Desperately Seeking Susan

Susan Boyle a runner up of Britain's Got talent 2009 bocome new seleb after all.

With over 100 million views on YouTube, appearances on Larry King Live and Oprah, a parody in The Simpsons and on Jay Leno, Susan Boyle has become a cultural phenomenon.

Everyone keeps going on about how amazing her voice is, and how can it come from somebody who looks like she does. In getting through to the finals, Susan has shown the world that, contrary to perceived wisdom and popular belief, talent can exist without good looks.

Susan defies every convention of beauty in the modern media; she is not thin, blonde or manicured. Her reception when she walked out on stage was such an exquisite example of the way in which we, as a society, vilify overweight people – projecting all sorts of negative assumptions on them because of their looks.

The audience members’ faces said it all: “She’s ugly, so she must not be talented.” She proved most doubters, myself included, that she wasn’t the train wreck we had eagerly anticipated, but actually had a good voice.

I am, however, going to be heretical and say she really isn’t that amazing; she is a talented singer but no where near as good as she is made out to be (grounds for crucifixion, I know, but please keep reading). Listening to her voice, without taking into account who is singing, is not akin to hearing an angel. It wasn’t anywhere near that standard, and was merely good.

The reason Susan has been so successful is because of all the media exposure she has received; if she had conformed to the expectation of beauty then she probably would not have received it – she would have been just another contestant on a reality TV talent show, which isn’t very newsworthy.

However, Susan is a welcome phenomenon; at a time when there is so much doom and gloom, she is a breath of fresh air. Hers is a story of the underdog no one expected to succeed, who has proved us wrong; she dispelled our preconceptions and succeeded where we expected her to fail.

Therefore, although she is not an amazing singer, her talent is far greater; it is the talent to inspire people the world over and, even more, she is just the light relief the doctor ordered.