detail from "Sirens", Burne Jones, via Olga's Gallery
by Damozel | Amusingly, those who believe that only those who can claim to be "the total package" deserve fame or admiration, are shocked -- shocked I tell you! -- that 47 year old Susan Boyle managed to enchant the judges of the Britain's Got Talent and everyone on the internets with her amazing voice.
I love to hear media hairdos exclaiming over how "interesting" it is that even the likes of Simon Cowell and Piers Morgan know a remarkable talent when they hear it. "You look lovely Susan," burbles one of them because what higher praise has life to offer? (PS. I can't stand the song from Les Miserables she sings in the first clip, but if you scroll down after the jump, you can hear her unleash that voice on "Cry Me a River," a song that is worthy of it.) Lovely or un-, after years of caring for her late mother, and now that she's in her late forties, she's suddenly the gal everyone wants.
Katherine Thomson writes;
On Friday Vieira asked Boyle, who confessed to having "never been kissed" on "Britain's Got Talent," if there have been many male suitors trying to get her number.
Boyle laughed and gave a "no comment"....Meanwhile, Simon Cowell's fellow British judge Amanda Holden said Boyle would NOT be getting a makeover:
"She needs to stay exactly as she is because that's the reason we love her. She just looks like anybody who could live on your street.
"The minute we turn her into a glamour-puss is when it's spoilt. That can perhaps come later when she's signed the album deal and conquered America.
"For now we'll keep her exactly as she is because that's why we've all fallen in love with her. I think it's the underdog thing. It's somebody who's looked after her mother all her life."
Pretty is as pretty does! Only not in America's entertainment industry, or at least not for long. Speaking of the shallow end of the pool, Nora I-Feel-Bad-About-My-Neck Ephron writes, and I am afraid I must agree with one thing she says:
[T]he worst thing about Susan Boyle -- and there are several, but I'm going to deal with only one -- is that she sings that horrible song. That song is worse than all of Andrew Lloyd Webber, and it's worse than "It's A Small World After All." That song from Les Miserables that Susan Boyle sings is the all-time most horrible song ever in history....(HuffPost)
The part I agree with is the part about the horribleness of the song. Otherwise, I'd love to know what ol' Nora thinks are the other worst things about Susan Boyle. That she's getting away with not feeling bad about her neck, just because she can sing? One longs to know, mainly because a good cathartic burst of distilled disgust and outrage over Ephron's self-absorption and elitism would be so very therapeutic. Fortunately for those who wish Susan Boyle well, there is "CRY ME A RIVER", which you must, must, MUST hear now. This one goes out to Nora, who feels bad about her aging neck.
So it is with joy that I must report the comment of one rick91, whom I'd like to buy a drink:
One thing you're right about is that - yes - it WAS many years ago when you were young. And nowadays, apparently, you're acting like an ornery old coot.
That goes for you too, alethia:
It's certain people's reactions to her that are sickening...Even people who I formerly thought to be intelligent.
UPDATE. Robin Givhan thinks Boyle needs a "best-version-of-yourself" Tim-Gunn-or-Trinny-and-Suzanne sort of makeover. She wants her fairytale ending, dammit!
Some people argue that if Boyle gets a makeover, she will have lost the very characteristics that made folks love her, that made them believe that fairy tales can happen to ordinary people. Boyle has charmed millions, in part, because she comes across as unpretentious and pleasant. But she's hardly Everywoman. She's an odd duck, a bit of a loner. She's a character. And she's living out a fairy tale.
Transformation is always part of a good story. Cinderella didn't go to the ball in hand-me-downs. She went looking her best in a glorious gown and won the heart of the prince. The ugly duckling becomes a swan.
The tale of Susan Boyle will not be complete until the shy spinster blossoms. Those who have been entranced by her story so far should let Boyle's fairy godmother finish her work.
Givhan says that she's talking about a Tim-Gunn-Trinny-and-Suzanne "What Not to Wear" sort of makeover. I don't see why not if Boyle wants it. But I don't think it's compulsory. I kind of liked the way that Jack Black/Gwyneth Paltrow film Shallow Hal ended: with Hal content to go from literally seeing the beauty within to seeing the beauty within. Oh, and the same with Shrek. There are qualities other than beauty that matter and Boyle seems to be shine in those far more than some of her self-appointed critics.
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