Why America Has a Crush on Susan Boyle

By Laura Ferreiro Posted Dec 16th 2009 09:00PM

Scottish songstress Susan Boyle seems poised to conquer the world. The unassuming 'Britain's Got Talent' star has already sold more than 1.8 million copies of her debut album 'I Dreamed a Dream' in its first three weeks of release in the U.S. (not to mention the millions she's sold worldwide). She also set an impressive record for the best first-week sales of any woman since SoundScan started tracking in 1991. If Boyle continues to sell albums at this pace, she'll likely steal Taylor Swift's crown as top selling artist of 2009.

So what is it about this homespun 47-year-old charity worker who lives alone with her cat that has us running to our nearest record store to pick up her debut album? We at PopEater checked in with some renowned pop music critics to see what all the fuss is about.

'Britain's Got Talent' Debut

'Oprah,' May 11

'America's Got Talent,' Sept. 16

It's Boyle's "every woman" quality that's so appealing believes Aidin Vaziri, San Francisco Chronicle's Pop Music Critic. "She's ordinary. She's like us. People can relate to her," he says. "When she got onstage to face Simon Cowell she brought a million office workers' daydreams to life. I think everyone who saw the ('Britain's Got Talent') video felt moved by it wanted to be part of the story and make sure it had a happy ending."

It's Boyle's "underdog" status combined with our obsession with reality show sagas that has us rooting for her says Gaylord Fields, Senior Editor of AOL Music. "Susan Boyle's story is a classic underdog tale -- yet one that played out in front of the entire world," said Fields. "It embodies a couple of popular reality-show trends in one: it's a music competition coupled with a makeover story, with a hint of medical program savant syndrome thrown in."

"Shows such as 'American Idol' and 'Britain's Got Talent' are as interested in a potential star's looks as much as their talent," said pop music critic Stephen Humphries. "Boyle managed to up-end all that. Dowdy and close to age 50, she seemed to have no right to be trying out for a market most interested in youth and sex appeal. But her voice trumped all that. I think the fact that Boyle isn't a particularly self-confident or precocious person only added to her underdog appeal."

Fields concurs that it is these personal attributes that make Boyle so relatable. "The juxtaposition of Boyle's one-in-a-million voice with her modest looks and her seeming simplicity and innocence add up to something unique -- and ultimately relatable," he says.

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Susan Boyle Snapshots

Susan Boyle performs with gusto during a French TV show on Dec. 9. See More BoyleShots >>

ELIOT PRESS/bauergriffinonline.com

Susan Boyle Snapshots

FILE - In this undated file image released by TV Guide Network, Susan Boyle sings "I Dreamed A Dream" with the London West End cast of "Les Miserables," in a performance that will be featured in "I Dreamed A Dream: The Susan Boyle Story," airing Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009, at 8:00 p.m. EST on the TV Guide Network. (AP Photo/TV Guide Network, Joel Anderson/talkbackThames 2009)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

COLOGNE, GERMANY - DECEMBER 12: Susan Boyle performs during the 3rd semi final of the TV show 'Das Supertalent' on December 12, 2009 in Cologne, Germany. (Photo by Stefan Menne/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Susan Boyle

Getty Images

In this undated image released by TV Guide Network, Susan Boyle sings "I Dreamed A Dream" with the London West End cast of "Les Miserables," in a performance that will be featured in "I Dreamed A Dream: The Susan Boyle Story," airing Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009, at 8:00 p.m. EST on the TV Guide Network. (AP Photo/TV Guide Network, Joel Anderson/talkbackThames 2009)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

** RECROPPED VERSION OF NYET826 ** In this undated image released by TV Guide Network, Susan Boyle sings "I Dreamed A Dream" with the London West End cast of "Les Miserables," in a performance that will be featured in "I Dreamed A Dream: The Susan Boyle Story," airing Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009, at 8:00 p.m. EST on the TV Guide Network. (AP Photo/TV Guide Network, Joel Anderson/talkbackThames 2009)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

©BAUER-GRIFFIN.COM ***NO CANADA RIGHTS*** Susan Boyle wears a beautiful sequined dress when she performs on a French TV show hosted by Michel Drucker and Anne Roumanoff. NON-EXCLUSIVE December 9, 2009 Job: 63528EW Paris, France www.bauergriffin.com www.bauergriffinonline.com

ELIOT PRESS/bauergriffinonline.com

Interestingly, Boyle is bucking current record sales trends. While most artists are selling more digital than physical copies of their albums, Boyle has people rushing out to traditional brick and mortar stores. Humphries has a theory as to why this might be the case. "Boyle's success comes down to older shoppers who still buy CDs and who only buy one album a year when they're out doing their Christmas shopping," he says. "In past years, this older demographic -- the type that gets its music fix from PBS -- has bought millions of copies of albums by the likes of Michael Bublé and Josh Groban. Her album seems perfectly suited to this market, from boomer-era songs ('Wild Horses') to show tune ballads."

So does this plain Jane songbird have what it takes to stick around and keep her music career soaring? Vaziri's not so sure. "I think most of the people who bought her album just wanted a souvenir of the moment," he says. "I'm guessing most of them probably buy one or two records a year and will have moved onto the next thing by the time they wear out this album."

Fields, however, is a bit more optimistic. "As Boyle is not packaged as any sort of visual image that can date her, there is little worry of her becoming passé as a trend," he says. "Also, she is presenting a repertoire of classic songs, so her biggest concern is to avoid being considered a novelty act. With her talent, there are literally thousands of songs she can handle with ease and comfort. The biggest thing that can hamper her career is if she's no longer willing to put up with the demands of stardom, as she does come off as emotionally fragile at times. It seems long-term success is hers to accept or reject."

Tags: american idol, AmericanIdol, britains got talent, BritainsGotTalent, I Dreamed A Dream, michael buble, MichaelBuble, simon cowell, SimonCowell, susan boyle, SusanBoyle, TaylorSwift

Comments

(233)

Wednesday 16 December

By mcwreiole

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Ms. Boyle not only is a stunning recording artist but such a natural for Broadway or the London Theater...I hope that's where she will perform next.

Sunday 20 December

By BL

Any Daniel probably likes the no talent likes of Kayne, Lady Ga-ga and other egomaniacs!

Go Susan. It is SO REFRESHING to have GROWN UP music for the masses again!!!

By Qtztutz

Daniel--don't you have a trailer to hose down somewhere?

By Big Johnson

Lowest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

I was Susan's flatmate in Glasgow several years ago...she became obsessed with "developing a distinct talent", as she put it....she had received a biography of "Le Petomane" for Christmas, the story of the French flatulent who could sing, blow water, talk etc. out of his ass, and you could see the little light bulb go off....she excitedly told me, "If he can do it I can do it!...after all I'm a Scot!"....so she began to practice diligently after work, hour after hour, day after day, to the point of exhaustion...Susan is very tenacious after all, as anyone who knows her can attest...eventually she became able to "sing" little short tunes, make a dog-like barking sound, and form the word "hello", with which she would greet people....she ultimately became very discouraged and sad, because people would either burst out laughing or make puzzled and slightly disgusted faces....she tearfully told me, "No one is taking my art seriously, and after all this work"....that's when she decided to switch to singing, and the rest as they say is history...

By Val

I know Daniel's problem...he has a little willie.

By Susan Fan

Besides which, he's a bag of douche!

By quantumdriven

Count me OUT of this "Crush" business! I'd bang Jude Law before I'd touch this chick, euuuuuu.

By cb

wow white folks finally have a hero...since most of the time they can't sing worth a damn! But please will somebody put a bag over this cows face!

By Cindy

Well, Big Johnson, forgive me if I don't believe you. You stated several years ago Susan started to try and develop an unconventional talent and when she wasn't taken seriously, she switched to singing. But from what I've read, heard, etc., singing is what she's done for well over 20 years. So your story is suspicious.

By Sunshine

I'm sick and tired of Susan Boyle. What a joke!

By Robert

Her music is for the ears of class people, not the gansta rap crap crowd. They would not know a b flat from a hi c other than smoking it.

Sunday 31 January

By Debbie

Susan Boyle is the classic underdog story. A woman of incredible talent who would be overlooked because there was no marketing machine behind her. She can actually sing and it was wonderful to see her audition in front of Simon. She may be popular because of YouTube..... but she deserves to be.

By GranJudi

Get over it, guys. Susan Boyle's TALENT -- a marvelous voice -- is why people are buying her CD -- to play at home (while doing 'chores'), play in the car while driving, etc. It is a great story, but it is an even greater VOICE! AND it is a great gift -- easy to wrap, inexpensive, and easy to mail -- to friends and relatives who LOVE A GREAT VOICE. Yeesh. What is so hard to understand about that?

By Lindy

Here! Here! Would she have merited our attention if she'd stood on the BGT stage and bayed like a hound? I think not. The woman can sing the socks off most of the pretenders who grace the reality show circuit. Her voice makes us "dream a dream" as we listen to its purity. The rest of the package - the homespun innocence and genuine humility - well, that just makes us feel good.

By Hill

Yeah, I bought her CD for my mom for Christmas. Shhh!

By jeanne cogswell

I asked for her cd for Christmas!!!!

By maria

Thank you...I don't know why people are so critical of this woman because she is plain..People like that are the ones that are aestetically impaired, and need to put others down to make themselves feel secure.
Why are people so f|_|cked up??

By George Hall

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This is for that black idiot who proclaimed that "white folks" finally have a "hero' who can sing. This is for YOU black boy: Your people took over American music from people like Jane Froman, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, et.al. only because white people ALLOWED you to. And you talk about her appearance....... Do you know that the ugliest people God put on this planet are BLACK?

By Mandi Pinni

The reason why many people love Susan is obvious: she's got NATURAL talent. While its okay to look and admire the plasticated, young, flashy, half a minute female singers, dancers and actresses (see today's above picture under 'PopStew' for a VERY good example) sometimes the buying public only wants to see and hear..real TALENT.

By Slaughterhouse

send her back What a Cow

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