Appearances are almost always the yea or nay in the somewhat vacuous entertainment industry, and Susan Boyle's initial impression on the judges and audience of Britain's Got Talent was no exception. But she surprised everyone with her voice.
Simon rolled his eyes, Piers knit his eyebrows together in disbelief, Amanda leaned back in her chair and propped her head up with her hands, almost in surrender. The audience laughed, hooted and whistled, Simon blew out some air and the signal was sent to the audio crew to start the song.
When Susan Boyle started singing, Simon's eyebrows shot up so high and so hard they almost hit his hairline, Amanda's mouth dropped and she broke into a really goofy "Oh my God" grin, and Piers joined the audience who had erupted into applause, and smiled like never before. Simon even broke into one of the biggest, widest and whitest smiles I've seen in a very long time. The crowd continued to clap and roar throughout her performance and were all on their feet at its conclusion.
The 47-year-old sang "I Dreamed A Dream", from Les Misérables, one of the more poignant and soaring songs from the huge musical stage hit. Poignant and soaring it was when Boyle sang it. Here is a link to the song on
YouTube, go watch it, it is an incredible performance.
After her performance was over, Piers Morgan said she was "
the biggest surprise in three years on this show" and praised her "
stunning, an incredible performance", all while trying to pick himself up off the floor.
Amanda said "
I know that everybody was against you, I honestly think that we were all being very cynical and I think that is the biggest wakeup call ever." She then said that it had been a real "privilege and honour" to hear her sing.
Simon, of course, was Simon. "
I knew the minute you walked out on that stage that we were going to hear something extraordinary and I was right." Cocky, even in defeat.
Susan told the
Daily Mirror that she used singing as a comfort to insulate herself from bullying.
I was born with a disability and that made me a target for bullies. I was called names because of my fuzzy hair and because I struggled in class.
I told the teachers, but because it was more verbal than physical I could never prove anything. But words often hurt more than cuts and bruises and the scars are still there.
Susan Boyle proved that appearances can be extremely deceiving and as of today, she is the odds on favorite to win it all on the 3rd season of Britain's Got Talent. Good on 'er.
