"No one is laughing now" : Susan Boyle

[Liberal]

The latest Britain's Got Talent sensation, arising from out of nothing into inevitable stardom.



I love her. For so many reasons.

[Morgyn]

Heard about her on the way in to work this morning, listened to her when I got in. Cried in my chair.

WOW. Just ... wow.

[Sarahfeena]

Hey...beat you to it, Lib, a couple of days ago... :smile:

I love her, too. An amazing story.

[Liberal]

I'm so sorry, Sarahfeena. I searched for "Susan" on the index page, but that does not excuse what I did.

[Sarahfeena]

No worries, Lib...not a big deal at all. I should have titled it better, so people would read it. I want to spread the word about her far and wide!

[jali]

I get choked up just thinking about this lady. I'm so happy for her.

[tirial]

No worries, Lib...not a big deal at all. I should have titled it better, so people would read it. I want to spread the word about her far and wide!

Thanks to both of you for posting that. It was an absolutely wonderful performance, and she was so happy afterwards.

Not often you get to see Simon Cowell blown away.

[Clothahump]

I am not a fan of Les Mis by any stretch of the imagination.

But that was just incredible!!!

[annehere]

I just stumbled across this on cnn.com, and found the full clip on youtube. I cried, like, tears-streaming-down-my-face cried when I saw it.

That was the definition of triumph, in every way that you can imagine the word.

[Baldwin]

Well, what I could hear sounded like a great singing voice. Jesus Christ, why can't people shut the hell up when somebody's singing?

[phouka]

That was wonderful. Thanks, Lib, for putting a smile on my face.

[Liberal]

My pleasure. Truly.

[eleanorigby]

Well, what I could hear sounded like a great singing voice. Jesus Christ, why can't people shut the hell up when somebody's singing?

Exactly--I could barely hear her for the crowd. I think she has great potential and I hope she gets the attention she deserves. She's a class act--to be able to answer Simon back before singing the way she did and to hold it together in front of a hostile crowd and then to hold them in the palm of her hand and still hold it together--she's a wonder. Kudos to her.

[WhyNot]

*sniff* I heart her. I want to find her a boyfriend and a puppy (although Pebbles might not approve) and a pony. I want Simon to get her a record deal so I can buy her album. I want to be her.

[Hatshepsut]

Sniff. That was magnificent. That film clip should be required watching for the whole world.

[lust4life]

Wouldn't it be nice if a new magician or ventriloquist or juggler or firebreathing animal impersonator or someone was discovered ?

Its always the same old,same old,the world is full of pretty good singers or manufactured groups why cant we have something NEW for a change,something innovative?

I would say that not only has Britain not got very much in the way of talent but the English speaking world in general is sadly deficient in talent.

The predictable production line of show biz clones churning out stuff that wasn't even original three decades ago and it doesn't look like things are going to change soon.

And the judges are as unoriginal,unimaginative and lame as the acts themselves.


Sorry,now I've got that off of my chest I'll leave the room................

[Liberal]

A ventriloquist won the American version of the show a couple years ago. All acts of all kinds become tiresome if they become repetitive.

[phouka]

*sniff* I heart her. I want to find her a boyfriend and a puppy (although Pebbles might not approve) and a pony. I want Simon to get her a record deal so I can buy her album. I want to be her.

This.

This exactly.

I pulled out my Les Mis album, and I've been listening to it all this morning, thanks to her.

[Orual]

Dang. My eyes appear to be leaking.

[Johnny]

Wouldn't it be nice if a new magician or ventriloquist or juggler or firebreathing animal impersonator or someone was discovered ?

How about a fire-breathing animal juggler?

[Rigamarole]

Meh. She only got such a good reaction because everybody was expecting her to suck, and she defied that expectation. Her singing voice is pretty good, but I'm still not getting a hard-on. Objectively, if I just heard that singing without all the emotional bullshit in the clip I wouldn't care for it at all.

[Harlequin]

Wouldn't it be nice if a new magician or ventriloquist or juggler or firebreathing animal impersonator or someone was discovered ?

A previous edition of Britain's Got Talent discovered a ventriloquist impersonator. That original enough for you?

And yes, Susan Boyle is amazing.

[Liberal]

That was the American, not the British, version. Guy named Terry Fator.

[Harlequin]

No, it was the British. Guy named Damon Scott. I meant someone who impersonates a ventriloquist, not a ventriloquist who's also an impersonator.

[ivan astikov]

Susan Boyle certainly illustrates the adage that you can never judge a book by its cover.

I'm no expert on the technical aspects of singing, but to these ears she did a perfect job of what a singer is meant to do, and that is move the listener.

An amazing voice and a lady seemingly well deserving of any fame and fortune she will get.

[Liberal]

She only got such a good reaction because everybody was expecting her to suck, and she defied that expectation.

Your post was a damn good effort, all things considered. Bravo to you, sir! I stand and I weep.

[Liberal]

No, it was the British. Guy named Damon Scott. I meant someone who impersonates a ventriloquist, not a ventriloquist who's also an impersonator.

How cool is that! Certainly the theory that only singers surface is dashed to the bone!

[longhair75]

This has happened before.

Paul, the cellphone salesman sings Nessun Dorma

[Shirley Ujest]

Because of the intarwebs, I heard of Susan Boyle about 24 hours before the rest of my world. I sent the youtube linkage to everyone I know and everyone was in awe of her voice.

I hope she wins and gets rainbows and ponies and magic waterfalls every day the rest of her life. Some unknown with a voice like that is just what we need to cheer for.

[Petrobey]

Because of the intarwebs, I heard of Susan Boyle about 24 hours before the rest of my world.

And anyone in the media knew about her before that.

Brilliant TV, but stage-managed from start to finish.

[lust4life]

Wouldn't it be nice if a new magician or ventriloquist or juggler or firebreathing animal impersonator or someone was discovered ?

A previous edition of Britain's Got Talent discovered a ventriloquist impersonator. That original enough for you?

And yes, Susan Boyle is amazing.

Yes it is,but two points ......................

How many singers or manufactured groups did we have before and after that one off?

And why haven't I heard of him, when because of hype alone I am familiar with such average talents(putting it kindly)as Will Young and Girls Aloud ?

My two examples won t.V. talent contests years ago and are still going strong and yet we get someone as truly original as your example who wins and then apperantly slide back into relative obscurity.
My point is lets not have an original but maverick winner once every blue moon but lets seriously go out to find groundbreaking and genuinly talented acts every week if we can.
I realise appealing to the lowest common denominator is synonymus with high viewing figures as far as most media companys are concerned and familiarity is one of the components of the LCD but look at say Monty Python for example,when they first aired their stuff it was completely out of the box but love them or hate them they became a multi million,multi media ,global phenononem and to an extent still are.

My arguments aren't against Susan Boyle,cosensus is that shes an amazing person and an amazing talent and theres no dissent from my quarter,its just a pity that we cant seem to find many other amazing talents outside of the tired old vocal genre.

[WhyNot]

Note to the cynics: a woman's fucking dream just came true. Doesn't matter if it was stage managed (it was) or manipulative television (it certainly was) or if her voice isn't the best ever (it's actually a perfectly acceptable touring company musical theater voice) or if you couldn't hear it over the roar of the crowd. What I was privileged to watch was someone's literal lifelong ambition come true. Doesn't matter if she wins, if she gets a record deal, if she gets her first kiss or not. Her dream, to sing in front of a large audience (and be acclaimed for it) just came true and that's bloody fantastic. How often do you get to see that nearly as it happens? First time for me, and that's pretty bloody fantastic, too.

And seeing Simon fucking Cowell humbled and also genuinely delighted on someone else's behalf was delightful, as well. The man really is quite attractive when he smiles like that. He should do that more.

[Petrobey]

Note to the cynics: a woman's fucking dream just came true.

I really hope so, and sorry, I didn't mean to come across so cynically. When I first saw this it brought a tear to my eye (I'm a sap really).

If she's genuine, and I have no reason to think otherwise, I worry about the amount of manipulation that has / is going to go on around her.

[Harlequin]

lust4life, I actually agree with you. It would be nice to see original acts take off, but I doubt the market will ever let them. Ventriloquist impersonation, to use my example, lends itself very badly for Spotify, if you know what I mean. Music is a known quantity with several avenues for revenue generation while someone like Damon Scott can really only work on a stage. You've got your magicians and your acrobats but they never become as big as Britney Spears, no matter what.

WhyNot: You said it, dude. Or chick.

[WhyNot]

WhyNot: You said it, dude. Or chick.

I tend to use dude as a gender neutral same as "guys" is a plural gender neutral. But according to my mother and husband, I'm of the female persuasion. :wink:

[Johnny]

But according to my mother and husband...

Not the same person, I hope!

[Tool of the Conspiracy]

Wouldn't it be nice if a new magician or ventriloquist or juggler or firebreathing animal impersonator or someone was discovered ?

How about a fire-breathing animal juggler?

Or a juggler of flaming kittens?

[featherlou]

Note to the cynics: a woman's fucking dream just came true. Doesn't matter if it was stage managed (it was) or manipulative television (it certainly was) or if her voice isn't the best ever (it's actually a perfectly acceptable touring company musical theater voice) or if you couldn't hear it over the roar of the crowd. What I was privileged to watch was someone's literal lifelong ambition come true. Doesn't matter if she wins, if she gets a record deal, if she gets her first kiss or not. Her dream, to sing in front of a large audience (and be acclaimed for it) just came true and that's bloody fantastic. How often do you get to see that nearly as it happens? First time for me, and that's pretty bloody fantastic, too.

And seeing Simon fucking Cowell humbled and also genuinely delighted on someone else's behalf was delightful, as well. The man really is quite attractive when he smiles like that. He should do that more.

Exactly. Anything else that happens now is gravy - I agree with you, I was privileged to watch that. And Simon should smile more.

[vison]

Made me cry. Lovely voice, sweet lady.

[ivan astikov]

Wouldn't it be nice if a new magician or ventriloquist or juggler or firebreathing animal impersonator or someone was discovered ?

How about a fire-breathing animal juggler?

Or a juggler of flaming kittens?

A flaming kitten, duck and a hedgehog would be really impressive.

[phouka]

I just showed the clip to my mom. She, of course, loved it. I think her favorite part was the judges' reactions after the first phrase was sung.

[Liberal]

This has happened before.

Paul, the cellphone salesman sings Nessun Dorma

Paul Potts was similar, longhair. But not the same. He had a fairly normal life. Married and everything. Our precious Susan Boyle has never been kissed. I would be honored to be the first man to kiss her, if I weren't married. She is a wonderful, wonderful woman with a personality that Potts just doesn't match. I especially admire that there is no false modesty or humility. "I'm gonna rock that audience!" she declared.

[Liberal]

I just showed the clip to my mom. She, of course, loved it. I think her favorite part was the judges' reactions after the first phrase was sung.

Simon's reaction alone was priceless! And I thought his thing at the end was cool too. The way he said that he knew she'd be extraordinary from the moment she walked on stage. And the way he told her to hold her head high when she returned to her village with three yeses. And I liked Amanda Holden's observation that this was the ultimate wake-up call, and that listening to Susan had been a privilege.

[Starving Artist]

Ten years ago she recorded Cry Me A River for a charity CD. Check it out, you won't believe it.

[Liberal]

Ten years ago she recorded Cry Me A River for a charity CD. Check it out, you won't believe it.

Thank you for that!

This is going to sound really strange, and I couldn't put my finger on it until I heard this song, but her voice reminds me of the immortal and wonderful Patsy Cline.

[Shirley Ujest]

She has such an amazing voice, but I want to do a full scale intervention for her eyebrows. ( Is that wrong?)

[Johnny]

She's hoping they turn into butterflies.

[WhyNot]

This is going to sound really strange, and I couldn't put my finger on it until I heard this song, but her voice reminds me of the immortal and wonderful Patsy Cline.

I suspect her voice will remind you of many people before she finds her own. She has that classic trait of having learned to sing on her own: sounding like the recordings she learned from. That is not to denigrate her, it is amazing that she has done so well at it with only the direction of a church choir, but it does mean she is going to sound very different song from song. At this point, she is somewhere between true singer and mimic. If she does an album, I am sure they will find her a voice coach to coax her into finding her own voice.

[Sarahfeena]

It's interesting, because her rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" sounds very much like the one from the Dreamcast concert performance they did for Les Miz's 10th anniversary. Can't think of the woman's name who played Fantine in that, but Boyle sounds just like her singing that song. I thought the same thing you did, WhyNot, that her vocal "training" involved not much more than singing along to recorded music.

[Starving Artist]

It's interesting, because her rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" sounds very much like the one from the Dreamcast concert performance they did for Les Miz's 10th anniversary. Can't think of the woman's name who played Fantine in that, but Boyle sounds just like her singing that song. I thought the same thing you did, WhyNot, that her vocal "training" involved not much more than singing along to recorded music.

The thing that sets her apart for me is her ability to make you 'feel' the song. She seems to have the ability to make you feel that she is singing from the heart and actually experiencing the emotions she's conveying through the song. That was Frank Sinatra's stock in trade and not very many singers truly have it. To me it is this unique quality that sets her apart and it is likely why her singing has been resonating so strongly with so many people even though she may not be perfect in a technical sense or that her singing may reflect the songs she learned from. Frankly, I get more emotion from her rendition of Cry Me A River than I do from Julie London's version, and I've loved Julie London's version for decades.