Susan Boyle: Bigger Than the Super Bowl?

Does this mean we're going to see more shameless advertising in more obvious ways, so that advertisers make sure they get in on that cultural moment? I don't recall noticing any advertisers, but if someone had their logo up in the background of the stage, there's 100 million times that logo got extra air time.

If she hadn't been so unfortunate looking no one would have cared. She's sang in other places again and again, and she's just not THAT talented... if she looked like most of the American Idol contestants she wouldn't have made it to the top 24. So yes, I agree that it's patronizing.
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People seem terribly inspired by it, but it just looks so staged to me... the over the top sweeping cameras, the cued standing ovations... Isn't that the kind of thing (so Big, SO FREAKING BIG) that England typically makes fun of us for?
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As for bigger than the super bowl, keep in mind that those 1,000,000 hits are not unique... Many people are apparently watching it in a loop. It doesn't take away from your point though.

Rorschach,
Shouldn't you be out drowning a bag full of puppies?
p.s. I'm sure you are "fortunate looking", but just wait about 40 years.

Ten years ago, her recording of "Cry Me a River" (I believe) was beautiful. She has talent and her story is something that we need in the midst of all the other 'talent' which has taken over our airwaves and culture. It's a matter of taste and values.

On the one-hand it's true that her homeliness got her noticed but on the other, even if an average to attractive looking girl walked up and sang what she did, it would still be impressive. She may not get a music contract but that doesn't take away from her.

It is bigger than the superbowl, even without the unique hits, she's a hit across countries, gender and age... which cannot be said of the "prized" superbowl.

I don't see any reason to be bitter or pan her for having the gall to do something she's always wanted to try in her life. She's inspiring because she breaks stereotypes of what we think we know or can expect from people. People are judged so much by looks, money, job, school.

People keep complaining about it being staged as if that's an automatically bad thing and we were all dupes. Isn't that what we love about reality TV, taking some slice of reality, however little, and packaging it for our entertainment? Nobody wants surveillance cam footage. Susan Boyle really can sing and really is charming, and then (as James astutely points out) those facts were packaged into a fantastic story. Both the real and the artificial were needed to make it as compelling as it was.

I'm not necessarily knocking it. I won't lie, I was touched when I watched it the first time, and I quickly showed my friends. It doesn't change anything I wrote though.
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And I'm hardly 'fortunate' looking, but I would be just as humiliated to be rewarded for it than to be mocked for it.

[...] Poniewozik, TV-Blogger -Journalist bei der TIME, über massenmediale Erlebnisse in der fragmentierten Online-Öffentlichkeit anlässlich ..., einer britischen [...]

It really bothers me how everyone is a "hero" for doing anything. A woman gets up and sings and she's a hero.

What about the doctors in the ER that save lives every day? What about the police and firemen who risk there lives to protect us every day? These people are just as deserving as a woman who gets up and sings, but are they all over the media?

What she did was courageous and unexpected, but a hero? Are we that desperate for heros?

...hero for proving her talent despite her outward appearance?????

No, you don't get it. Susan Boyle, at 47, shows how strong and at peace one can be despite circumstances that put millions on anti-depressants. Here we have a hero for inspiring us by example. She smiles brightly and walks on air, regardless of the fact that she is currently seeking employment, living alone never having married, and continuing a 35 year pursuit to be a professional singer. The millions who are sad even though they have so much, those who give up and feel sorry not to have met a goal, and those who are down and out due to external can look and see that peace isn't as hard to find as we sometimes believe. It is a perfect example of how our perceptions are everything. Happiness isn't so hard to find if you love yourself enough and are true to yourself. Susan is an example of YOUR ONE AND ONLY LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE OF IT.

damn you JP! I'd managed to avoid watching that video, but when you wrote about it, I figured I'd have to watch.
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and it is grossly manipulative, and the fact is she really didn't sing it that well -- she lost the low notes, and was repeatedly "pitchy" throughout.
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here's how the song should be done...

Boyle is a good singer, and yes, i also believe she was being exploited and the judging a patronizing effort. Though despite all said and done, Boyle is indeed of humble nature, with a refreshing sense of confidence, and i feel this is what has drawn millions of people into her arena, speaking mainly of her ability to take stage and present herself to the world through her very own eyes. This tells me we all need to stop eliminating ourselves from any type of competition based on what we think we might lack in the way of popularity as dictated by the media. The media is constantly trying to "upgrade" the human appearance, whether it be through makeovers of our less-than-perfect selves or our so called inability to live up to expectations through a society hell-bent on pouring a "perfect" mold in defining what is attractive. Boyle should be praised for her unrehearsed lesson that it's who we are from the inside out that influences the makings for a better, less judgmental world.

There's more to the story...
1) The piece was highly edited, which took some planning, even scripting. The 7 minute clip is a mini-movie, complete with 3 acts, strong characters, and background music. They chose just the right clips to build her story, and increase the drama. They gave Simon just the right questions to ask in act 1. And they added lots of background/theme music to acts 1 and 3 to diminish expectations before she sang, and increase the drama thereafter. This perfect and amazing piece of television is what took off online... but first it had to be created. Credit the producers and editors for a great job.

2) The song she sang had a lot to do with the drama of it all. She "dreamed a dream"... after Simon had just asked her "what's the dream?" She "dreamed that love would never die"... after just telling us that she's never been kissed, never experienced romantic love. She spoke of when she was "young and unafraid"... after we'd just learned that she is 47 years old... reminding us of both her lost youth, and our own. "And still I dream he'll come to me"... her defiant hope in the face of inexorable age and a life of loneliness. And then the ineffable sadness of "there are dreams that cannot be"... sadness that is not hers... she's happy with her life... but ours.

This was a perfect coming together of many, many elements... a perfect storm of extremely powerful communication.

One more thing: I've watched the clip several times now. And I came to compare the two women we see... Susan and Amanda. I've come to think of AMANDA, not Susan, as the funny-looking one. Her eyebrows are... not human, folks. Her face is too perfectly made up, her nose just so, her hair so unnaturally prepared. Put it all together and it's Amanda who looks like a nutjob (which she is not, of course). If you step back from our preconceptions, Amanda is as weird-looking as those native women we sometimes see on Discovery, wearing monster rings in their faces and such. We've just gotten used to all the weirdness that women do to their bodies these days, and we THINK that's beautiful. After looking at Susan awhile... she's the normal, good-looking one. It's everyone else who looks funny.

I believe it a blanket statement to say that all those who have commented positively on the Susan Boyle segment did so out of patronizing. Patronizing implies condescension, a claim of inferiority.

I think a lot of people who made positive comments did not do so out of a premise of inferiority, but kudos to the underdog. In making the comments they are say to themselves (and others) that, had they been in her position (with her appearance or their own) they may not have had such courage, determination, with a calm, cheerful demeanor.

There is no implication from the majority of commenters, that she deserves credit out of some disproportion between her looks and her talent, but if anything, *the contrast between how she was treated before and after she sang, which, like it or not, was based on her outward appearance.* You can't change what the hecklers on the video were criticizing. And if I were to say, "good for you for showing your stuff and acting above their level, I hope you do well," I hardly believe that to be patronizing.

The segment isn't of her merely walking up to the stage and singing well, and walking away. The segment is of her getting heckled by the host, the audience, and indeed the judges themselves, followed by her giving a great performance, followed by the aforementioned eating their words.

Like it seemed you were implying towards the end of your article, if anything, this segment was practically constructed to elicit a "good for you" response. But to say such responses would then come out of a patronizing and condescending attitude makes little sense. The responses come from a sense of "you showed them, Susan!" People like it when an underdog can show the naysayers a thing or two, because everybody can relate to the underdog, at least at some part in their lives. A lot of successful books, TV, and media can attribute their success to some level of "successful underdog" premise. This is no different, but it isn't predicated on condescension at all.

James, kudos to you for unplugging on vacation.

I agree with amrinarl (5:20p.m.). And this is about HOPE and JOY in a time when it is difficult to feel that sometimes!

... regardless of whether or not her act was staged, when you tally up the number of people giving positive feedback and taking into account my opinion as stated previously, the world is a better place because of Susan Boyle's act. It has gotten the majority to think more positively about presenting ourselves as we are, and being satisfied with that.

And poor Simon; now he is in the position of saying it is not a one horse race. Sorry! It is.

omg, it just feels SO GOOD to see someone talented instead of whores

Whatever happened behind the scenes -- true or not -- the fact is Susan Boyle had the magic voice for that perfect song that she delivered with aplomb. The voice (which happened to belong to Susan Doyle) and the song combined to drive some of us to tears . . . as I was. Why take that away from her? She's not a hero by any means but she's on the way to becoming OUR folk hero . . . the unattractive, virginal, down-to-earth duckling from some far-away village who has managed to stay unspoiled.

Does anyone else get the strange tingly Deja Vu feeling here. Almost like we've seen this exact same song and dance before. Only, last time, it was a goofy looking guy who came onstage to giggles and disbelief. He then proceeded to belt out an opera number in grand fashion, complete with teary-eyed female judge and standing ovation from the crowd.
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Or there was the young girl (4 or 5 years old) who nervously crept onto stage and gave her perfect rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Again complete with teary-eyed female judge and standing ovation from the crowd.
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I don't exactly follow the Brittan Idol, or whatever show this is... but I would expect to hear about another well crafted "OMG THIS AVERAGE/HOMELY LOOKING PERSON IS SO AMAZING" moment in about 6 months.

Why is everyone so cynical?? So what if it was beautifully edited to make it more dramatic. This isn't a freak show. This is a real person, a woman who seems content with herself and her goal. She doesn't claim to hit every note with perfection, she just loves to sing. It's clear, otherwise she wouldn't have kept it up for the past 35 years, regardless of whether or not she had her 15 minutes. Why can't the world celebrate? Why can't we enjoy and share with others the opportunity to witness first hand someone's simple dream come true? Why must so many people try to make it more than it is? This isn't a trick being played on the world. We are uplifted by this story. Don't deny millions of people a simple pleasure of feeling good for someone.

[...] How much was it engineered by Simon Cowell – they can only have pretended to be hearing her for the first? See good article in TIME by James Poniewozik [...]

Perhaps if I were a sports fan the Super Bowl comparison might work for me, but sorry, Susan Boyle is a woman that has managed to touch us PERSONALLY. I understand that to try and measure her impact one might compare the number of hits, (baseball anyone?), but surely we are talking about the measure of our ability to connect PERSONALLY to the dynamics of all that she has accomplished in a matter of minutes, which will end up being how many millions of people worldwide in realtime, "right now".

[...] http://tunedin.blogs.time.com/2009/04/20/susan-boyle-bigger-than-the-super-bowl/ Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Susan Boyle - Singer - Britains Got Talent 2009 (With Lyrics)No TitleThe Growth of CommunicationSusan Boyle Mania Hits 30 Million Page Views on YouTube! [...]

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