Sunday, April 12, 2009

Never judge a book by its cover

She is 47 and never been kissed, but a mild-mannered church worker is being hailed as Britain's next singing superstar. Susan Boyle astonished the judges at the auditions for ITV1 show Britain's Got Talent with her rendition of I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables.

Her eccentric ways and less than polished appearance drew sniggers from the audience when she first appeared on the stage, but they were mesmerised from the moment she broke into song and gave her a standing ovation.

Update: For reasons I don't fully understand, embedding of this video is now disabled. Sorry, but now you'll have to click here.



Simon Cowell pronounced her voice "extraordinary" and Amanda Holden was reduced to tears by hearing her sing. Fellow judge Piers Morgan said the performance was "without a doubt the biggest surprise I have had in three years of this show".

Miss Boyle, who does charity work for her local church in Bathgate, West Lothian, idolises Elaine Paige. "I'm trying to be a professional singer. I've never been given the chance before," she said. She is already one of the favourites to reach the final of the series, which began last night. She lives alone with her cat, Pebbles, and admits she has "never been married, never been kissed" - although stardom may change all that.

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