Judges: Slip-ups Made Boyle More Loveable

Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden: They Just Made Her More Human

(CBS)  Instant international superstar Susan Boyle did it again, giving another memorable performance in her return to "Britain's Got Talent."

But, observes CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips, what wound up as a triumphant performance didn’t start out that way.

It's one thing, Phillips says, to step onto a stage as a complete unknown. It's another to know the whole world is watching. And when Boyle stepped out this time, for at least the first few notes, the nerves seemed to show.

Her singing was slightly off.

“ ‘Memory,” ’ the well-worn number she chose from ‘Cats,’ may not have been the best vehicle for her style,” Phillips says, “but with the encouragement of an audience already won over, and judges who know a box office hit when they see one, Boyle soon hit her stride.

“She has a set of pipes that can sell anything.”

The Boyle phenomenon is now a worldwide event, Philips notes. YouTube hits on her first appearance on the show are now “impossible to count, somewhere north of 50 million. If Susan gets a haircut or buys a new outfit, millions gasp, ‘Is she changing?’ Is the innocence gone?’
“Susan may have the look of a deer in the head lights, but she's a deer who can still sing. And a deer who is coming to terms with celebrity.”
After her performance, she cheerfully remarked, “More pressure. It was really good tonight!”

And two “Britain’s Got Talent” judges who spoke with Early Show co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez Monday certainly agreed.

“I really have to say,” observed Amanda Holden, “that when she came out, knowing everyone was assuming such, you know, such high hopes for her, and when she came out and stumbled over the first few notes, I nearly died. My heart was in my mouth. And I just was like, ‘Oh, my God, no. This is all gonna go completely wrong and it's gonna go the other way.’ And then I saw her put her hand on her diaphragm and just center herself, and then she nailed it.

“And actually, I think it added more charm that she kind of went wrong at the beginning. I think it added jeopardy, and you kind of loved her more, because she's still the same person. She still gets nervous. She still realizes this is a massive opportunity.”

Piers Morgan agreed, telling Rodriquez, “She was wonderful last night. She was so overexcited. It was wonderful to see. And she knew in those first seconds she'd nearly blown it. And the whole world went, ‘Ooh, what's gonna happen?’ And then by the end, she was hitting those big notes fantastically.”

Her showing some crack sunder pressure, Morgan added, “made her more likable. I think it's made her more vulnerable. When you have the edited audition show (her first “Britain’s Got Talent” appearance), it's always going to look more perfect than a live environment. When she came out last night, she knew for the first time, as she walked to the microphone, that the whole world quite literally was watching her. Imagine the pressure. This is a little old lady from Scotland!

“ ... I think this pressure got to her for a couple of seconds. And then, literally, as Amanda said, you saw her go right, and in she came again, and that's the sign of a true champion. I think she's going all the way. I think it was part of the amazing journey.”

[PWattis]

Amanda Holden is a liability to the CBS Early Show. She cruelly mocked and imitated Susan Boyle on a British comedy show called "Chatty Man" in an episode which aired on Sunday August 16th. A video can be viewed on YouTube. Ms. Holden is a judge on Britain's Got Talent. Susan Boyle was a contestant. This was unprofessional and unethical behavior on the part of a judge toward a contestant. It reflects a betrayal of an implicit, if not explicit, trust that should exist between a talent show judge and contestant. I and many other fans of Susan Boyle will boycott CBS and its sponsors until Amanda Holden is no longer a correspondent with the CBS Early Show.

[MartyPA]

Don't you just love the idiots that say Susan is a planned TV creation and we're all being fooled?
Right, she lived 47 years of her life just to audition for BGT and fool everyone.
The way the media has been trying to dig up some dirt on her, and spent 6 weeks in her village, I'd think that by now someone would have spoken up.
It's almost impossible to believe there are so many completely ignorant people in the world.
As well as hard of hearing.

[MartyPA]

I was petrified for Susan.
She did a fantastic job and handled herself like a pro.
Even Barbra Streisand is terrified of singing live.
This woman not only has a beautiful voice but an amazing courage.
All the best to you Susan.?

[arohanui-2009]

Little old lady be damned. Talk about type casting!

[tmonta67]

Attention PIERS MORGAN: Brits are not supposed to be rednecks in their observations; one of the reasons we stayed on good terms with you after the Revolution was your charm and sensitivity:

"Little OLD lady from Scotland??"

Holy CRAP man, she's only 47. And how old might YOU be, Mr Atlas? :)

You're still likeable. But if you're having trouble getting dates on a Saturday night, I might venture a guess as to why....

[sharoncalla]

Hi to Susan from the USA, I loved your performance and that new hair color wow, you go girl, then YES you do have what it takes. I loved those twist, all three made me laugh. This is a story like Cinderella live and in action, you have waited soooo looong for this and you deserve to sing for the Queen. I am sure you will have a lovely visit, I hope they show footage of it and the world gets to see this if only to share your joy. Another awesome day in the life of Susan Boyle. The best of luck and I am sure the Queen will like whatever you sing. Enjoy that day to the fullest, and yes MOM is proud of YOU!!!

[willow0313]

The problem is there are even more millions of people who DO care if the woman looks good or not. I didn't create that situation and if you deny it then you're an idiot.

I would argue with you that Barbara Streisand, Amy Winehouse and Janis Joplin are/were as unattractive as Boyle, but that aside, they all have/had brains, charisma and huge talent. Boyle has none of those, she's just a competent singer. Boyle is a carefully planned TV creation simply to get ratings and phone votes from fools like you.
Posted by hower4 at 2:14 AM : May 26, 2009
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Seems to me that you are the idiot!!

[mjb89]

I wonder what she will sing for the Queen?

[perm3800a]

I noticed that, just in this brief clip, there are several tracks playing under her singing. In one spot, at least one track of her own voice is backing her up (at a point where the 'live' voice appears rather 'thin'.) I have heard the files of her singing jazz and I think that would be a better fit for her than all this ALW crab she has been singing. Weber likes to torture his singers' voices.

[sam-kiley]

bonjour
un grand bravo a susan boyle elle nous encore une fois fait rever, pendant quelques minutes nous avons voyagé avec elle dans un monde féerique, le voyage vient seulement de commencer pour elle..bonne chance ses fans a travers le monde et ils se comptent par millions..la soutiendront jusqu'au bout..
bravo encore
au revoir

[orsands]

Posted by hower4 at 1:16 AM : May 26, 2009
Like it or not, women need good looks to succeed.
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And what cave did you just crawl out of? Since when do women need good looks to succeed? One of the richest women in the world -Oprah- is not exactly a beauty queen. And if you were referring solely to musical artists only-you are still way off the mark. A good many opera singers are not exactly "beautiful". How about Barbara Streisand, Amy Winehouse or Janis Joplin?
You may be so shallow that you need the voice to match the face, but there are millions of us who have no problem listening to the sound of a beautiful voice and could care less if the person singing is "pretty" or not.

[CarolKraft]

She faltered for 2-3 seconds. What's the big deal. True professionals know this can happen in live performances. Take a look at the comments made by Rene in Piers Morgans Blog, she is a professional singer, voice trainer, and judge who gave an outstanding critique of Susan's Memories performance. I, myself, was in figure skating competitions. It is not how you falter, or what she falter on, it is how well you can bring it all together smoothly and Susan by all means went on to a fantastic performance. Judges look for the all round best performance and your personality helps a great deal in that rating. The public should stand back and take a closer look at the overall picture before racing to any hasty thoughts..opps she made one mistake. Susan in my opinion responded very well to the audience and brought the house down once again and sang beautifully on this very difficult piece. She wanted to top her Dream a Dream performance with Memories and she did accomplish this. Susan can and will sing whatever she wants in the final performance and it will be great! The judges nor anyone should fret no further on this.

[jackster12-2009]

To whomever made the "then you'll be giving yet more money" comment, tell that story to Paul Potts. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Potts) He's doing very well now, thank you. Besides, it's clear you don't know any singers yourself. I'm married to one. And even if she didn't get penny one from the sale of a CD (though of course that wouldn't be ideal), she'd be thrilled to know they were selling.

[sbfan87]

Piers
Please, please rethink your comment about Susan doing I dreamed a dream again for the finals. And Susan please hear me. I think you are awesome. But it would be a terrific risk to redo I dreamed a dream for the finals. Susan did such a phenomenal job with it and there are circumstances which help make it such a success that could not be duplicated - mainly the unexpectedness of its power. Yes, yes, yes we want to hear it again - over and over. But Olympic figure skaters and gymnastics pracice over and over to nail routines and do so in practice only to flounder in competition. The great Yul Brenner of The King and I fame once commented that he enjoyed doing the live performances because every performance was a bit different by nature. Susan - if you try to redo I dreamed the dream live for this competition it will be difficult if not impossible to do it exactly the same way and you risk problems when doing it live that it will be compared to your flawless first performance. If you perform something else and there is a problem it will not seem as bad.

[Meg003]

Her voice is lovely and she is getting the chance to share it with audiences. That is a major difference between Susan Boyle and so many other singers. Most people are not willing to put forth the effort and expose themselves to the risk of this type of competition.

In the same way, many people could claim they could write just as well as their favorite authors. The difference is between having the potential and going out there and doing something about it, then getting that lucky break that can happen only when you are persistent.

I'm loving her success and hope she will continue to get opportunities to perform, for that is want she seems to want most: to share her beautiful voice with people.

[rwsmith29456]

Even Pavarotti had bad days.

[ricmarc2001]

"................ then you'll be giving yet more money to the very rich men who are controlling this pathetic TV show and the world media circus around it. In less than a year she will be old news with no singing career, and maybe enough money to buy a small house in Scotland if she's lucky. Guess who will be a few million dollars richer?

Why do you think this woman got through the auditions? There are thousands of women working the small musical productions and clubs in the UK who sing just as well as she does. "

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there is one in every bunch who just has to **** on the parade.

[ROBACA]

Susan Boyle is an amazing person and has such a wonderful spirit. For those who do not recognize that should keep their opinions to themselves. She apparently never trusted her ability or she would have found a way to succeed earlier in life. I do wish her all the best. She is a beautiful person with a beautiful voice to match.

[ricmarc2001]

this little old man(51!) LOVES susan boyle. she has that vocal quality that you just have to love. listen to her not watching the screeen with your back turned. she sings like an angel.

[hetup-2009]

Just wonderful, all the best to Susan Boyle.