Who is Susan Boyle? Britain's Got Talent success story Susan Boyle

October 30, 1:25 AMNashville Gospel Music & Entertainment ExaminerKathryn Darden

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Photo of Susan Boyle from press kit

Part 2 of a 2-part series on Susan Boyle

Who Is Susan Boyle?

Born in 1961 in the small village of Blackburn in West Lothian, Scotland, Susan Boyle was the youngest of four brothers and six sisters. Her mother was 47 when she gave birth to her daughter, and Boyle was briefly deprived of oxygen during the difficult birth (Wikipedia).

Later diagnosed as having learning difficulties, as a child Boyle was often bullied by other children. The shy young woman began singing in churches and choral societies. Today she claims the collective singing arrangements gave her a sense of comfort.  Boyle also enjoyed visiting the theatre to listen to professional singers.

Susan Boyle - Musical Background

Susan Boyle began taking singing lessons and started performing at a number of local venues, singing in church and at pubs in her village where she often performed karaoke. She also attended the Edinburgh Acting School and took part in the Edinburgh Fringe festival.

Susan Boyle Auditions for My Kind of People

Prior to her appearance on "Britain's Got Talent," Boyle auditioned several times for another TV program, "My Kind of People." In 1995 her audition was filmed, and according to Wikipedia, host Michael Barrymore was apparently more interested in mocking Boyle than in the vocal talents of this simple woman who had been mocked and bullied much of her life.

Art from Wikipedia

Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent

It was something of an act of personal heroism that brought Susan Boyle to the auditions for "Britain's Got Talent." The audition almost didn't happen. Her mother had urged Boyle to enter "Britain's Got Talent" and risk singing in front of a large audience after Boyle won several local singing competitions, but Boyle felt like she was too old and that such competitions catered to attractive young people. However, her mother's death inspired Susan Boyle to audition for "Britain's Got Talent" as a tribute to her mother.

On January 21, 2009 the shy, devout 48 year old stepped onto the stage of the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow to try out for "Britain’s Got Talent." "I will never forget it," Boyle says. In front of the three judges, Susan Boyle's surprising appearance turned out to be the show’s pivotal moment and a moment that would forever change Boyle's life. Breaking every rule of the talent-show handbook, Boyle showed up in her Sunday-best dress and pumps, with a mop of greying hair and bushy eyebrows, dancing a nervous jig. The audience snickered; the judges smirked; and then Susan Boyle opened her mouth and began singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from the musical Les Miserables.

When the episode aired on April 11, 2009, Susan Boyle became the proverbial overnight sensation, with over 300 Million You Tube hits and counting. "All I did was to apply for a talent show," Boyle says humbly. "I was lucky enough to be chosen. That’s it in a nutshell."

In spite of her popularity with fans, Boyle did not win the talent competition and the Scottish singer was taken to a private London clinic by ambulance following her defeat on "Britain's Got Talent" for treatment of exhaustion. But that was not the end of Susan Boyle or her dream. If anything, public and industry interest in Boyle increased.

Susan Boyle & the Paparazzi

Susan Boyle is probably the most surprised of anyone at her success and subsequent media attention. "It started off with the [Scottish newspaper] Daily Record visiting my door. And it ended up with TV stations from all over the world camping out on my street waiting for interviews and stories. I’d peak behind the curtains in the house, saying ‘what in God’s name is going on here?’ Then the phone calls started. My number was still in the book at that particular time, so anybody could get it and the phone was ringing 24 hours a day. It was constant. People were ringing me who I couldn’t understand because of their accents. All sorts of nationalities. Lots of Americans. It was absolutely unbelievable if I’m being honest."

Self-deprecating about why she should have caused such a stir, Boyle states, "A woman who went on with mad hair, bushy eyebrows and the frock I was wearing had to be noticed. Come on!"

Susan Boyle - I Dreamed a Dream

Now Susan Boyle is releasing her debut album, I Dreamed a Dream. In London, Boyle spent over two months picking songs that resonated with her, crafting an album that included several gospel hymns. ‘It was important that I could feel everything I was singing,’ she says. Her album's pre-orders are already setting records and is positioned to be one of the biggest-selling records of the year. (See Susan Boyle dreamed a dream.)

Who is Susan Boyle? - a simple woman who overcame great odds to teach us all a lesson about humility. In a world of talented and beautiful singers, what makes Susan Boyle stand out so? Perhaps it is the message of her life and her music - if Susan Boyle can dare to dream such a big dream, so can people like you and me.

Read more of Susan Boyle's story and see the video that started it all in Part 1: Susan Boyle dreamed a dream: from church volunteer to global recording artist