Jack On The Box: Why Susan Boyle?

The question on everyone’s lips at the moment may well be 'Can Susan Boyle – the sturdy singer from Bathgate in Scotland – win Britain’s Got Talent?', but I fear such is the hype surrounding this competent but not exceptional vocal performer, that Barack Obama himself might soon be pressed into action to proclaim on behalf of the entire world “Yes, she can!”

 

What we have here is a text book example of a great big implausibility snowball – an avalanche that starts with an initial one-off unlikely occurrence. That in turn triggers a sequence of events, each one seemingly more implausible than the last, until we arrive at a situation where think-pieces are being published in the American press analysing the extent of the global domination achieved by a simple soul from Scotland, who – in her own words – had until a week ago never been kissed, much less feted on the world stage. Since her performance aired, Susan has been interviewed on top US telly shows Good Morning America and Today Show; next stop, Oprah.

 

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But let’s just try and apply a little grit in the path of this rapidly expanding phenomenon. I don’t seek to puncture the Boyle (surely a tabloid headline in the making there, eh readers?), but quite apart from not being the most talented person to appear on Britain’s Got Talent during its three year history, Susan wasn’t even the most talented performer to appear on her own episode. That honour has to go to dance group Flawless, who quite literally wiped the floor with the competition. Their performance was precision perfect, hugely imaginative and rightly adjudged by Simon Cowell to be “one of the best things I’ve ever seen in my life”.

 

So why aren’t Flawless commanding the attention of American news anchors right now? It would seem their only mistake has been to turn up to the audition looking like they were probably going to be quite good. You see, it’s not Susan’s talent that has whipped up this maelstrom of attention; but rather the differential between our initial expectations of her ability, and the quality of her actual performance.

 

The moment you first clapped eyes on her you presumed she was some poor deluded sap, and when she proclaimed “I am going to make that audience rock” a nation collectively tensed its buttocks. What joy then when she finally opened her mouth and delivered her version of I Dreamed a Dream with genuine talent and a fair bit of panache.

Not that it was perfect, mind. I’m no vocal coach, but she is by no means the finished article. But then that just adds to Susan’s authenticity, and shows us what a non-cynical, untutored flower she really is. It’s truly a heart-warming story.

 

Of course, her endorsement by Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher just adds further glitter to the story. What chance a pair of Hollywood A-listers lending their support in this way? Well, given the amount of chatter Susan had generated prior to Moore and Kutcher muscling in on the action – quite a lot actually. But the – on the face of it – massive juxtaposition of a rather ordinary, humble Scot and this world famous celebrity couple has been just too appetising not to exploit.

 

Quite where this leaves the aforementioned Flawless is a bit of a mystery – this contest is already looking like a walkover. What the phenomenon of Susan Boyle teaches us is this: image is still everything in the biz called show. Flawless, for one, are probably kicking themselves they didn’t turn up to their Britain’s Got Talent audition looking like they were going to be rubbish.

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