Susan Boyle comes 2nd, but she is still Number One to Millions around the World
Pastor Dale Morgan
From The Sunday Times
May 31, 2009*
Susan Boyle comes 2nd, but she is still Number One to Millions around
the World
Susan Boyle
Maurice Chittenden and Sara Dixon
SHE was the surefire favourite but last night Susan Boyle lost the
Britain’s Got Talent crown to a dance troupe in one of the most
surprising upsets for a television show in years.
After a week of negative stories about emotional outbursts by the
48-year-old spinster, Boyle received just over 20% of the 4m telephone
votes cast. The 10-piece dance act Diversity, from Essex and east
London, won with nearly 25% of the votes.
A stern-looking Boyle was magnanimous in defeat, stating: “The best
people won. They are very entertaining.”
In the past week Boyle has been the subject of a succession of critical
stories, which may have influenced opinion. She reportedly “blew up”
after Piers Morgan, one of the judging panel, said one of her close
rivals, 12-year-old Shaheen Jafargholi, had been the best singer in the
semifinals. She later had a slanging match with two tabloid reporters
before police intervened in the row in her hotel car park.
One of her competitors, Fred Bowers, a 73-year-old breakdancer, claimed
she alienated fellow contestants. “We realised she can be really
aggressive. One minute she’s laughing and then she turns.”
Musicians who played with Boyle for 20 years in Scotland have given
insights into her temperament, which suggest that while she may have the
fractured personality and inner turmoils of another Judy Garland or
Edith Piaf, she also has the steel to survive in the entertainment business.
The choice to repeat her opening hit, I Dreamed a Dream, which
catapulted her to global recognition, may also have played a part in
Boyle’s downfall. Other followers may have been put off paying for phone
votes by the belief Boyle was a certain winner.
No longer looking like the “Hairy Angel”, a look that endeared her to
millions, a simply elegant Boyle took to the stage in a grey-blue
sequinned floor-length shift dress.
The surprise result was a victory for bookmakers, which had taken more
than £3m in bets. A spokesman for William Hill said his company had made
a six-figure sum out of the upset. Boyle is heading for a recording
contract and a £5m fortune despite her loss.
Producers of the ITV show — who were hoping for an audience close to 20m
last night — helped to fly nephews, nieces and elderly aunts from
Scotland to bolster the singer. They moved her to a secret “safe house”,
where she was visited by her family.
An insider at the show said: “We are not like Big Brother, with
psychologists to study the contestants and then use every psychological
trick against them. Susan has all the support she needs. Her best friend
from school and church, a lovely lady who is a former social worker, is
with her all the time.”
Diversity, the winners, who formed two years ago and include three sets
of brothers, performed an energetic act in military-style jackets to
music inspired by the hit film Transformers. They fought off competition
from two other serious dance acts and the father-and-son comedy duo
Stavros Flatley. The saxophonist Julian Smith came third.
Ashley Banjo, Diversity’s lead dancer and choreographer,said: “I’m going
to wake up in a minute. Can I just say, thank you everyone who voted —
you’ve changed our lives.”
The switch in voting from Boyle to Diversity seems to have coincided
with Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden, two of the judges, telling Boyle
she would win. It echoes a rebellious streak seen in the voting in
previous talent shows.
Ellis Cashmore, professor of culture at Staffordshire University and
author of the book Celebrity Culture, said: “The public has got a huge
sense of empowerment now,” he said. “They know they can make or break
celebrities and they can be rebellious.”