If Susan was average looking, she would have been judged as ok and probably wouldn’t have made it to the audition round in front of Simon and the others. See, these reality shows are for entertaining. Not so much finding phenomenal talent. People who look the part and sing the part get rejected from these types of shows all the time. WHY? Because they have no story. If you don’t have a story behind you, even if you sound like heaven on earth, you will not make it to the second round.

Paul Potts (and del_ was truthful on that) was technically a mess. However, he did have a good instrument. His gimmick was that he looked "different", and who would think a guy like him would sing opera. In the real world, if he had gone on a real opera audition or competition for classical music (even with a small company), where all types of supposed "unattractive" singers but incredible on stage sing every year, he would have been crucified. But, that wasn’t his medium. People who aren’t opera buffs were amazed. And I must say, I don’t blame him for riding the wave. Who would turn that down?

Susan, to me, in a better place than Paul Potts. She seems more comfortable with her instrument. I could actually see her doing musical theatre and doing well AFTER training. It wouldn’t take as much work. Now, is she amazing? No. There are unattractive people out there that I am sure sing better, but they didn’t have the courage to do what she did. And that is what I give her props for. But these TV shows prostitute people’s adversity sometimes. But again, I am not mad at Susan. If I were her, I would ride the fame to my advantage too.

I’m not a talent reality show fan. I am still confused as to how Paula’s non singing self can judge a singing competition. Dancing, yes. Singing, no. She is just there as entertainment, and people aren’t bright enough to know it. It baffles me that people don’t understand that. If they were looking to judge singers fairly vocally, she would be the LAST person on the panel. These shows are for entertainment purposes only. Even if it eventually helps a singer, the industry is out there to entertain…not so much embrace a real phenomenon.

I can’t be upset at the "normal" people. I get upset at the behind the scenes judges (the preliminary judges) who let great singers slip by because their lives are too BORING. If I were to audition (which will be a cold chance in hell), I would milk a poor me story, wear some ghetto attire, and blow them away once I opened my mouth. That way, I know I would get through the finals. I know with how I usually dress to perform and speak proper english, I would never make it through because I would be too boring. lol
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I think maybe she could appeal particularly to those singers who are either middle aged, unfortunate looking or mediocre. The whole thing with her is people think to themselves "See shes fugly yet she doesnt care and she is good." I dont think there is a problem with that.

Anyway, for what she is singing she does well. If she ever sang opera I would hurl. Thank god this hasnt been shown on TV here in Australia!

Paul Potts… I recall that he went onto the Oprah Winfrey Show! I think this shows how little Oprah knows about music. How anyone in their right-mind could consider him to be one of the greatest tenors of our time is beyond me. (Wasnt Pavarotti still alive then?)

Have you read Chart Throb? If not I suggest you do, it gives great "insight" into the world of reality TV. Whether or not it is true, you can decide, but it is entertaining and does make you think of the "reality" of these shows.

Cheers!
MLL
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The whole point of such entertainment programs, is to have idiots get up on stage and expose their total lack of talent; so that then everyone can laugh at them; the whole thing is a charade.

How much more cravenly gross and sick, can the culture of "media-entertainment" become: God, perish the thought.

You couldn’t pay me enough to witness such garbage; having seen brief glimpses of the program before, I only watched this particular video as a news item.

Alberich
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I’ve heard Susan Boyle’s name, and my mother thinks she gives a very moving performance. I’m sure I’ll be fine living the rest of my life without hearing her sing.
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"Nothing" is my answer. She sounds fine for a 48 year-old woman. I think the phenomenon was the result of a chain of events. 1. She’s not a particularly handsome woman. 2. She had the presence of mind to banter with the "judges" (at their low-brow level) as she was introduced. 3. The Karaoke-Reverb guy was on his game while she sang. 4. Not bad intonation, reasonable breathing and support of her voice.

Potts was better, but (for good or ill) presented over-used tenor repertoire.
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But you asked what is it about her that is catching people’s imagination. I must say… It isn’t all about ‘if she did the greatest rendition of the song’ or even about ‘if her rendition among the best you’ve ever heard of the song’. It is that she got out there and stood her ground… refusing to be cowed by the laughter and skepticism on everyone’s face. And she delivered the goods.

So, the fuss is more from the ‘wake up call’ most of us get watching it happened, having thought that she’d be terrible and would get shredded by Cowell and the other judges… humiliated and ‘put in her place’, if you will. It isn’t just the singing they are applauding, but the courage to go out and to perform that well to begin with. Most people who have faced repeated rejections for that long and with that look wouldn’t even still be trying to make it as a singer in the first place.

I’m glad she’s getting a lot of publicity, actually. Perhaps this will go some way into convincing young lasses that they don’t have to look like a model and starve themselves (or become bulimic) in order to be appreciated. They can just be who they are and if they’re good at what they do then people will accept them…. hopefully. Sometimes it is ‘humanity’ that people want to see rather than technical mastery.

As to the authenticity of shows like this… I don’t think it hurts the real classical artists or the classical music industry any to have more portals of entry for potential new audiences. Lack of publicity and lack of relatability to younger folks hurt classical music and opera a lot more than cross-over singers and shows do, imho.
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I hated the Paul Potts thing. I admire a lot of things about Simon Callow (we share a brutal honesty and grumpiness which makes me relate to him strongly), including, in most cases, his artistic judgment. However, like many in the ‘popular’ music world, he (and the others on such panels) is still suckered by the wannabee opera singers. Paul Potts was mediocre at best and was pretending to be an operatic tenor. That’s why I hated it. How many more Russell Watsons and Andrew Bocellisms can we take? Susan Boyle, however, sang the right song in the right genre for her – a song from a musical (one of the good ones, more to the point). I do not exaggerate when I say that I could hear in her something of the Elaine Page quality for that kind of music.

Yes, I believe that with some training, Susan Boyle COULD become a very good singer in that style of music. As long as they don’t try to get her to sing opera – that would be a HUGE mistake and she’d then lose my vote completely. There – that’s MY neck on the line! Chop away!

Edit: and why ‘no offense’? Don’t be afraid to speak your mind. There’s always somebody somewhere who will take offense at anything – for some it’s a vocation. But … no-one ever died of being offended. Never bothered me, did it?
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