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Euphoria, unease at UK web singing sensation Boyle
Mon Apr 20, 2009 10:13am EDT
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By Mike Collett-White
LONDON (Reuters) - A middle aged Scottish spinster with untamed hair and a plain-spoken manner has captivated millions of music lovers and confounded celebrity watchers with her rise to fame after appearing on a British TV talent show.
Susan Boyle, at 47, became one of the world's hottest celebrities virtually overnight after her rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" on "Britain's Got Talent" this month.
She has appeared on Larry King Live in the United States and in countless newspaper and internet articles. The clip of her song has been viewed around 50 million times on website YouTube.
But while most people see her story as a fairytale, some say it casts an unflattering light on the public and its preconceived notions about beauty and fame.
They argue that the reason Boyle, who lives alone with her cat, became the instant star she has was because she did not look or behave like a "typical" celebrity.
"Sadly it all Boyles down to image" said Miranda Sawyer in a commentary piece for the Daily Mirror tabloid.
"No woman gets to perform publicly unless she looks like Mariah Carey. If you're a female singer, you are required by showbiz law to appear sexy at all times."
Tanya Gold, writing in the Guardian broadsheet, asked: "Is Susan Boyle ugly? Or are we?
"By raising this Susan up, we will forgive ourselves for grinding every other Susan into the dust. It will be a very partial and poisoned redemption. Because Britain's Got Malice."
Some descriptions of Boyle underlined media prejudices about beauty and age, critics said, with Boyle referred to variously as "frumpy," "dowdy," with "several double chins" and, in Britain's Daily Mail, as a "hairy angel."
There has also been lively debate about what Boyle should do to build on her success -- stay as she is or have a makeover.
APOLOGIES, CONCERNS
A few celebrity watchers have rushed to confess that they, like the "Britain's Got Talent" audience on the night, had expected Boyle to founder because of the way she looked.
"She pierced my defenses," said Lisa Schwarzbaum of U.S. publication Entertainment Weekly. "She reordered the measure of beauty. And I had no idea until tears sprang how desperately I need that corrective from time to time."
Boyle's success bears similarities to Paul Potts, a tenor who appeared on the same show in 2007 and confounded expectations with his rendition of opera aria "Nessun Dorma." Continued...
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