Susan Boyle in Her Second Performance

Susan Boyle, the Scottish woman who took the Internet by storm with her performance of "I Dreamed a Dream" from "Les Miserables" returned to "Britain's Got Talent" Sunday night with another Broadway show tune, this time "Memory" from the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical "Cats."

At the end of the show, Boyle was named a finalist, winning the "public vote" of viewers, who phoned in their picks. She'll appear in the final competition of the British reality television show on Saturday.

About 60 million people watched Boyle's original performance on YouTube, producers said.

Read more...

Singing sensation Boyle gets new chance to shine

Britain's unlikely singing sensation Susan Boyle, the frumpy church volunteer who wowed the world with her angelic voice, was on Saturday voted into the next round of a TV talent show that propelled her to global fame.
The 47 year old, who lives alone with her cat Pebbles in one of Scotland's poorest regions, will now perform in a live show on Sunday, weeks after her surprising performance of "I Dreamed a Dream" from the musical "Les Miserables" shocked judges and charmed tens of millions of people worldwide.

Boyle's performance last month on the "American Idol"-style show "Britain's Got Talent" has been viewed almost 60 million times on You Tube, and saw the shy Scot feted by celebrities, including Oprah Winfrey and Demi Moore.

The awkward looking Boyle, who says she's never been kissed, was greeted with giggles from a skeptical audience and eye rolls from the show's famously sardonic judge Simon Cowell when she appeared in April — but startled viewers with her soaring voice.

In an update on her Twitter Web site, Moore wrote that Boyle's voice had "made me teary!"

Cowell and his fellow judges said Saturday that Boyle is among 40 performers they've selected to advance in the competition.

Bookmaker William Hill makes Boyle a runaway favorite to win the final on May 30.

"She had a tremendous reaction because of the phenomenon that is YouTube — it's now all over the world and she's coping rather well," said the singer's brother, Gerry Boyle. "But I think some of the reality is now starting to sink in."

The youngest of nine children, Boyle grew up in Blackburn, a community of 4,750 people 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Edinburgh, in Scotland — a district blighted by unemployment and crime. Boyle had learning difficulties as a child and was bullied by other children.

As an adult, she's struggled for work but had been a regular on her local karaoke circuit and performed in church choirs.

In an interview with The Associated Press at her home last month, she said the death of her mother had inspired her to enter the TV talent show. "I wanted to show her I could do something with my life," Boyle said.

Since then, she's appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and had a makeover, to tame her frizzy gray-tinged hair.

"I think she is coping very well at the moment, she is just Susan. Just as calm as you like. Just carrying on as normal," said Jackie Russell, manager of Boyle's local pub The Happy Valley Hotel, in Blackburn.

Sara Lee, a spokeswoman for "Britain's Got Talent" said that Boyle's performance on Sunday will be available almost instantly on Internet, allowing her international fans a chance to watch the singer's latest appearance.

But she refused to say what song Boyle will perform in the broadcast, which will be screened live in Britain.

Read more...

Susan Boyle : 'I'm happy the way I am: short and plump'

In a wide-ranging interview in London's Times Online, Susan Boyle says, "I'm happy the way I am: short and plump," and that while she might consider a "makeover later on," "I would not go in for Botox or anything like that."

The interview states that Boyle is a volunteer at Our Lady of Lourdes church in Whitburn, Scotland, and visits elderly members of the congregation at their homes several times a week. She admits ruefully, however, what with all the sudden media attention -- including a reported invitation this past Thursday to appear on Oprah -- "I haven't had a chance to see them this week."

Boyle's next song selection for Britain's Got Talent this week will reportedly be the Andrew Lloyd Webber composition "Whistle Down The Wind."

Read more...

Susan Boyle Hype Revitalizes 10-Year-Old Cover

The song title "Cry Me A River" brings Justin Timberlake to mind for Generation Y. But that is likely to change thanks to Susan Boyle, the Scottish singing sensation whose Britain's Got Talent appearance wooed millions of broadcast and online viewers.

Boyle's moving rendition of "Cry Me A River" was uploaded to YouTube Thursday night, sparking further interest and frenzy over the extremely talented singer.

Boyle's "Cry Me A River" is a remake of the blues standard, not Timberlake's pop ballad. Boyle's track went virtually unnoticed when it was independently released 10 years ago on a charity CD reported Times Online. The Whitburn Community Council in West Lothian only pressed 1,000 copies of The Millennium Celebration compilation.

The singer, who said she has never been kissed, now has an offer on the table from Britain's Got Talent judge Piers Morgan who has said he would take her on a romantic date. Still, Boyle isn't eager to abandon her more homely looks for an extreme makeover just because she is on the television show.

"I wouldn't want to change myself too much because that would really make things a bit false," she told CNN's American Morning on Friday. "I want to receive people as the real me, a real person."

via Yahoo!

Read more...