Anyone who heard her sing could not help but be "wowed", but I thought that this apology of the part of the judges says a lot about their preconceived notions. If viewers judged Pavaroti on his appearance, would he have succeeded? What about Ella Fitzgerald? Susan Boyle is was a hidden gem.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/04/17/earlyshow/leisure/music/main4951767.shtml
BS) Susan Boyle's fame is spreading, and her talent even has two people who sat in judgment of her apologizing to her.
The middle-aged Scottish volunteer church worker. who literally raised eyebrows as she wowed everyone with her rendition of "I Dreamed A Dream" in a prelim round of the TV competition, "Britain's Got Talent," has paparazzi at her door and fan mail piling up, reports CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer -- not to mention millions upon millions of hits on the
YouTube clip of her performance.
Her quiet life looking after an aging mother hid both talent and a sense of humor, Palmer observes.
On Thursday, Boyle agreed to sing for The Early Show from her living room, making newspaper and Internet headlines on both sides of "the pond" -- in the U.S. and the U.K.
And while she made millions of fans with her sudden burst on the scene, Boyle says her dream is to sing for Queen Elizabeth -- something she'd get to do if she goes on to win "Britain's Got Talent."
On The Early Show Friday, two of the three judges when Boyle made her bow on "Britain's Got Talent" chatted with co-anchor Julie Chen.
Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan told Chen they were simply amazed when Boyle began to sing -- especially considering how they'd prejudged her by her looks.
"I mean," said Holden, "it's a very shallow thing to say but, obviously, the minute she walked onstage we all, and the audience, completely judged her on her appearance and everything else. And I hate saying that. But, you know, that true cliche, we judged a book by its cover, unfortunately, and we're all very cynical. The audience was jeering and booing and it was just really uncomfortable, wasn't it? And we were, 'Oh, just please be good or just get off. Because it's just -- we just need you to do something here,' because we were so dying for her."
Morgan said, "I would just like to apologize to Susan Boyle, because I think it's long overdue, because, from the clip, you know, (millions of) people could see that Simon Cowell (the third judge that night -- he of "American Idol" fame) and I -- we don't have the best reputations, I think, for courtesy in America. I think we owe her on apology because it was an amazing performance. As I said, we were all laughing at her when she started, and by the end, the last laugh was on her."
Holden said the second the first notes came out of Boyle's mouth that night, they knew they "had found gold."
Raves poured into CBSNews.com after Boyle's Early Show appearance Thursday. Co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez read some of them on the show Friday.
The Early Show will also be conducting its own search -- for America's Susan Boyle -- beginning Monday.
Or simply stay there.
London's theatres are nothing to sneeze. I just don't know enough about them to speak about them - which is why I mention Broadway. But, American Tony winner, Patti LuPone originated the roles of Fantine & then Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, both in London.
