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Susan Boyle was just a face in the crowd.
Clips of her singing on Britain's Got Talent have notched up almost 50 million views on YouTube.
Her face appears on the front pages of papers in Britain and beyond, she has been offered a seat on Oprah's sofa and has been told she is as good as guaranteed a worldwide number one album.
The rise of the 47-year-old Scot has been a true global phenomenon.
Last Saturday, viewers saw Boyle, with double chin, unkempt hair, frumpy appearance and eccentric demeanour, step onto the talent show stage and proclaim her dream of being a professional singer.
The judges rolled their eyes and the audience pulled incredulous faces. Onlookers, on set and at home, were rubbing their hands at the prospect of another hopeless, deluded loser being crushed by a withering Simon Cowell insult.
Then she opened her mouth and sang I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables.
Her voice confounded all expectations - the judges' eyes bulged, the crowd went wild and Boyle became an instant star.
Boyle has shattered prejudices about the connection between age, appearance and talent. She has proved that you don't have to be young and glamorous to be talented, and recognised as such.
The YouTube millions have cheered on the underdog, and seen in her the possibilities for their own hopes and dreams.
Immediately after her performance, one of the judges, Amanda Holden, said they had been "very cynical", and that the performance was the "biggest wake-up call ever".
Another judge, former newspaper editor Piers Morgan, appeared with Boyle on CNN's Larry King Show.
"I'm sorry because we did not give you anything like the respect we should have done when you first came out," he told her. Referring to her appearance, he said: "We thought you were going to be a bit of a joke act, to be honest with you."
Boyle would have a best-selling album and a world tour by the end of the year, whether she wins Britain's Got Talent or not, he assured her.
And mentioning fellow judge Simon Cowell, Morgan added: "It's fair to say that his eyes have been going ker-ching ever since Susan's performance."
Blogs, newspaper columns and talk shows have been full of discussion about why Boyle has sparked such a reaction.
Susan Boyle was just a face in the crowd.Clips of her singing on Britain's Got Talent have notched up almost 50 million views on YouTube.
Her face appears on the front pages of papers in Britain and beyond, she has been offered a seat on Oprah's sofa and has been told she is as good as guaranteed a worldwide number one album.
The rise of the 47-year-old Scot has been a true global phenomenon.
Last Saturday, viewers saw Boyle, with double chin, unkempt hair, frumpy appearance and eccentric demeanour, step onto the talent show stage and proclaim her dream of being a professional singer.
The judges rolled their eyes and the audience pulled incredulous faces. Onlookers, on set and at home, were rubbing their hands at the prospect of another hopeless, deluded loser being crushed by a withering Simon Cowell insult.
Then she opened her mouth and sang I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables.
Her voice confounded all expectations - the judges' eyes bulged, the crowd went wild and Boyle became an instant star.
Boyle has shattered prejudices about the connection between age, appearance and talent. She has proved that you don't have to be young and glamorous to be talented, and recognised as such.
The YouTube millions have cheered on the underdog, and seen in her the possibilities for their own hopes and dreams.
Immediately after her performance, one of the judges, Amanda Holden, said they had been "very cynical", and that the performance was the "biggest wake-up call ever".
Another judge, former newspaper editor Piers Morgan, appeared with Boyle on CNN's Larry King Show.
"I'm sorry because we did not give you anything like the respect we should have done when you first came out," he told her. Referring to her appearance, he said: "We thought you were going to be a bit of a joke act, to be honest with you."
Boyle would have a best-selling album and a world tour by the end of the year, whether she wins Britain's Got Talent or not, he assured her.
And mentioning fellow judge Simon Cowell, Morgan added: "It's fair to say that his eyes have been going ker-ching ever since Susan's performance."
Blogs, newspaper columns and talk shows have been full of discussion about why Boyle has sparked such a reaction.
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