Five months ago we were swept up by the Susan Boyle drama; chronicling the surprise, the controversy, and the pure musical pleasure. My last words regarding Miss Boyle were, “I am sure the world will hear much more from the Scottish songbird.”
And so we have. Tuesday night she stole the show on America’s Got Talent Final with her powerful rendering of the Stone’s classic Wild Horses. Not being a fan of the Rolling Stones or Andrew Lloyd Weber, I was once again won over by the voice and not the melody.
As for the ongoing A Star Is Born melodrama – I’ll leave that to the tabloids – her music is quite enough for me.
The Rolling Stones recent resurrection of Wild Horses
Britain’s media voting public passed over Susan Boyle’s precious voice and bequeathed 1st Prize to precision dance troupe Diversity. Seems an odd choice to me, but then I don’t even believe in talent contests, only in the talent they produce; and I am sure the world will hear much more from the Scottish songbird.
And the winner is…
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Britain’s Got Talent swings into the semi-final stage, treating the world to anther musical gem from Susan Boyle. Though no Andrew Lloyd Webber fan (a career of regurgitating the success of Jesus Christ Superstar), I do appreciate a few of his melodies, notable among them, Memories from Cats. Miss Boyle, her remake cunningly restrained, shows true grit in tackling this elusive song with its downbeat body and oddly placed crescendo. I don’t believe in song contests — art and entertainment are not really measurable quantities — but I am grateful when they reveal talent like Susan Boyle’ｓ. I doubt anyone with a love of music and an internet connection has missed her debut or this follow-up, but I’ll post it here just in case.
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Susan Boyles’ spectacular success has generated quite a controversy over pop culture’s fascination with supermodel songstresses. After reading several didactic articles in seriouspublications lecturing on the moral sin of confusing looks and talent, I began to smell a rat somewhere.
Certainly we do expect glamour from our heroes. Vicarious vanity is no recent development; Stephen Frears had us laughing at this classic human fault in his 1992 media farce Hero. The glamor factor has always played a particularly important role in our choice of divas; Marlene Dietrich, Lena Horne, Diana Ross, Madonna, Britney Spears, ad nauseum.
What the social critics conveniently overlook are the many fabulous exceptions. Nobody set a beauty barrier for the talents of Sarah Vaughn, Ethel Merman, Bette Midler, Cindy Lauper or even the queen diva herself, Barbra Streisand. I suppose you could argue that the MTV generation placed greater visual demands on pop performers, but even in this age of image worship we still find talent that succeeds without selling super-sex.
On another level, I wondered what the reaction would have been if Ms. Boyle had simply been an ordinary looking thirty-something and not the antithesis of glamour. Is the overwhelming reaction to her talent just another expression of our obsession with image, like reverse snobbery?
Many people may have doubted that any talent could come from the likes of Susan Boyle, but other less than glamorous women are recognized for their talent in spite of their ungainly image.
I collected a few examples of female vocalists currently reigning on the pop charts; three supermodels, two normal folk and one oddity. Click on the photos and decide which you think is the most talented.
When I woke up I found yet another Susan Boyle gem on Youtube. I wondered what else might be up there so I surfed the site and put together this compilation so you don’t have to waste time searching the Internet to get a full Susan fix.
WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND – A CAPELLA
KILLING ME SOFTLY WITH HIS SONG – KARAOKE
MY HEART WILL GO ON – A CAPELLA (following interview)
CRY ME A RIVER – KARAOKE
I DREAMED A DREAM – A CAPELLA
I DREAMED A DREAM – ON BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT
BLACKBURN SCOTLAND – CNN in Susan’s Hometown (Click image for video)
OK, call me a sentimental old fool; old enough to remember seeing Judy Garland’s portrayal of Fannie Brice in A Star is Born when it was still a new release – and sentimental enough to have gotten teary eyed when she sang Arlen & Gershwin’s The Man That Got Away. By 1975 I was jaded enough to stay dry eyed for Barbra’s remake in On a Clear Day. But I am not ashamed to admit that the room got a little misty when I watched the real thing a la 2009 on Youtube last night. If you have been hiding under a rock somewhere and haven’t seen sweetheart Susan Boyle break the image barrier with her stupendous performance on Britain’s Got Talent (over 25 million hits in one week) I am proud to give you a link to this unlikely victory of substance over style.
Unlikely star - Susan Boyle performing I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables (CLICK IMAGE FOR VIDEO)
And just to prove Susan is no one-hit-wonder, here is her 1999 recording of Cry Me A River. Haven’t heard this tune done so well since last time I was privileged to see Lenne Hardt perform it live at my bar.
I DREAMED A DREAM – Schonberg/Kretzmer (Lyrics) OTHER VERSIONS
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