I am so completely awash with thoughts as I start this post that finding a jumping-of point is gluing my fingers to my keyboard as my brain attempts to sort out a beginning, a middle and an end.
Ah … screw it … Dive, dive …
First, an admission: I have never seen an “Idol” show. Not since Arthur Godfrey’s Amateur Hour have I watched hopeful performers set themselves up on television to take the hits that standing metaphorically naked in front of the world can bring. I know who Simon Cowell is only because I own the Shrek DVD that has him as a special feature, but have no idea who others are who sit in judgement.
So …
I’m confused.
Postings on facebook today included many people linking to a vid from a program called “Britains Got Talent” … is there supposed to be an apostrophe there somewhere? … that shows a woman singing.
The “hook” here seems to be that she’s not a babe. Susan Boyle is a 47-year-old rather plain looking person from Scotland who has obviously managed to avoid being styled. She has bushy eyebrows, a double chin and a bit of extra weight under her matronly dress. Her hair is thinning, her accent billboards her roots, and her manner, although confident enough considering the cameras and the crowd, hints of self-deprication.
Since this is a program featuring talent, not a beauty pageant, I am having a hard time understanding why eyes are rolling in the audience and judges barely cover smirks as she introduces herself … much less the stunned reaction when she opens her mouth and belts out a perfect version of the difficult “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables.
Since when did someone have to look pretty … in some canned-for-mass- consumption sort of way … to sing beautifully?
Since the advent of music vids, perhaps? Are we no longer able to hear the magic without seeing the performer, and the explanation of just exactly what it is we’re listening to?
Many are referring to this moment in British TV as inspirational. Why? Because a dowdy lass of some years can sing?
Sorry, but I just find the shock and awe of it all disturbing.
Congratulations, Susan Boyle. You were beautiful before you opened your mouth.
A collection of my short stories:
I'm in this one, too ...
And I'm in here, as well ...
Paradise Preoccupied 
agree with your statement of principle and did see this clip. but television being what it is i wonder if she wasn’t a hoax like the chinese olympic opening singer but in reverse. the cutting to cued expressions seemed just too fortuitous and the whole atmosphere seems like a gag- most opera singers look like susan boyle before the roar of the greasepaint and the smell of the crowd…
That occurred to me, too, JP, although I have no knowledge of the Chinese thing you refer to … island isolation.
I read this yesterday and was vocally applauding while I read it. Thankfully in the privacy of my own home..wouldn’t want the good people of Bali to think I am a nutter!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/apr/16/britains-got-talent-susan-boyle
Well said, Sandra.
Thanks, Becs … Glad to know others reacted in print.
my sentiments exactly Sandra… after being bombarded with Susan Boyle and everyones flaberghasted response, I have to applaud Simon Cowel for his supurb marketing ability and the editing team for all their cutting and splicing to put together this clever little bit… it is but a forshadow of a new series called “The Average Looking 40 Something’s got Talent”….
this was simply a test run to see how superficial we all are… obviously, we are.
I never watch American Idol, mainly because I used to sing professionally and auditions are always incredibly stressful. Watching someone else audition brings back traumatic memories. However, I watched the clip of this woman singing and was very moved. The superficial nitwits who sit in the audience on these types of singing shows are always judging performers based only on their looks, and people who are not attractice in the conventional sense are often very scared, and rightly so. This woman thumbed her nose at their superficiality and blew them away with her talent. That’s why she is so admirable. It’s like watching that audience and those judges get smacked upside their empty heads…
Here is the piece you are missing… There are hundreds/thousands of people who “interview” to be included in the contest/reality show.
Everyone is screened prior to being seen by the judges. And these screeners (on purpose) send nuts to the judges… just to get the judges reactions for the TV show. (Search youtube for these videos.) These people really believe they can sing or dance and they really, really can’t.
So everyone expected (because of the past) that the screeners were screwing with everyone again.
William Hung is one example of this. Heck, the man has a Wikipedia article on him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hung
Mary Roach is another one.
Crazy dancing from Britain’s Got Talent 2009
But there are interesting things like the “Crazy footballer”
Thanks, Ang. So this is what I’ve been missing since I left the real world … ?
Paul Potts singing opera won a season of Britain’s Got Talent. Susan has been compared to Paul because their talent was unexpected… and welcome.
http://www.youtube.com/user/paulpottstv?blend=1&ob=4
“Since when did someone have to look pretty “….. since the dawn of mankind basically…