Susan Boyle

by John McShane

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  LIVING THE DREAM

  One day in June, just before the Britain’s Got Talent tour was about to start, Susn was sitting in Simon Cowell’s office. ‘He asked me how I was doing and I said my dream was to record an album,’ she revealed. ‘He said, “If that’s still what you want to do I will help you – but only if you promise to take it slowly.” We did a tryout in the studio – I finally felt happy there. Everything I’d ever dreamed of was happening.’

  By the first week in July, as the much-published tour, with its dramas and uncertainties, neared its end, Cowell was in a position to announce: ‘I’ve cut one track with her and she sounds fantastic on record – she’s so good, the album is not just going to be show tunes, we’re going to take our time with this.’

  Susan was happy and enjoying being in the studio, he said. Although he refused to say what the track they’d recorded was, Cowell added, ‘It’s not an obvious record but so far, it’s good. She’s got a really good recording voice.’

  The song was actually ‘Cry Me a River’, the 1953 ballad that had been sung by Ella Fitzgerald, Joe Cocker and Michael Bublé but which had been made famous by Julie London. It also happened to be the song that Susan had recorded for charity back in 1999.

  ‘She’s happy and I think she’s enjoying the process. Luckily, things have quietened down a bit,’ Cowell said.

  They may have ‘quietened down’ to some extent, but it was hard to notice from the outside. Susan was making her prime time debut in America – the key evening hours when viewing is at its peak – on NBC at the end of July. It was considered so important that President Obama’s planned live press conference on his plans for health care had to be re-arranged so as not to interfere with it. The conference was moved forward an hour so that the 9pm slot was available for Susan.

  The interview, conducted via a video link to Susan’s London residence, was with Meredith Vieira, one of the leading personalities in American television. In common with many Americans, Vieira seemed to have an almost reverential feeling towards Susan.

  ‘I’m one of those millions of people that fell in love with you in mid-April… You look gorgeous,’ she gushed. ‘I’m loving the hair… it’s a little bit different, right, you got a slight little makeover?’

  Susan’s hair had been slightly cut and coloured, her eyebrows were trimmed and she was wearing a flattering purple knee-length dress. ‘Just a slight one. I brush up quite well,’ Susan replied.

  ‘You do brush up very, very well. The journey you have been on. Everybody around the world suddenly saying, “Who is this Susan Boyle?” Are you having a good time?’

  ‘It’s just been unbelievable,’ Susan replied. ‘It’s indes cribable. It’s a bit like being plucked from obscurity.’

  ‘If she were here now, what do you think she would say to you?’ Vieira asked Boyle, in a reference to Susan’s mother. ‘Susan, keep going,’ Susan replied. And when Vieira said, ‘Keep going?’ Susan elaborated with “‘Keep going – you’re doing really well.” That’s what she’d say.’

  Talking of her motivation, Susan added, ‘I was a little girl. I had to get up there and prove to everybody that I could do it. So I applied for Britain’s Got Talent and the rest you know.’

  ‘Yeah, the rest of the world knows, actually,’ Vieira smiled.

  Vieira wanted Susan to describe ‘just how overwhelming’ it had all been and Susan told her, ‘It felt like a giant demolition ball.’ ‘It felt like a demolition ball?’ the interviewer asked. ‘The impact. It was like a demolition ball,’ Susan replied. ‘It’s been a rollercoaster.’

  NBC had even arranged for Donny Osmond to make an appearance with a video message for Susan, and she then spoke live on air to her idol, Elaine Paige. ‘I’m absolutely gobsmacked,’ quipped Susan.

  She had come across well, especially given the obvious clash of cultures: the ultra-smooth machine that is American entertainment television and the newcomer to this different, alien world. It was also the first time she had been interviewed since she had been admitted to the Priory, so her replies and attitude were even more commendable bearing that fact in mind.

  Although Susan’s appearance had changed considerably since that January audition, her assessment of it – that she ‘brushed up well’ – was pretty near the mark. But she was to step up a league with her next move.

  Harpers Bazaar is one of the most famous magazines in the world. Its name is synonymous with elegant, attractive women in sophisticated surroundings. The list of supermodels and film stars who have graced its pages over the years is endless. So no wonder it made news when it was announced that Susan was to appear in the September issue.

  The photoshoot took place at Cliveden, the Italianate stately-home in Buckinghamshire, which was now a five-star hotel. Home to the high-rollers of the so-called ‘Cliveden Set’ in the 1920s and 30s, it also featured in the 1960s Profumo scandal that involved politicians and call-girls.

  ‘The idea behind the shoot was a very, very simple one,’ Laura Brown, Harpers’ special projects editor, said. ‘It was to take gorgeous, glamorous and sensitive portraits of her. This was her first magazine photo shoot, so you can’t do too much too soon.’

  A made-over Susan was to be featured in various designer outfits in a spread called Susan Boyle: Unsung Hero.

  ‘She came onto the stage and just transfixed us all. She’s become a hero to a lot of people with dreams of stardom, or who maybe have a talent but have been too scared to express it.’ Brown said Susan was ‘comfortable and confident’ during the shoot. ‘I think Susan is getting more and more used to being in the spotlight and being on television and being photographed. Since April, you’ve seen her look day to day become more polished and refined. And she’s growing in her confidence with what she’ll wear and how she’ll be perceived.’

  The editor said that Susan said didn’t undergo any radical makeover for the Harpers photo shoot. ‘What we did on our shoot was give her a little bit of a haircut, and that was it, and a little bit of a curl. And actually the shape of her hair is great. She’s got a really lovely curl to it. So we just tidied it up a little bit and paired it with some natural makeup, and she looked great.’

  Susan was dressed in a ‘mixture of designer and sort of high-street clothing’ to reflect her style and personality. ‘You don’t want to put her into a crazy couture dress. I think she would feel very uncomfortable and it would look fraudulent,’ Brown revealed.

  In the most glamorous shot, Susan was pictured at a piano wearing a full-length black Tadashi Shoji gown. ‘Another one of my favourite pictures has her in a really classic, beautiful purple Michael Kors long-sleeved dress with a really groovy, fun J.Crew necklace,’ Brown said. ‘And you can tell from the photograph that she looks really confident and she feels really great.’

  Susan was also photographed in a bright blue classic trench coat over a silky green top and black skirt, and a long-sleeved, black sequined Donna Karan sweater. Susan joked on the photo set, ‘It really made me feel like a Hollywood actress. Had my hair done up.’

  Brown said Susan was always the first to crack a joke. ‘Her laugh is quite genius, actually; it’s got a real robust Scottish cackle to it. When you hear that laugh, I think everybody just lights up.’

  Susan told the magazine, ‘It does feels unreal. It will take a bit of adjusting to as I’ve led a sheltered life. Mentally I have to adjust. But it’s all good. It was good, but overwhelming. It was too big for anyone to handle.’

  Asked if she was glad she had auditioned, she grinned and said, ‘It goes without saying. Come on, now!’

  It wasn’t all photo-shoots at stately homes, though. As that and the recording continued there were reports that Susan was planning to buy her Blackburn home which, with a discount because she had lived there for so long, would mean the asking price would be around £30,000. By this time Susan was living in a cream-painted apartment in Kensington, with Pebbles of course, with minimal, ex
pensive furniture. She enjoyed living in what she referred to as her ‘posh’ pad and would make lighthearted references to her stardom.

  She also had a PA to manage her diary and keep her company and a housekeeper to stock up on food and drink and keep Pebbles company when Susan was away.

  Although she was spending more time in London, she was spotted going into the Royal Bank of Scotland’s branch in Bathgate with a smile on her face (there had been reports that the album might earn her £5 million) and she chatted and waved to fans outside the branch.

  One onlooker said, ‘Susan looked on top of the world. She was waving and smiling at fans and looked fit and relaxed. She didn’t appear to have a care in the world. It was really good to see her looking so well. Maybe she had just checked her bank statement!’

  There were also plans being discussed by the local council to erect a life-size statue to her at a cost of £30,000 – the same price as her house – in Blackburn, and possibly even have a ‘heritage trail’ of some sort. If it ever came to fruition it would consist of her home, the nearby chip shop, the pub where she used to sing and the nearby Chinese takeaway.

  How different was the life Susan was now leading. Virtually anything that she wanted she got. As well as the household staff there was a BMW with blacked-out windows at her disposal, with driver.

  Although the car had state-of-the-art interior with air-conditioning, it was never put on in case it damaged Susan’s voice. She’d also been given membership of the local gym, and advice on which foods she should eat.

  Whenever Susan went out she could have her own security guard alongside her. There were also reports that her teeth had been whitened – especially important for the Americans – and that her eyebrows, once so bushy, were trimmed regularly. She also had, naturally, a complete new wardrobe.

  Susan was also by now provided with a credit card and a financial adviser. She and Simon Cowell were said to speak to each other at least twice a week and she was one of the select band of intimates who had his secret second mobile phone number.

  Asked about Scotland, Susan had told Harpers, ‘I’ll go back to visit, but you have to move on.’ But spokesman for her said, ‘People are saying that she has turned her back on Scotland but that is not true at all. She is down in London for the time being, as she is working here, and you can imagine what the commute would be like. She is planning to go back for visits and wants to buy the house she lived in.’

  The regulars at the Happy Valley Hotel said that they were thrilled by her transformation, and wished her luck. Her local councillor, Jim Swan, added, ‘She looks fantastic.’

  Brother Gerry said, ‘Susan loves the life she is leading now, but it has left her fearful of going back to how things were, living on her own waiting for her singing dream to come true.’ He also said that that she just could not bear it if people didn’t like her.

  ‘Susan doesn’t take rejection well. It’s a lack of confidence.’

  In the middle of a great deal of conjecture as to whether Susan had, albeit inadvertently, turned her back on Scotland, she went on holiday in August – to Blackburn. She could have gone anywhere in the world, instead she returned to her home town – where it rained throughout her stay. She didn’t head for Edinburgh’s fine dining restaurants either, preferring to go out to her favourite fish and chip takeaway, Valentes in Bathgate.

  A friend said, ‘As soon as she got some time off, there was never any chance Susan would head for St Tropez or Barbados. She was always going home to Blackburn. It is the place where she feels happiest and most at ease.’

  With her assistant and chaperone Ciaran Doig, she slipped home practically unnoticed for her break and rather than head for a plush hotel she stayed in her semidetached council house. She spent time reading the scores of letters that had landed on her doormat from fans across the globe and on Sunday attended morning mass at Our Lady of Lourdes church, where she used to work as a volunteer.

  Dressed in a new coat and cashmere scarf, she looked happy, relaxed and brimming with confidence as she arrived at the church and chatted with friends. Her styled brown hair and bright outfit were a world away from her pre-fame shock of wild grey locks and dowdy gear, but she was nowhere near as elegant as she had been for the Harpers shoot.

  She was met by an autograph-hunter as she made her way into church but managed to go on a shopping trip to Bathgate and relax with friends over a glass of lemonade at the Happy Valley.

  The friend added, ‘Susan loves London and is enjoying being treated like a superstar while she follows her dream of becoming a singer. But she’s spent her entire life in Blackburn and was overjoyed at getting the chance to come home and be normal again. She’s a regular at morning Mass at the church and loved getting back into the old routine.

  ‘This holiday has been perfect in allowing Susan to switch off from the demands of recording and she loved catching up with friends and family. The only thing missing was sunshine.’

  No sooner had Susan’s break finished than she discovered that her debut album was number one in the charts – months ahead of its release. It topped the Amazon pre-order chart even though I Dreamed A Dream would not be on sale until 23 November; tens of thousands of copies had already been sold to fans placing early orders on the shopping website.

  The CD was even outselling Whitney Houston’s comeback album, as well as other pre-release titles such as the Twilight soundtrack.

  As well as ‘Cry Me A River’, the album also contained a cover version of Madonna’s 1995 hit ‘You’ll See’, at Susan’s insistence.

  ‘It’s a song she has loved for years. She sang it at auditions for TV shows and music contests when she used to be cruelly turned away by people. At the end, when she was sometimes reduced to tears, she used to say “You’ll see”. And she’s proof she can do it now as one of the most famous women in the world,’ said a source.

  If a combination of Madonna and Susan seemed strange, it was no less weird than ‘Susan sings The Rolling Stones’.

  ‘Wild Horses’ was from the Stones’ classic album Sticky Fingers. A slow, mournful tune, it is the opposite of the storming rock songs that made them famous. It also happened to be Jagger’s former wife Jerry Hall’s favourite song by the band and had previously been covered by Neil Young, Garbage, Deacon Blue and The Cranberries among others.

  Susan summed up her feelings for the song: ‘How could you help but be drawn in by this haunting theme? It conjures up memories of childhood amongst Council Estates, poverty and struggle in the first verse. Irony and bitterness – one of my personal favourites and an emotional release.’

  Her first public performance of the song was to be in the land that had taken her to its heart, America. And when she landed all hell broke loose. On the second Saturday of September, thousands of fans turned out to welcome her into the country, her first visit there.

  She was greeted at Los Angeles Airport by cheering admirers and more than 50 paparazzi and numerous camera teams. Screaming well-wishers clamoured to get a glimpse of her, in scenes normally reserved for Hollywood A-listers.

  Looking confident and relaxed, SuBo smiled at the crowds and blew kisses before waving for the cameras, but the crowd was so great that she needed two minders to pave her way through the throng. It took more than five minutes for her to reach her waiting car and the crowd were chanting, ‘Susan, Susan’ as they surrounded her.

  There were also cries of ‘We love you Susan!’ and one young fan got close enough to hug the singer amid the scrum.

  Susan met with record company executives at the Hotel Bel-Air and had tea with them – she was astonished to see that the bill for the refreshments came to £300! Once she had rested, the next stop was Disneyland – it had been her dream since childhood to go there – where she looked a little apprehensive as she rode around on Dumbo, although she perked up in time to make waves on Disneyland’s Splash Mountain attraction as yet more adoring US fans clamoured to catch a glimpse of their hero.

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sp; The wonderful world of Disney was not the real reason that she had crossed the Atlantic. No, the main purpose was to perform ‘Wild Horses’ on America’s Got Talent. It would be a wonderful platform for the song, and if it did succeed and make it to number one in America. Susan would be following in the footsteps of the teenage Lulu who reached the top with ‘To Sir, With Love’ in 1967. Fellow Scot Lulu, now 60, was a fan of Susan’s too, announcing she had ‘a rare wee voice’.

  One of the most amazing aspects of Susan’s rise to fame had been the way that she had appealed to millions of Americans. With an attraction that was perhaps even greater than in the UK, Stateside she was massive. There was something in her that appealed to admirers ‘across the pond’. She was the embodiment of the ‘American Dream’, the hope that you really can get from a log cabin to the White House. Susan was born on the wrong side of the tracks, she had no friends in high places, she didn’t look like a movie star – but she’d made it all the same. She had a voice and that talent was enough to make her successful. And unlike in the UK, where the cheers seemed to turn to sneers very quickly – remember those who booed at the Britain’s Got Talent final and at her live appearances? – in America, success was applauded. They didn’t build you up to shoot you down; they built you up to admire you. And people thought, ‘If she can do it, so can I. And if I can’t do it, then maybe my kids can.’ Perhaps it was this aspect of the SuBo phenomenon that attracted them.

  Piers Morgan, who was a judge on the American show as well as the British one, said, ‘If she’s up for it and she is well enough then our feeling is she probably will – absolutely. Susan singing live to 25 million Americans? That would be great.’