Susan Boyle

by John McShane

  Now Susan was to join that company when she was mentioned in an episode called ‘Springfield’s Got Talent’. Homer Simpson tells a Simon Cowell-type character, who is questioning him, ‘My name is Homer Simpson, I’m 39 and, well, I’ve never been kissed.’ He adds, ‘My dream is to become a great singer like Susan Boyle.’ Unlike Susan, poor Homer was doomed to fail and his attempts at singing were met with a chorus of boos.

  There was no booing to be heard back in the real world, however. By the end of that first week, six days after her first appearance, more than 26 million people had seen the YouTube clip, with the number jumping from 1 million to 5.5 million in just one 24-hour period alone at the start of the week, making it the most watched video on the site globally that week. During the week Susan gave over 60 interviews. There were a couple of places where she wasn’t making comments on the events of that crazy week, however: Susan didn’t have a Facebook account and as for Twitter – well, she’d never heard of it!

  CHAPTER SIX

  A WEE MAKEOVER

  She might have the ‘Voice of an Angel’, but it would be extremely naïve if not totally inaccurate to attribute Susan’s fame to that alone. It was also her appearance that had captivated the world. The contrast between a voice of such sweetness and purity and an appearance which had led her to be cruelly dubbed ‘The Hairy Monster’ was immense. And it would be hypocritical to pretend that this gulf between the two was not a key factor – if not the major element – in the interest she was generating.

  So, what was the last thing she should do? Everyone seemed to agree that her appearance, while eyebrow-raising in the extreme, was one of her ‘selling points’ and that it should not be altered. Indeed, it was Susan herself who said, ‘I know what they [the judges] were thinking but why should it matter as long as I can sing? It’s not a beauty contest. Maybe I’ll consider a makeover later on. For now I’m happy the way I am – short and plump. I would not go in for Botox or anything like that. I’m content with the way I look. What’s wrong with looking like Susan Boyle? What’s the matter with that?’

  She added, ‘I wouldn’t want to change myself too much because that would really make things a bit false. I want to receive people as the real me, a real person.’

  That curly hair, which looked unkempt at the famous audition, had been frizzy at school, one of the reasons for the bullying she received as a child. But it was part of her totally natural image. So was the dress she wore. She had chosen it a year earlier when she was a guest at her nephew Alan’s wedding. Her niece Jacqueline Houston said, ‘When she came on screen, I shouted, “That’s the dress she got for my brother’s wedding!” It must be her favourite dress – or “frock” as she would call it. It’s typical of her thrifty nature.’

  As the number of viewings of videos relating to Susan hit 100 million, Susan decided to do what so many had advised her not to – she had a makeover.

  All those aforementioned BGT judges had said she should remain the same, Amanda Holden even going so far as to maintain, ‘I won’t let Simon make her go to his dentist. And I certainly won’t be letting her go to his hairdresser. I think that she needs to stay exactly as she is. 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 spoiled.’

  The change, when it came, made headlines around the world. But, being Susan, this was not the kind of makeover seen on television: money no object, designer clothes, the trendiest hairdresser, the most expensive make-up. No, none of that for Susan. Ten days after the first Britain’s Got Talent broadcast she was spotted near her home in a brightly coloured patterned dress and leather jacket after admitting: ‘I will need to sort out my dress sense and my weight. It wasn’t until I saw myself on TV that I realised how frumpy I was. It’s not a big thing, but I will be doing a bit more exercise. When there is this much attention on you, you have to plan what you wear every day and look your best. I just want to look nice and smart.’

  If that was not a serious change in its own right, there was more to come. As one headline writer wittily put it, as a play on words of the Van Morrison classic ‘Brown Eyed Girl’, ‘Tonight Simon, I’m Singing “Brown Dyed Girl”.’ Susan had her hair not only styled but dyed, too. The grey hair was replaced with a deep brown colour and the entire treatment cost a mere £35. Mind you, she also paid £5 to have those eyebrows trimmed as well.

  There are many famous and fashionable salons that she could have gone to for the revamp – perhaps a surreptitious visit to a smart unisex salon after the regular customers had left, or one with the full attendant publicity? Instead Susan went chestnut at the previously little, if not completely, unknown ‘Miss Toner’ salon in Whitburn, near Blackburn, West Lothian, just south of the M8 motorway.

  Not, perhaps, the most famous hairdressers in the world but good enough for Susan who did not want to even travel to Glasgow let alone London, and it was there that 45-year-old hairdresser Caroline Boyle, no relation, carried out the transformation.

  She dyed and then cut Susan’s hair before setting to work with straightening irons. Susan, who also had a facial, left the shop after being there for one and half hours and raced to a relative’s car before being driven off.

  A friend said, ‘Susan went for a chestnut colour. Her hairdresser did not want to make any huge changes and said she’d prefer to work with what Susan has already got. She was in the shop on Tuesday to get her eyebrows done and was just the same as always. She’s not changed at all.’ Another local added, ‘It’s really good that Susan decided to keep using this place. She has a wonderful talent – but it’s fabulous to see that she’s still so down-to-earth. She just had a wee makeover. She’ll never go all Hollywood on us.’

  Caroline Boyle described it as a ‘collective decision’ between Susan, her family and the stylist to give her a new look. ‘We decided to change her a lot was not a good idea – you know she’s charming as she is – so we just trimmed it a little and put a little colour in, to take away the grey. I think the papers like to sell papers, so they say some horrible things, but it’s not nice for her family to read those kinds of things, so I think that’s why she had a wee, mini makeover – just to make her look her best, rather than change her.’

  She went on to say that Susan enjoyed whiling away an afternoon at the salon. ‘She was very relaxed and she commented that it was the most relaxed she had felt in a few days, so she just sat in the chair and enjoyed the chat, and enjoyed the wee transformation.’

  The hairdresser said the locals knew of Susan’s singing talent but had been ‘blown away’ by her newfound fame, and commented, ‘I don’t think there was a dry eye in Scotland when she sang.’

  Although at one stage Susan covered her hair with a scarf, the news was out – and it made newspaper and television headlines throughout the world: SuBo has had her hair done.

  London’s Evening Standard worried in a leader on the opinion pages: ‘Oh no! She has only gone and had her hair done…Susan Boyle was at the centre of controversy today after paying £35 for a hairdo…It is a risky ploy for Ms Boyle, whose winning formula appeared to be based on her angelic voice and, what might kindly be put, her “organic” presentation.’

  Another London paper said: ‘She defied judges and showed off a new look and revamped wardrobe. She had her grey hair cut and coloured for £35 and her eyebrows reshaped for £5 at the Miss Toner salon in West Lothian. Despite concerns her new look would upset the judges, a show spokeswoman said: “Susan’s a grown woman and can do what she likes.”’

  There was more to come. The transformation was not complete and soon Susan was spotted wearing a short, £16 imitation leather Primark jacket and a Burberry-style scarf, almost certainly not the real thing, when she was out and about. She also wore beige trousers and had a pair of slender spectacles on. There was even some foundation applied to her face and neck. This was big news.

  The S
cottish Daily Record said: ‘Fans of Susan Boyle will do a double take when they see these pictures. She swore she didn’t want a makeover, but two weeks is a long time in showbiz. Susan has undergone a remarkable trans formation. First, the hair. Gone are the grey locks, replaced by a new chestnut brown, contemporary style. Next, the eyebrows. Skilfully shaped by waxing, they have changed the look of her face. Foundation and powder have taken the redness from her cheeks, giving her a more youthful look. Finally, she’s ditched frumpy skirts for wide leg trousers and shirt, designer scarf, leopard print high heels and leather jacket. The overall effect is a younger, slimmer Susan with a look to match her voice.’

  The Scotsman enthused: ‘Draped in dowdy clothes, with hair askew and eyebrows like plump caterpillars, it was the contrast between Susan Boyle’s unconventional look and her sublime voice that wowed the world. But now, as stardom beckons, the middle-aged spinster has spun a new style.

  ‘In a makeover, the Britain’s Got Talent contestant – who has attracted more than 100 million hits on YouTube – has exchanged the matronly flats for striking heels, cast off the cardigan for a trendy black leather jacket and dyed her grey hair chestnut brown. The eyebrows have been trimmed and tamed with the whole ensemble set off with the addition of a Burberry-style checked scarf. The 47-year-old’s greying hair and plain attire have been the subject of intense debate across the country since her spine-tingling performance of “I Dreamed A Dream” earlier this month.’

  Not everyone was pleased with the change, it said. ‘It was reported that the makeover has caused consternation behind the scenes with sources on the show said to be “frantic”, as they wanted to preserve her unique looks for the live finals.

  ‘The contrast between Boyle’s unkempt appearance and angelic singing voice is said by many to be the key to her meteoric rise to international fame. A neighbour said: “The TV folk might not like what she’s done with herself. She looks really nice – nothing like the image that’s had the whole world talking about her.”

  ‘One expert commented: “The shade of her hair could have been a bit warmer and the cut hasn’t changed. Also, she has had far too much of her eyebrows plucked. If her clothes were that little bit softer, a bit more tailored, it would make a big difference. Having said that, it is obvious she has become much more aware of her image, and is trying to do something with it.”’

  The Northern Echo also had its say: ‘After a fortnight in which discussion of her looks has occupied as much newsprint and internet bandwidth as the Budget, singing sensation Susan Boyle appears to have caved in and undergone a makeover. The 47-year-old’s greying hair and plain clothes have been the subject of intense debate across the country since her spine-tingling performance of ‘I Dreamed A Dream’, on Britain’s Got Talent, but yesterday she was spotted outside her home in Blackburn, West Lothian, with chestnut brown locks and wearing a leather jacket. She also appeared to have had her bushy eyebrows trimmed.’

  The Daily Express felt the change was so important it merited an item on the leader page: ‘If Susan Boyle continues like this – kitten heels, new hair-dos, vampish lipstick – she won’t be Susan Boyle any longer. It was her natural looks and honest demeanour as much as her voice that brought her fame. Her agent should remember what helped make her a star.’

  In a separate piece, the paper also said:

  ‘Susan Boyle’s makeover will be an inspiration to many women because it is not only effective but remarkably cheap, proving you do not need a celebrity-style income to look good. Expect weight loss to follow and a diet book after that. Providing Susan does not let it all go to her head she has a career not just as a singer but as a beauty and fitness adviser, too. Good luck to her because she will need every ounce of that down-to-earth approach to survive the coming whirlwind.’ The writer of those comments was Ann Widdecombe, the larger-than-life MP.

  This being Susan Boyle, soon the news had travelled the world. And the debate as to whether she should have ‘upgraded’ herself was as fierce globally as it was in London or Scotland.

  The Sydney Daily Telegraph – based 10,500 miles from Susan’s home town – said: ‘Singing sensation Susan Boyle last night revealed her new look – having ditched the dowdy appearance that helped make her an international phenomenon.

  ‘The 47-year-old Scottish spinster – who has famously “never been kissed” – had her greying, frizzy hair dyed chestnut brown and styled… And instead of the old-fashioned dress she wore on the TV show Britain’s Got Talent, Boyle was photographed wearing a stylish black leather jacket with what looked to be a Burberry scarf.

  ‘In yet another sign she was raising her game in the style stakes, the reality TV contestant was wearing make-up and high heels. And Boyle – who was dubbed the “hairy angel” – had also had her bushy eyebrows plucked as well as a facial to brighten her skin. The makeover was revealed as she emerged from her home – where she lives with her cat – in Blackburn, Scotland.

  ‘But her new look has caused consternation behind the scenes with sources on the show said to be “frantic”, as they wanted to preserve her unique looks for the live finals next month.’

  That most cosmopolitan and energetic of cities, New York, wasn’t immune to the SuBo effect either.

  ‘Frumpy singing sensation Susan Boyle has once again shocked Great Britain – this time by swapping her homely gray-haired look for a salon makeover,’ the New York Post reported.

  ‘The Plain Jane singer has cut her bird’s nest hair short and dyed it brown, along with getting a facial and plucking her beefy, mannish eyebrows. The new look made Boyle – who claims she has never been kissed – look more like her age of 48, rather than a washed-up old spinster. But the sudden styling has dismayed the producers of Britain’s Got Talent, the TV show on which she made her stunning star turn earlier this month. They fear she may lose fans if she gives up her ugly-duckling image for a pop-star look.’

  New Yorkers wanted to read and see everything they could about Susan, and the same applied to Californians. The Los Angeles Times asked:

  ‘What’s next, a fake tan? Britain is buzzing over singing sensation Susan Boyle’s mini-makeover, with some worrying that her new look may cost her some support in the Britain’s Got Talent competition that catapulted her to international stardom.

  ‘Boyle, 47, became an instant YouTube and internet celebrity after appearing on the British TV show with grey, frizzy hair, bushy eyebrows and a jowly face above a remarkably unflattering dress. The contrast between Boyle’s unadorned looks and her angelic singing voice endeared her to viewers the world over.

  ‘But Boyle has now appeared sporting freshly dyed and styled brown locks and newly shaped eyebrows.

  ‘Though no one could accuse Boyle of turning into a WAG – as the highly stylized wives and girlfriends of England’s wealthy athletes are called – the difference was shocking.’

  The Detroit Free Press, based in the ‘motor city’, said: ‘A well-known ugly duckling is getting some help becoming a swan. Susan Boyle became an international sensation when her recent appearance on Britain’s Got Talent hit YouTube. The most polite term applied to her appearance was “unconventional”, so it was hardly surprising that she emerged with a new look Friday.

  ‘Her once grey hair is now brown and her thick eyebrows are considerably thinner. The frock she wore for her audition was replaced Friday with a more flattering ensemble that included a leather jacket.

  ‘A prominent British publicist, Max Clifford, isn’t a fan of the new Boyle. “Keep her as natural as possible for as long as possible,” he says. “She has to make sure that the person people all around the world fell in love with remains the same.”’

  A Canadian paper had the headline, ‘Whether she should have or shouldn’t have, she did’, and everyone immediately knew who they were talking about. ‘Susan Boyle has dyed and cut her frizzy, greying locks and thinned her famous bushy eyebrows, a US$57 sprucing up that has become huge news in Britain.

 
‘On Wednesday, with the blinds pulled down at the Miss Toner salon to give the unlikely global celebrity a little privacy, Boyle got a haircut, semi-permanent colour rinse and eyebrow shaping, according to a receptionist at the Whitburn, Scotland, salon.

  ‘Since she appeared April 11 on the television show Britain’s Got Talent, her decidedly unglamorous looks have become a subject of global debate. Many of her fans urged her not to let stylists change her, while others advised her to pay more attention to her appearance.

  ‘The Sun, the bestselling British tabloid, had dubbed her “Hairy Angel” but yesterday referred to her as “Brunette’s Got Talent.”’

  “‘I assure you it’s not a major makeover,” her brother John Boyle said. “She is still the same Susan.” Boyle’s show-stopping success has sparked a worldwide argument about the nature of beauty and celebrity. Her fans call her a refreshing change from the parade of airbrushed celebrities on the airwaves. Others have said that there’s nothing wrong with maximising your looks, and that Boyle really ought to let the stylists release her inner princess. Online sites have run surveys and blogs about whether she should get a makeover. DailyMakeover.com said 75 per cent said “yes” and that it would not “detract from who she is.” Some online commentators had speculated that the talent show host Simon Cowell might forbid a makeover because it could kill the golden goose; the unvarnished Boyle is the biggest thing ever to happen to his television show.’

  The Globe and Mail, often described as Canada’s newspaper of record, commented:

  ‘Last week, Susan Boyle got a bit of a makeover, and it sent some people around the bend. The breakout star of Britain’s Got Talent, familiar to hundreds of millions of tissue-clutching fans thanks to that YouTube clip, has had a bit of fluffing. When she first appeared on the audition phase of the show a month ago, it was clear from Simon Cowell’s look of disdain and Piers Morgan’s wrinkled nose that here was an alien specimen: a 47-year-old woman in a mother-of-the-bride dress, with upper arms that swayed gently in the breeze, wearing not a stitch of makeup. Worse, perhaps, Boyle was a woman of hair. She was not, as women are supposed to be, as smooth as a Barbie fresh from the Mattel factory.