Susan Boyle

A couple of months ago, no-one had heard of the plump, bushy-browed lady who lived alone with her cat, Pebbles, and volunteered at the local church. A woman who not only dared to dream of a different life, but sing about it as well. Initially hostile, audiences and judges were swept off their feet, including the millions that watched her performance on YouTube.

Susan Boyle has experienced 15 hellish minutes and then some. Now she’s paying the price. So many long for the patina of stardom, but the cost is high – public adoration, humiliation and desecration – and they must do it without the attendant minders, spin doctors, psychologists and personal trainers to boost the flailed ego that Hollywood stars know is essential.

Continue reading "Is anyone surprised that Susan Boyle cracked?" »

Let me see if I’ve got this straight: a group of children resembling the cast of Oliver! win the final of Britain’s Got Talent and the cash money prize of 100,000 pounds to share among themselves, Susan Boyle comes second and gets a trip to a luxury celebrity hang-out.

Even converting it to the much larger sounding amount of $202, 439 Australian dollars, those kids are in line to walk away with an estimated $27.50 each.

Meanwhile, Susan Boyle, who has either reached Boyle-ing Point or had a Boyle-Over,  is ensconced, possibly with notorious loser Rafael Nadal, in the exceedingly glamorous Priory Clinic in London, the first port of call for “exhausted” stars.

Continue reading "Stage-managed Boyle-over" »

UPDATE: Susan Boyle has been admitted to The Priory after suffering a nervous collapse, Britain’s Daily Mail reports.

Susan Boyle’s life has changed for ever. It is now rumoured that she will obtain a recording contract, a book and movie deal. Her days of unemployment and living in public housing in a small village in Scotland have come to an end. But is she at risk of exploitation and will she be able to handle to the pressures of fame? Should the producers of Britain’s Got Talent have a duty of care because they ‘created her‘?

Continue reading "Should reality TV producers have a legal duty of care?" »

UPDATE: I love the smell of vindication in the morning - Last night Susan Boyle didn’t win Britain’s Got Talent. She came second.

Yes, the woman can hold a tune. But so can five million other “undiscovered stars”, who just happen to have had one chin instead of three.

What is it about Susan Boyle that has mad the world go so mental? Thousands of column inches and millions of mega bites have been devoted to the SuBo phenomenon since the 47-year-old cat-loving virgin stormed the finals of Britain’s got Talent. She’s become a standard bearer for all middle-aged sad sacks who never thought they’d amount to anything. She’s been labelled a one-woman antidote to rececession-induced-depression, and arguments have raged over whether she should have a much-needed make-over (among people who regularly visit the “dermatologist” to have poisons injected into their heads).

It’s no secret that the world has got Susan Boyle fever - but I just find watching her really embarrassing.

Continue reading "Let’s stop pretending Susan Boyle is incredibly talented" »