dropping moment that can’t possibly be re-created (because now we’ll be expecting greatness) or is she really this good? If she can do more than nail one song to the floor, than she has a very nice career ahead of her, indeed.
Remember the wonderful Ella Fitzgerald? She got her start in a talent contest. In the beginning Chick Webb didn’t want her singing in his band because he didn’t think she was pretty enough. At the end, he couldn’t imagine the band without her.
Maybe Susan’s success will be a wake up song to all of us. Let’s go for real over studio artificial.