The meteoric rise to fame of Susan Boyle, the songstress whose Britain's Got Talent audition was viewed more than 55 million times on YouTube, setting a record, came crashing down this week when public criticism and skepticism apparently caught up with her and she all but threw in the towel before the finals of the competition.
After her final performance the judges made so many allusions to this in their comments that I felt compelled to go after more details. The press have been hounding her, Jay Leno and South Park denigrating her (he's quitting anyway and I'm not a South Park fan having seen one film), and I can't imagine the pressure even without mockery.
What a phenomenon Susan Boyle is. She was struck by lightening. She'll in all likelihood be in the money from now on, though she may wonder right now if it was worth what she's been through on Britain's Got Talent.
Either I've followed this whole thing because underlying the glitzy show-biz veneer of Britain's Got Talent there actually are authentic British folk and theatrical traditions in play, or I got swept up in the Susan Boyle YouTube craze with tens of millions. It's probably some of both.
In any case, I suspect the show's producers don't give a rip about anything but their rights to the huge pot of gold. Somebody honest please connect Susan Boyle with an entertainment lawyer she can trust. Oh, right...only in her dreams...
Further reading on Susan's Boyle's life:
http://www.susanboyle.me.uk/about/
