Susan Boyle (19 page)

Ant and Dec were right: everyone deserves a chance. Susan would certainly have agreed with them, because she was loving every minute of her glory, clocking up one triumph after another. At the end of August her CD,
I Dreamed A Dream
, was posted on Amazon for pre-ordering, and despite the fact that it wouldn’t be released for another three months, it shot straight to number one.

There was some curiosity about the tracks chosen to go on the CD, especially a cover of Madonna’s ‘You’ll See’, which explained Susan’s recent enthusiasm for the artist in
Harper’s Bazaar
. ‘Susan chose it herself - it’s a song she has loved for years,’ a friend who wished to remain nameless told the
Sun
. ‘She sang it at auditions for TV shows and music contests when she used to be cruelly turned away by people. At the end, when she was sometimes reduced to tears, she used to say, “You’ll see”. And she’s proof she can do it now as one of the most famous women in the world.’

A picture was released from the album’s shoot, showing a smiling and relaxed Susan in the beautiful Scottish countryside, against a backdrop of the mountains of the Ardkinglas Estate in Cairndow, Argyll. Meanwhile, there were more firsts: she was spotted buying designer clothes in Harrods, a shop she had never visited before, while Pebbles got a session in a pet pampering salon.

Susan’s personal style had noticeably changed, but she didn’t swan around in the kind of clothes she’d worn for the
Harper’s
shoot on a day-to-day basis. The magazine had simply proved that she could look attractive in the style of the modern woman, and as a result she took more pains with her appearance than she had done before. Her brothers had already commented on the fact that Susan used to be extremely careless about her looks, and that they’d often chided her for not running a comb through her hair. But it would seem that there was something self-defensive about her actions. If Susan was convinced she was ugly, then it was safer to play up to that perception than try to do something about it and risk exposing herself to ridicule.

But Susan was not ugly; far from it. She had simply allowed herself to become unkempt and when, with the help of others, she woke up to the fact that she could look as good as anyone, she seized the chance. This is another often overlooked upside of reality television: it allows people to explore a completely different side of themselves and their lives.

As the Boyle phenomenon continued to grow, other female stars mused on what lay ahead for Susan. Elaine Paige had already said she wanted to warn Susan of the potential perils afoot, and to her great credit she had shown nothing but warmth and generosity to Susan since that first audition, which now seemed like a lifetime ago. Now it was the turn of another star, a fellow Scottish singer, Lulu. Lulu and a great many other seasoned performers were as stunned as the public by the world’s reaction to Susan, not least because it was so different from how they had made their names. But even if her route to success had been different, Lulu, too, had experienced sudden fame, and as such knew what the downsides could be.

‘It is hard to say if Susan Boyle mania is justified,’ she told the
Daily Record
a little tactlessly. ‘It’s amazing. It steps over into celebrity and that is hard to deal with. In a way, it would be better to just let her sing her song and go home. But you have to take both. I just hope she is going to be able to handle it because it’s not easy. Everyone can trip up and have their hiccups, but it’s about how you recover.’

Susan had already had her hiccup, and appeared to be recovering beautifully, so it was unrealistic to expect her to just go home after the event. Other, more seasoned stars would probably have been a little bewildered by it all, but the fact was that the phenomenon had happened and Susan wasn’t going to go away. What was important, though, as Lulu acknowledged, was that she had proper guidance and management, for without that she really would encounter problems.

‘When I found fame, it was very exciting and scary at the same time,’ Lulu continued. ‘I was carried off in a whirlwind. I had a very nice manager who was a mother figure, so I was fortunate. It’s hard to do the work if you don’t have the right people around you.’ The right support was something Susan did have - Simon had made sure of that.

Lulu also made the point that in this day and age, Susan would have had a lot of trouble breaking into the music industry on her own, because today’s stars are expected not only to be young and beautiful, but to cavort about wearing almost nothing. Lulu’s strict father would never have allowed her to do that, she said, but that only served to emphasize another aspect of Susan’s story. The idea of Susan cavorting about the place half dressed was unthinkable, which meant she was one of the few modern-day stars who knew for a fact they had made it on the basis of talent - and a good back story - alone. No one doubts that Girls Aloud are an entertaining bunch of singers, but it hasn’t hurt that they are toothsome as well.

Lulu’s comments, while well-intentioned, missed an important point. Despite the fact that she was being hauled into practically every debate about reality television, it was difficult to draw general conclusions, because Susan’s story is unique. Yes, she clearly needed the right people around her to guide her career, and yes, the sudden leap into the limelight must have been extremely difficult, but what could really be said about Susan was this: nothing like this had ever happened to anybody else before.

According to the man himself, she’d made Cowell get in touch with his inner, caring side. Over in the States, Amanda was interviewing Simon on CBS’s
The Early Show
, as a new series of
America’s Got Talent
was about to begin. He was very frank about the way that Susan had changed his attitude, not just towards her, but towards all reality television stars. ‘I think at the point where she didn’t win, she was afraid everything would be taken away from her and she was going to go back to that little house. She didn’t want to go back to that life,’ he said, adding that he now felt far more responsible towards other people who came on his shows. ‘We’re used to it [fame]; they’re not. [But] After all the dust settled, she was happy. She is stunning on record. She’s going to sell millions of records this year.’ Indeed, he continued, Susan had been so delighted when she heard the results of the recording that she’d actually burst into tears.

Given the Cowell connection, it was no surprise when it was announced that Susan was going to sing on
America’s Got Talent
, in her first live performance outside the UK. ‘NBC are buzzing with excitement about Miss Boyle’s performance,’ said a member of the production company. ‘All the networks have been putting in requests for her to appear on their shows, but it seemed fitting that she should make her US TV singing début on
America’s Got Talent
.’ Indeed, she could scarcely have chosen a more appropriate show. And so, in early September, Susan jetted off to LA, the celebrity capital of the world, where she got a first-hand glimpse of how much the United States loved her.

There was a massive crowd waiting for her at the airport, chanting her name and crying, ‘We love you, Susan.’ The crowd was held back, but one little fan managed to break through and give her a hug. Susan initially looked as if she could scarcely take in the reaction, but she soon recovered, beaming at the crowd, blowing them kisses and waving, before she was escorted into a waiting limousine. ‘I was delighted to be given such a warm welcome,’ she said afterwards. ‘It was really lovely for so many people to meet me. I’m totally overwhelmed.’

Once in LA, she was treated like the A-lister she’d become. Nothing was too much trouble. Susan and her newly acquired retinue were taken on a visit to Disneyland in Anaheim, California, where they were pictured enjoying the rides. Susan had a number of minders with her now, which was very necessary considering the fact that she was even more popular in the States than she was in the UK, and was regularly mobbed wherever she went.

Back in the UK, the debate raged as to whether or not Susan had been exploited, despite the fact that she was very publicly loving every minute of her new life. The latest person to wade into the debate - and there was no shortage of people prepared to do so - was Jean Rogers, the vice president of Equity, the actors’ union, who claimed that reality TV shows were nothing more than freak shows. ‘Susan Boyle was catapulted into fame by
Britain’s Got Talent
,’ she said, ‘which is the modern equivalent of the Victorian freak show. The truth is that Susan Boyle is a vulnerable and exploited middle-aged woman. Her fairytale did come true, but at a high physical and mental cost. This is not an excuse to get at Simon Cowell or anyone else who survived their apprenticeships and deserves their success. It’s about fairness. Everyone gets paid - everyone except the performers. The performers are workers in a highly competitive and exploitative industry where their hopes and dreams are manipulated. Britain has got talent . . . so let’s pay them.’

Rogers seems to have completely and fundamentally misunderstood the role of reality television and the contestants on the show. Susan Boyle - the ‘vulnerable and exploited middle-aged woman’ - was now an international star, and as we’ve often repeated in this book, she had no desire to go back to her old life. She’d spent decades trying to fight her way out of it, and having been presented with the opportunity of a lifetime, she had seized it with both hands. As for paying the contestants, well that was what they were: contestants. No one was forcing them to enter the competition and the rewards, if they did manage to win or get noticed, were very great indeed.

Back in LA, the last thing Susan would have wanted was for the likes of Jean Rogers to stop her appearing on the television screen. Her performance on
America’s Got Talent
, which was watched by 25 million viewers, was an absolute triumph. She performed ‘I Dreamed A Dream’, as well as ‘Wild Horses’ - the first time she had sung the number in public. It was later released as a single and went some way towards addressing the critics who had complained that she only ever sang two songs, ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ and ‘Memory’ - she was clearly capable of a great deal more. Susan looked the part, as well: she was clad in an elegant black gown and sang in front of a full orchestra. Unsurprisingly, she got a standing ovation.

Many of the reviews for her appearance pointed out what an outstanding performer she’d become. ‘Watch out Mariah [Carey], there’s a new diva in town!’ wrote one critic, while the
Los Angeles Times
said, ‘Time to take Susan seriously. She should no longer be considered a sideshow. She should be appreciated for her singing ability.’ ‘She wasn’t even a competitor, but Susan Boyle arguably stole the finale of
America’s Got Talent
,’ added The Huffington Post, while the website E! Online agreed: ‘Who won
America’s Got Talent
? Besides Susan Boyle, that is.’

Piers Morgan was there to witness Susan’s latest triumph. By now she was becoming something of an established showbiz hand, and was able to have a chat with him behind the scenes. Susan was certainly living the lifestyle, too. She was staying at the swanky Hotel Bel Air, and was seen on a shopping trip to upmarket department store Barneys, a favourite with the
Sex And The City
girls. It helped that Cowell was in town and was a part of it all: Susan had come to rely on him and to trust him, too.

Susan’s brother Gerry also seemed happier about the way things were going. ‘She is in a great place right now and very confident about her career at this point as her new album apparently sounds excellent,’ he said. ‘This is a totally different set of circumstances [from before] and Susan is totally more relaxed. She’s in a great place. Simon Cowell is going to meet with her in America and he has assured us that he will do everything he can to protect Susan and to promote her in the correct fashion. I know Simon has a surly reputation, but I think he is a very trustworthy person who has my sister’s best interests at heart.’

Susan had another triumphant return to Britain. She was feeling so much better now that she was able to talk about the strain she’d been under and even about her stay in The Priory. ‘With no pressure and then suddenly having all this pressure I found it suffocating,’ she told the
Daily Record
. ‘I don’t remember much after the final. All I do remember is being put in an ambulance and taken to a clinic. I was tired. I look back now and it was a necessity because I was so tired. I used to be a kind of spectator looking outward at the world. Now I am part of that world. I am not frightened, I am going to embrace it because I feel a bit more confident in myself. I am more able to cope, more able to take part in the dream. I’m ready to get there and get on with it now. I am not the wee frightened lassie I used to be.’

Could there have been any more vigorous proof that Susan’s life had been totally transformed by reality TV? There was frenzied speculation in the press that Susan would end up bigger than the Beatles, not least because she’d cracked the notoriously difficult American market with no effort at all.

Meanwhile, back in the UK Susan was being pitched head first against none other than Robbie Williams in the race for the number one slot in the Christmas album charts. Ironically, Robbie had spent years trying and failing to crack the American market - something Susan had done with ease - and it was another indication of how far she had come that she was being tipped to win the race.

‘No contest. It is Susan Boyle,’ said the veteran music industry commentator Paul Gambaccini. ‘That is not an insult to Robbie Williams, it is just that, bizarre as it sounds, Boyle is the new-artist story of the year around the world. The interest factor alone will bring her many, many sales.’

Was there anything this extraordinary Scottish lady couldn’t do?

By late September, Susan’s reputation as a star in her own right had been sealed. Early criticism that she only ever sang two songs had been drowned out by the medley of tunes she’d performed in the past couple of months - the critics didn’t seem to realize that she was obliged to sing only those two songs, because she was on the
Britain’s Got Talent
tour, rather than a tour of her own. There was also no slowdown in the number of stars stepping up to the plate to profess their admiration for her. Jon Bon Jovi became the latest - and perhaps most unlikely - star to express a desire to work with her.