American Idol, for all of its positive aspects (and there are many), does not have the ability to inspire like Britain’s Got Talent, the other show Simon Cowell is currently judging on.  Witness the case of Susan Boyle.  Boyle, a frumpy looking Scottish woman, gray-haired, soft-spoken, looking like one of your grandma’s Bridge partners, has set the world on fire over the last 72 hours.  Boyle took the stage this past Saturday on Britain’s Got Talent to dismissive looks and scoffs from the three-person judging panel (which includes Simon Cowell and Piers Morgan).  The crowd murmured, a sea of skeptics, readying themselves for a likely-abysmal performance from a self-delusional joke of a woman.  Instead, Susan Boyle lifted hearts, incited tears, and received an almost immediate standing ovation.  Cuing the music with a thumbs-up, Susan Boyle commenced an astonishing rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables.  Boyle’s voice was pure, in control.  As I said, pure inspiration.  Watch the video below and see for yourself.

Susan Boyle on Britain’s Got Talent
by dwarthy

The YouTube of Boyle’s performance has seen over 7 million hits since Saturday, an insane number.  While we should not all get crazy and call Susan the best singer in the world, the fact that a 48-year-old unemployed church volunteer can strut on stage in front of a massive audience and deliver a surprise sonic boom to the earth is more than uplifting.   This is not the last we’ll hear of Susan Boyle, who obviously has moved on to the next round of Britain’s Got Talent.

Boyle’s performance brings up memories of Britain’s Got Talent’s last breakout star, a man by the name of Paul Potts.  Potts similarly shocked a cynical audience with an opera solo as inspiring as anything you’ll ever see.  I still contend that Potts is the more impressive of the two, though why even bother comparing two people like Boyle and Potts.  In case you missed Potts, here’s the video of his initial performance.  Quite similar to Boyle’s.

Paul Potts – First Audition – Britain’s got talent
by EtiNs

What are your thoughts?  Is everyone making too big of a deal out of this?  Or is all the hype warranted?

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-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of BBC)

Oscar Dahl

Senior Writer, BuddyTV