Thank You, Susan Boyle

Unless you’ve spent the past week in a media blackout zone, you’ve undoubtedly heard about an unemployed, unmarried, unassuming middle-aged woman from Blackburn, Scotland, who went from unknown contestant on Britain’s Got Talent, to international singing sensation, courtesy of a YouTube clip that’s garnered over 100 million hits (and counting).

At a time when most of the world is in the midst of financial crisis, and millions are unemployed or feeling insecure in their employment, Susan Boyle’s soaring performance—a testament to the power of her raw, unpackaged talent--has provided an uplifting diversion, wrapped in a moral. She reminds us that dreams don’t come with an expiration date, and that youth and beauty are not prerequisites for success.  

When Boyle walked on stage, the audience chuckled at the sight of her. She could have been cast to play the maid in a 1940s movie, her hair a grayish-brown mop, her face framed by unpruned eyebrows and a double chin. She wore a flesh-colored dress that accentuated her boxy shape, dark stockings and white shoes. She was a head-to-toe Glamour don’t.

Simon Cowell asked her age, then rolled his eyes when she said, “I’m 47,” punctuating her answer with a wiggle of the hips. With that, Piers Morgan, another of the trio of judges, looked as though he just downed a glass of sour milk. But the real snickering came from the audience when Boyle declared, “I’m trying to be a professional singer.” The camera zoomed in on several young women who wore their disdain on their faces.