Do you feel depressed when flick through those glossy magazines carrying pictures of perfect women?
Don't lose hope girls, Susan Boyle has come to your rescue. Boyle has shaken the world, reminding it of the genuine meaning of the word beauty - it is more than skin deep.
In August 2008, Boyle applied for an audition for Britain's Got Talent, and was accepted after a preliminary audition. Boyle performed a rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables in the first round of the third series of Britain's Got Talent, which was watched by over 10 million viewers when it aired on 11 April 2009.This performance was widely reported, and tens of millions of people viewed a video of her singing on YouTube . Boyle was "absolutely gobsmacked" by the strength of this reaction.
Boyle is well aware that the audience on Britain's Got Talent was initially hostile to her because of her appearance, but she has refused to change her image:
“I know what they were thinking, but why should it matter as long as I can sing? It’s not a beauty contest.”
—Susan Boyle, The Sunday Times
The contrast between the audience's first impression of her when she appeared on stage compared to the ovation she received afterwards triggered global interest. Articles about her appeared in newspapers worldwide, while the numbers who watched videos of her audition have set an online record.Within nine days of her televised debut, videos of her audition, subsequent interviews of her, and her 1999 rendition of "Cry Me a River" had been viewed a combined total of over 100 million times on the Internet.As of 27 April, the number exceeds 170 million and continues to grow at a rate of 8 million a day.
Cowell is reported to be setting up a contract with Boyle with his Syco Music company label, a subsidiary of Sony Music.
Appearing on the stage of the TV show "Britain's Got Talent" on April 11, the 47 year old Scottish spinster looked like she would be a flop. She was chubby, had bushy eyebrows and scruffy hair. She obviously would never turn a single head on the street, which explained the cold reception she got when she walked on to the stage. The judges, Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden, as well as the crowd were ready to axe her from the contest. However, everything changed after Boyle started singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from "Les Miserables". The heavens opened and the crowds started to cheer as if they had just seen something spectacular. The crowd made a Uturn from its initial hostile reaction, and Holden was so impressed she gave Boyle a standing ovation."When you stood there with that cheeky grin and said, 'I want to be like Elaine Paige', everyone was laughing at you. No one is laughing now," confessed Morgan, who later said Boyle had made his day.Three weeks after Boyle's appearance on 'Britain's Got Talent', Boyle has become a global phenomenon. She was on CNN's Larry King Live and Good Morning America. A Google search of her name comes up with 22 million results and the most popular version of the rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" on YouTube has been viewed more than 49 million times. Unsurprisingly, the world is falling in love with Boyle. YouTube fans just can't seem to keep away. "I've watched this more than 100 times. Your voice is addicting! We need a CD!" read a comment on the videosharing website. Call it the "Susan effect", but world audiences have fallen for her and her addictive voice. From Argentina to Russia, from China to Thailand, everybody seems to be speaking the same language - Susan Boyle's language. She represents authentic beauty minus botox, chin surgery or even teeth whitening. And the secret of this beauty? She is comfortable under her skin, is full of life and has always kept her dream alive."She's sassy. She's got fire in her belly and she's got so much of courage and honesty," says Holden.With the world taking on this authentic beauty, the last thing her fans want to hear is that this "ugly" star has gone through a makeover. A fan on YouTube has even urged Boyle to keep her unruly eyebrows. "I won't let her go to Simon Cowell's dentist and I'd like her to stay exactly the same. That's why we fell in love with her," said Holden, who obviously senses that the public want Boyle the way she is.Unsurprisingly, Boyle's visit to the salon made it to the headlines last week. She was reportedly getting a haircut, semipermanent colour rinse and having her eyebrows shaped. However, her brother John reassured everyone that it was nothing like a makeover. "She's still the same Susan," he said.
It's almost as if in response to her "I Dreamed a Dream", the fans are singing Billy Joel's love song "Just the Way You Are".Hopefully, Boyle has heard these voices from across world and will not surrender to anything stylish. She is such an inspiration not only for her strong determination to become a singer but also her confidence. She is unarguably a winner, without the need for a title from "Britain's Got Talent". She entered the showbiz world at a time when everyone is so confused about the definition of beauty. Beauty has been so dependent on the plastic surgeon's knife that there is almost no room for anybody who falls short of the stereotypical beauty in the popular media.As the judges later admitted, it was a "lesson learned by the three of us", the world has also realised that it should not "judge a book by its cover".
Thanks to Susan Boyle, we can now liberate ourselves from the manufactured concepts of beauty. Next time you look at the mirror, ask yourself if you something that is as beautiful as what Boyle sees when she stares at the mirror?
A MUST-WATCH VIDEO!!! SUSAN HURRAY!!! GAMBATTE!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY
