Susan Boyle

by John McShane

  Such was the attention Susan was attracting that she had to change her telephone number. A friend said, ‘The past month has been manic and her house phone has been red hot. Because Susan has become an international star, she was getting calls in the middle of the night. Now she has a number which only relatives, close friends and producers have. It’s fair to say Susan is a bit of a technophobe – she’s never even used the internet. The show’s producers have told her to use a mobile, but she doesn’t have a clue how to, so never has it on.’

  If Susan was aware of the cheap jibes of some comedians, she would have been comforted by words of praise from a fellow female Scottish singer. Aberdeen-born Annie Lennox was tall, angular and strikingly beautiful. She had also studied at The Royal Academy of Music before achieving fame through her vocals, first with the Eurythmics and then as a solo artist. She had sold millions of records and – with her sometimes androgynous appearance – had become a style icon. So, she knew what she was talking about when she said, ‘This phenomenon with Susan Boyle. She’s not a goddess to look at, God bless her. But everyone was deriding her and that’s very cruel. And then she sang and they all give her a standing ovation. It’s almost like the Romans where they put the thumbs up and you’re the best and you can survive or they put the thumbs down and you’re dead in the water. If people like your music you can’t guarantee they’re going to love you, they’re going to hate you, you just never know. So you go along with the journey. You learn to be philosophical.’

  Paul Potts, whose own story of success with BGT in spite of initial reservations about his appearance, echoed her thoughts. ‘I think she’s great. She’s done really well and she’s coped with the media attention incredibly. I don’t know how I would have reacted to suddenly finding photographers outside my doorstep.’

  It wasn’t just singers who were on her side, either. The Golden Couple of the day were Manchester United and England star Wayne Rooney and his wife Coleen. So words of support from Mrs Rooney were akin to being granted a Royal Warrant.

  ‘Susan Boyle is great and I had goosebumps when she sang. I was so pleased that she did well. The crowd didn’t seem that supportive when she first came out on stage, but now the world loves her.

  ‘Apparently over 100 million people have watched Susan’s performance on YouTube, which is just amazing. Good on her, she deserves it. She’s had so much attention and publicity, and I hope something comes of all this and that it lasts. I bet she’d be great in a musical – she reminded me of a drama teacher!

  ‘I have to say that I do find it a little sad that people are saying Susan has to have a total makeover. I think it’s up to her if she wants to have one or not. Every woman loves to have her style updated, but an extreme makeover shouldn’t be pushed on her because she’s been very successful with the way she looks now. I mean, she’s just had her hair restyled and it looks good, but she shouldn’t go too far as I think she’s fab as she is. But every woman loves a bit of a makeover and I hope she enjoys getting pampered.’

  With her new-found fame, many major businesses and companies were eager to be associated with her, a fact noted by the prestigious Marketing Magazine: ‘A host of brands are vying to sign up Britain’s Got Talent contestant Susan Boyle to promote their products.

  ‘According to a spokeswoman for production company Talkback Thames “all imaginable brands” from sectors including hair-care, mobile, food, FMCG (fast moving consumer goods such as food and drink, perfumes and washing powders) and utilities have sounded out the talent show’s producers. “We’ve been inundated with calls,” she said.’

  Despite the interest, however, Boyle, who has taken the show by storm, will not be able to sign any contracts until after the series ends later this month.’

  That didn’t stop one cheeky bar owner from promoting a cocktail he had named after her which was ‘designed to be a little bit cheeky, just like she is… When you take a sip, it’ll leave a little moustache.’ The £9 cocktail contained vodka, wild strawberry and sour rhubarb liqueurs, blossom water, cranberry juice and mixed berries. When topped with a creamy Frangelico layer and sprinkled with chocolate shavings it’s true that it would inevitably leave a slight ‘moustache’ on the upper lip of anyone who drank it!

  Susan, not a drinker anyway, was too busy to try it; in early May she was showing the Oprah Winfrey film crew around her house so that they could prepare for her link with the talk-show queen during her ‘World’s Got Talent’ series. The crew only stopped filming at one stage in the afternoon when they had to leave the house as Susan was ‘having a nap’. Susan, who had been sporting a pink fluffy scarf, a turquoise blouse and even a touch of red lipstick, posed for a scene in which she welcomed them to her house and offered them tea and Scottish cakes.

  Reference has already been made to that appearance – with Oprah and Simon Cowell assessing acts from around the world – but he summed up the show’s appeal, to acts and public alike, when he said, ‘It gives the underdog a shot, and I think it’s brilliant. The fact that we’re allowing the public to make the decisions most of the time is a really good thing. The great thing about it is when you start seeing it in places like China and Afghanistan. It’s democracy. We’ve kinda given democracy back to the world.’

  He was obviously, and understandably, proud of the programme. But there were others who were less kind with many critics in the UK pointing out the comparison between show’s success and the fate of The South Bank Show, the television ‘highbrow’ look at the arts, and seen in 60 countries worldwide, whose forthcoming demise had just been announced. It attracted a million viewers compared to BGT’s ten million-plus. But even Melvyn Bragg, the programme’s elegantly coiffured presenter would not attack Britain’s Got Talent or Susan – he too had fallen under her spell.

  Having been told that his programme, which had been on air since 1978, was to end, Bragg, a Labour Life Peer, said, ‘I later hear from an insider that the new budget would give an entire season of The South Bank Show about half as much money as is spent on one episode of Britain’s Got Talent. Of course, The South Bank Show doesn’t have anything like the pull of Britain’s Got Talent, which is seen by more than 10 million viewers. An average South Bank Show gets one-tenth that audience. They say we only get a million. Well, for Christ’s sake. Sky television would die for a million. A million people would fill up the Royal Opera House for two years! And if we were played at a regular time, regularly, and promoted, things might go up a bit. But never mind. A million is okay.’

  And he pointed out, albeit obtusely, his liking for the Cowell show. ‘I like pop culture, I liked it when it was Opportunity Knocks,’ he added, pointing out that he loved Susan’s performance. ‘And the Great Moment [Susan’s appearance and song] is wonderful.’

  Susan’s appearance on the Oprah show meant that she had performed for the unofficial First Lady of America, but she was not going to say ‘yes’ to the First Man, President Barack Obama. There were numerous reports of her being invited to the prestigious annual Correspondents’ Association Dinner in Washington DC. But she was said to be too nervous to accept the offer to be in the presence of not just the President but also a raft of celebrities at the Hilton Hotel. One source said: ‘She was shocked and thrilled by the invite – but it was all too much too soon for her so she said “no”. She has been told President Obama has seen clips of her on TV and loved her singing. And she is delighted. She knows she would have been incredibly nervous if she’d gone. But her dream is to sing for President Obama one day. She loves him and thinks he is already a terrific President.’

  If it was the thought of those A-listers who might be there that was off-putting for Susan, a look at those who did attend confirmed their status. Singer Sting and wife Trudie Styler, actress Demi Moore and husband Ashton Kutcher – as we’ve seen already, big fans of Susan’s – and TV chef Gordon Ramsay and his wife Tana were among the VIPs present. Also in attendance at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner were Tom Cr
uise and wife Katie Holmes, Samuel L Jackson, Jon Bon Jovi, Tyra Banks, Eva Longoria Parker and hero pilot Chesley Sullenberger who successfully landed his stricken passenger jet in the Hudson River in February.

  They had to find a replacement for Susan, and beautiful singer Natasha Bedingfield filled the gap.

  Perhaps there was one person better placed than anyone else to assess Susan’s impact, her current position and what the future held for her. That person was Simon Cowell, and he spoke at length to the Daily Record about all these aspects of her life in the run-up to the week-long auditions that would decide who would make the final of the programme.

  ‘It’s early days, but Susan could become the biggest star I’ve ever discovered. She’s got a real shot this year of doing something phenomenal for herself, probably more than she realises,’ he admitted. ‘I think every record label in the world would want to sign Susan right now. She is in a fantastic position. I have never seen anything like it in my life. Susan is the biggest entertainment story this year. It has dominated the news for weeks and never gone off the radar.

  ‘It’s the biggest phenomenon I’ve ever seen out of any of my shows. I’ve never seen anything travel so quickly, particularly what happened on the internet. She’s got the world at her feet right now – but there’s no need to panic.

  ‘Susan is representing Scotland in a huge talent competition. Dropping out would be like Scotland being in the World Cup and saying just before the final, “You know what? I don’t think we’ll enter.” Broadway and Hollywood are possibilities for Susan, but it’s one step at a time at the moment. We have to take it a week at a time and if she achieves what I think she can then it’s going to be an incredible end for her in Britain’s Got Talent. That opportunity shouldn’t be taken away from her now.

  I would love to sit her down for five minutes and say, “Susan, you proved a point, you turned us around in five seconds, I apologise we ever doubted you. We are supporting you, we want you to do well and we’re going to be there for you.”

  ‘Susan, without any advice from us, won everybody over and I don’t want to dictate to her what she should do and what she shouldn’t do. What I would say to her is that it’s Susan Boyle as a person and as a singer that’s more important to me, not whether she has grey hair or brown hair.

  ‘Literally everywhere I go, whether I walk into a shop or a gas station, people come up to me and the first thing they say is Susan Boyle. It’s incredible. They love her. People tell me they have watched the clip 50 times and every time it makes them cry.’ He added: ‘Right now she is one of the most famous people in the world. If nothing else happens, she has acceptance and, for whatever reason, I don’t think she had that before.’

  By mid-May excitement was mounting as the announcement of the 40 acts that were to make it through to the BGT semi-finals drew near.

  Susan, carrying a briefcase and wearing a smart blouse, a bright red anorak, and a fluffy pink scarf, took her first flight in eight years when she flew to Heathrow from Scotland to receive voice lessons. She had on a pair of jeans which, fortunately, were done up – Susan had been spotted out and about in a pair with the flies undone a few days before. Her trip to London came because she was one of a number of acts from the programme that were receiving training in advance of the live stages of the show.

  Tickets also went on sale for the BGT tour of 2009, although none of the artists on the tour had yet been named; it was all dependent on which ten acts made it through to the final.

  Perhaps Susan – who now had a permanent bodyguard/minder, whiled away the time on the flight reading a report in one Sunday newspaper linking her with a 66-year-old widower. It was hardly the type of relationship that could be described as ‘torrid’, however, as the man in question, Helmut Glaser, was quoted as saying, ‘Susan had a crush on me last year. We met two years ago at a church group. We met up at prayer meetings for the Legion Of Mary. Susan’s lovely – but I’m just too old for her.’

  ‘Then Susan called me last week and asked if I would go to Rome with her to see the Holy Father if she lands a record deal. But I lost my wife in 1988 and I’m too old to get involved with anyone,’ added Mr. Glaser, like Susan a devout Catholic. German-born Mr Glaser, who was recovering from an operation, also said, ‘I’ve spoken to Susan on the phone a few times in recent weeks since I got out of hospital. I can only say good things about Susan – when it comes to the crunch she is someone you can rely on. When Susan sings she sings from the heart and I believe she has a gift from God.

  ‘She has always had something special and she’s shown that to the world now. I wish her all the best and hope she wins the show. If anyone deserves a little success it’s Susan. After what she’s been through in life, it shows that God moves in mysterious ways.’

  The approaching semi-finals were, in fact, something of a misnomer. There should, to be technically correct, only have been two of them, not the five that were to be transmitted during the week, every one with eight contestants in. But as those nightly eight would be whittled down to a total of ten finalists, ‘semi-finals’ they were named. The first of these ‘semis’ would be on Sunday and they would be on every night of the week – barring Wednesday, when there was a massive European football match – before the ten survivors appeared the following Saturday.

  Although she was already a favourite to win the show, Susan admitted, ‘I have been in my own little bubble getting on with day-to-day life, so I’m not fully aware of what is going on. People tell me about the coverage I am getting from all over the world, but the weirdest thing was when I had a gentleman turn up on my doorstep all the way from Peru. He said he’d seen my clip on YouTube and had come to congratulate me!’

  She pledged that there would be no drastic change to her appearance, either. ‘I think I am OK. Before the show my looks were not something I ever thought about. We have all entered the show knowing we could win a slot on the Royal Variety in front of Her Majesty, but I honestly think it would be the first time in my life I’d be speechless. I’ve been practising my song all the time,’ she said. ‘As for what I am going to wear, that’s a surprise.”

  If the world was agog to see what would happen next to Susan, nowhere was the interest greater than in Blackburn. The Blackburn Community Centre was to be decked out in banners, Scotland flags and bunting and friends were all set to wear special T-shirts.

  Organiser Alison Kerr, 49, said: ‘I decided to call it a Support Our Susan party and we want to give her the biggest backing we can. We don’t know how many people we are going to get on Sunday. We can cater for about 150, possibly rising to 250 if we are deluged. We’ve got a TV hooked up to a projector and then onto a big screen and we’ve got digital sound equipment from the centre too. It’s all been laid on free by them and it’s a fantastic gesture.’

  Alison said that if Susan reached the final a bigger venue would be hired. Community centre caretaker Cathy Bryce, said ‘I’ve known her for 20 years, since she first got up to sing at one of the Fauldhouse Miners Club nights. She did a John Cleese silly walk as she made her way to the stage wearing a bright-red Marilyn Monroe-style dress. After she finished “Over The Rainbow”, she lifted the dress up over her head.

  ‘Since then we’ve seen lots of that. She’s an eccentric who loves attention. Yet I don’t think she realises what she’s getting into. Nor do I think she will be able to cope. She’s a lovely girl, but she’ll have tantrums if things don’t go as expected.

  ‘Who knows how she will react if she goes on to win this competition? She’s had a very protected life here in Bathgate. If she’s successful we’ll have another event next week in the big hall which holds 500 people. The town will really want to get behind her.’

  At The Happy Valley Hotel – where the car park had been continually filled with TV crews since Susan’s first appearance – the bar was festooned with a huge banner, reading ‘Good Luck Susan’, while posters and newspaper clippings covered the walls.

  Manager J
ackie Mitchell said, ‘We’ve never had anything like this before. We’ve just had a couple from Canada who were on holiday and took a detour on the way to the airport to come here. We’ve had a man from the Washington Post and people from Poland and Croatia. Susan takes it all in her stride. She doesn’t seem fussed by it. She’s a lovely girl and very down to earth.’

  ‘She wanted the attention for people to stop judging her by her looks. I think she’s achieved that. Susan’s had a hard life and now she’s famous – and she’s delighted. I don’t think it really matters whether or not she wins, she’ll take it all in her stride. I think she’ll be okay. She won’t get too affected. It’s fantastic for the town and it’s fantastic for Susan.’

  Bartender Kellie Brown was walking to Susan’s home several days every week delivering the fan mail that had arrived at the pub.

  ‘Someone from Peru wrote a song for her. There’s been mail from all over the world,’ she said. Local John Purdon said, ‘Everyone’s happy for Susan. When she went on we already knew she could sing, but we were surprised by how sassy she was. This is only a wee town, but we’ve never had anything like this before. She’s bigger than the Beatles. This never happened to them. A few days ago some folks from Croatia stopped her in the street and asked for her autograph. But she still comes in here and nobody treats her any different.’

  ‘People come here and want to see her house,’ added Sid Mason, another local man. ‘I was surprised by the response the world has given her. Most people didn’t know where Blackburn was before. If anyone asked you’d say you came from near Bathgate. They know where Blackburn is now.’

  Susan’s neighbour, Teresa Miller, had given countless doorstep interviews in the five weeks of Susan’s fame, and had appeared on television programmes across the Continent. ‘It’s calmed down now,’ she reflected. ‘At first you couldn’t look out of your window without seeing film crews. If you answered the door to one, there would be ten rushing up to talk to you. Susan couldn’t walk out to the shops without them following her. I think Susan’s enjoying it. She’s on cloud nine. She definitely deserves it. She found it pretty hard when she lost her mum, and the kids used to make a fool of her. We used to hear her singing through the walls. My mum said she was fantastic. I don’t think she had the chance years ago. She’d like to make some changes to the house. But she’s lived here all her life and I don’t think she’ll move away.’