The Susan Boyle Phenomenon

Susan Boyle (born 1961) is a Scottish church volunteer and amateur singer who came to public attention when she appeared as a contestant on the third series of Britain's Got Talent. Boyle leapt to almost immediate global fame when she sang "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables in the competition's first round.

Before she sang, both the audience and the judges appeared to express scepticism based on her age and what was seen as an unattractive appearance. In contrast, her vocal performance was so well received that she has been dubbed "The Woman Who Shut Up Simon Cowell".She received a standing ovation from the live audience, attracting yes-votes from Cowell and Amanda Holden, and the "biggest yes I have ever given anybody" from Piers Morgan. The original talent show and audition was recorded in Scotland in January 2009.

The juxtaposition of the reception to her voice with the audience's first impression of her triggered global interest. Articles about her appeared in newspapers all over the world, while online videos of her performance totalled over 40 million views within a week.Cowell is reported to be setting up a contract with Boyle with his Syco Music company label, a subsidiary of Sony Music.

Boyle is the youngest of nine children and lives in Blackburn with her ten-year-old cat, Pebbles. Boyle has learning disabilities. Her classmates teased her because of this and her appearance.

Early on she received some professional voice training in Livingston, Scotland. She stopped her pursuit of singing to look after her sick mother, who died in 2007 at the age of 91. Her performance in the regional finals of Britain’s Got Talent was the first time Boyle had sung after her mother's death. Boyle stated in The Washington Post that she entered the contest at the behest of her late mother, who urged her to "take the risk" of singing in front of an audience larger than her parish church. She is unmarried and currently unemployed. During her audition video she said she had "never been kissed.",although she later clarified that this had been a joke.She aspires to become a musical theatre singer in the vein of Elaine Paige.

Boyle performed a rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables in the first round of the third series of Britain's Got Talent, on 11 April 2009. This performance was widely reported and a video of her singing was viewed by tens of millions of people on the website YouTube. Boyle was reportedly shocked and amazed by the strength of this reaction.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Boyle