Susan Boyle's fairy tale dream tempered by reality
Source: Agencies |
October 22, 2012, Monday
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Print Edition
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SHE dreamed a dream, and it came true. But what happened next for Susan Boyle?
The middle-aged church volunteer from a small town in Scotland became an instant global celebrity in 2009 with her heart-stopping rendition of the "Les Miserables" number "I Dreamed a Dream" on a TV talent show.
A week is a long time in showbiz - and in our hyper-speed online age three and a half years is an eternity - but Boyle is still going strong. She has sold millions of records, received an honorary doctorate, sung for Pope Benedict XVI and performed in Las Vegas. A stage musical about her life has played to enthusiastic crowds across Britain and is headed for Australia, and next month she releases her fourth album, "Standing Ovation."
But the 51-year-old singer who entered the TV talent contest to make her late mother proud is remarkably unchanged. She's still a bit frumpy, though she's acquired a new hairdo, more expensive clothes and a makeover. She still lives in her down-at-heel home town, has outbursts of anger and struggles to overcome her nerves before live performances.
It's a fairy tale, yes, but with dark shadows lurking in the corners.
"People can't accept that you can dream a dream, but part of the dream is also a nightmare," said Elaine C. Smith, a Scottish actress who knows Boyle and plays her in the biographical stage show "I Dreamed a Dream."
"Fairy dust comes out, but shrapnel comes out as well."
Boyle now has a car and chauffeur to take her to appointments, but she sticks close to familiar places and routines. She has bought a new house, a modern four-bedroom two-story in Blackburn that cost 300,000 pounds (US$480,000), but locals say she often stays in the modest row house she grew up in.
And she still shows up occasionally to sing karaoke at The Crown pub.
"It's nice that this has not changed her. I think she's under a lot of pressure normally. Here she can be herself," said 20-year-old local Helen Cameron.
Boyle's life changed in a few minutes when her first appearance on "Britain's Got Talent" was broadcast in April 2009.
The middle-aged church volunteer from a small town in Scotland became an instant global celebrity in 2009 with her heart-stopping rendition of the "Les Miserables" number "I Dreamed a Dream" on a TV talent show.
A week is a long time in showbiz - and in our hyper-speed online age three and a half years is an eternity - but Boyle is still going strong. She has sold millions of records, received an honorary doctorate, sung for Pope Benedict XVI and performed in Las Vegas. A stage musical about her life has played to enthusiastic crowds across Britain and is headed for Australia, and next month she releases her fourth album, "Standing Ovation."
But the 51-year-old singer who entered the TV talent contest to make her late mother proud is remarkably unchanged. She's still a bit frumpy, though she's acquired a new hairdo, more expensive clothes and a makeover. She still lives in her down-at-heel home town, has outbursts of anger and struggles to overcome her nerves before live performances.
It's a fairy tale, yes, but with dark shadows lurking in the corners.
"People can't accept that you can dream a dream, but part of the dream is also a nightmare," said Elaine C. Smith, a Scottish actress who knows Boyle and plays her in the biographical stage show "I Dreamed a Dream."
"Fairy dust comes out, but shrapnel comes out as well."
Boyle now has a car and chauffeur to take her to appointments, but she sticks close to familiar places and routines. She has bought a new house, a modern four-bedroom two-story in Blackburn that cost 300,000 pounds (US$480,000), but locals say she often stays in the modest row house she grew up in.
And she still shows up occasionally to sing karaoke at The Crown pub.
"It's nice that this has not changed her. I think she's under a lot of pressure normally. Here she can be herself," said 20-year-old local Helen Cameron.
Boyle's life changed in a few minutes when her first appearance on "Britain's Got Talent" was broadcast in April 2009.
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