Susan Boyle

Susan Boyle has turned down a move to Los Angeles to live with the rich and the famous, according to an article in today’s Sunday Express.

According to the article, Susan’s main reason for turning down the move is that she does not want to uproot her pet cat, Pebbles.

Executives at Sony Music offered Susan the opportunity to live in a £10 million rented mansion in a secure and exclusive California community after the most recent break in at her council home in Blackburn, West Lothian. However, Susan is worried that a move would upset Pebbles, saying: “Pebbles doesn’t want to move. She’s lived there all her life and cats hate upping sticks”.

A source from Sony was quoted as saying:

“Susan told us she couldn’t possibly be happy without her cat with her, even though we told her we’d fly Pebbles over here too. She seemed terribly sad but said she feared her pet might not survive the flight and, even if it did, might not settle by the ocean.

“She blew us away. We even offered her a housekeeper, assistant and a chauffeur but she stuck to her guns.”

Susan has lived in her ex council house home since she was born.

A friend of Susan’s said: “She is a home-buddy. I couldn’t see her leaving everyone she has here.”

However, not everyone thinks it would be a good idea for Susan to move to LA. Scottish presenter Ross King, who lives in Los Angeles, says she is better off staying where she is. He said: “LA is the toughest of tough towns to live in. There are people here who might try to take advantage of her. I think she would find it very very hard.”

Elaine Paige has said that she was “dismayed” to read the remarks attributed to her in the Daily Mail, and she said that the paper’s portrayal of what she said was “incomplete and misinterpreted completely.”

In her radio program on BBC Radio 2, Elaine added that she is a “huge supporter of Susan Boyle” and admires “what she has achieved”.

Elaine continued that Susan Boyle has “handled the extraordinary situation of being catapulted to worldwide stardom with tremendous strength, charm and dignity”.

She also said: “I thoroughly enjoyed working with her on the ITV special that we recorded together only last month.

“I’ve always said it’s very hard for someone to be fast tracked to stardom without any prior experience, and I know this because it happened to me when Evita opened.

“Today it’s so much harder with the phenomenom of the internet, Facebook and YouTube particularly, it seems that it only takes minutes for fame to spread around the world and that is why I used the word ‘virus’ – obviously a mistake because it was misinterpreted.

“But I wasn’t referring to Susan herself – I was referring to the speed of her fame spreading around the world.

“So Susan, I’ve always said and I continue to say that I support you and I admire you – keep up the good work, girl!”

You can listen to Elaine’s statement here:

Susan Boyle was interviewed on Dutch television on January 29th, on the TROS channel.

Interviewed in her own home by Ivo Niehe, Susan revealed that she had “never been happier” and was enjoying life “immensely”.

She added that she was still living in the same place which kept her grounded, and would be staying there: “Maybe not forever, but for a good bit”.

Pebbles, Susan’s cat, now lives with a lady called Pam in London, so that her life is not disrupted by Susan’s travel arrangements. However, Susan still sees her all the time.

You can watch the whole interview below. God bless the Dutch for speaking such perfect English and not dubbing Susan’s voice.

Simon Cowell’s cover version of REM’s “Everybody Hurts” to benefit Haiti earthquake victims will be released on February 7th.

In addition to Susan Boyle, other stars who are contributing to the single include Michael Bublé, Miley Cyrus, Rod Stewart, Kylie Minogue, Mariah Carey, Leona Lewis, Robbie Williams, Take That, Cheryl Cole, Jon Bon Jovi, Alexandra Burke, Mika, JLS and Westlife.

Some parts of the song were recorded in London, and others in Los Angeles.

The single will be available for download on February 7th and as a CD single on February 8th. It is already available for pre-order on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Half of the proceeds raised by the single will go to the Sun’s Helping Haiti fund and the rest will be donated to the Disasters Emergency Committee.

Here is a YouTube video of Susan Boyle singing “I Dreamed a Dream” at the Haiti fund raiser in Denmark. I think Susan looks particularly young and pretty on this video.

Susan Boyle has expressed a desire to sing for the Pope when he visits Glasgow this September, according to an article in today’s Daily Record.

She confided in Simon Cowell’s brother, Tony, that she would “drop everything” to entertain the Pope.

Tony told the Daily Record: “As Scotland’s first lady, she is the obvious choice. It would be a dream come true but she would drop everything if asked to perform for the Pope.”

It is thought that Pope Benedict XVI will make an address to thousands of worshippers on Glasgow Green during his trip on September 16th and 17th, 2010, although the Vatican has not yet confirmed the visit.

It is thought that the Vatican will make an announcement concerning the visit towards the end of February or the beginning of March.

As I suspected, Elaine Paige was very unhappy with the quotes that were attributed to her by the press today.

Here is Elaine’s statement, in her own words, taken from her Facebook page.

“I was dismayed to read the remarks attributed to me today in the Daily Mail which were incomplete and misinterpreted.

“I am a huge supporter of Susan Boyle and admire what she has achieved; she has handled the extraordinary situation of being catapulted to worldwide stardom with tremendous strength, charm and dignity and I thoroughly enjoyed working with her on the ITV special we recorded together only last month.

“I have always said it’s very hard for someone to be fast-tracked to stardom without any prior experience – I know this as it happened to me when ‘Evita’ opened and I found it extremely difficult in the beginning; today, of course, it’s much harder with the phenomenon of the internet – Facebook, YouTube etc – it seems it only takes minutes for fame to spread around the world – and that’s why I used the word ‘virus’! I wasn’t referring to Susan herself; I was referring to the speed of her fame spreading as fast as a worldwide viral marketing campaign.”

So there you have it.

Here are the quotes that were attributed to Elaine in the newspaper reports, comments that Elaine allegedly made at the South Bank Awards.

When Elaine Paige was asked directly if she was happy about Susan’s success, she allegedly replied: “I don’t particularly feel any pride for her – I’m sure she is proud of what she has done.”

“It’s all about turning someone into an immediate celebrity at the expense of longevity and working hard and experience.

“Susan Boyle is doing terribly well considering she literally came to the attention of the world overnight with the advent of YouTube.

“She was like a virus really that spread across the world in a nanosecond.

“She is a girl with no experience of anything to do with theatrics, the music business, or art in any way.

“She has done terribly well to be a major star overnight with YouTube.”

When asked if she thought Susan’s success would last, Elaine allegedly replied: “That’s a good question. She is a major star because of YouTube. Longevity is gained through knowledge, experience and effort so it will remain to be seen.

“When I started, YouTube didn’t exist but even then with 15 years of experience prior to my success with Evita it was difficult, so I admire the way she handled her sudden success.

“Britain’s Got Talent and The X Factor just take a bunch of people from real life who think they can sing and try and turn them into overnight “stars” with a couple of songs.

“Ha ha. It’s not entertainment.”

And here is what I said about the quotes before Elaine’s statement on Facebook

Let’s not jump on a “We hate Elaine Paige” bandwagon. First of all, Elaine Paige was very nice about Susan when Susan first entered the public spotlight. She met with Susan and subsequently performed on Susan’s TV Special, as the guest, not the star. Elaine Paige has to date behaved very graciously towards Susan.

Maybe she was just having a bad day – maybe she said other things and the remarks are taken out of context, who knows?  I don’t think Elaine’s remarks are spiteful in any way, I think she is just being a little too “honest” about how she feels, and she should perhaps have been more savvy about how her marks could appear in the press.

I do feel though, that Susan wouldn’t want people to be mean about the lady she has idolised for years. What do you think?

STV have exclusively interviewed Susan Boyle about the intruder she found at her home after returning from recording the Haiti single.

During the interview, Susan confirms that she will be remaining in her Blackburn home.

She told STV: “I’m very well, thank you, and everything’s now under control and is being dealt with by the police and by those concerned. I’m a lot calmer than I was last night.

“There’s absolutely nothing to worry about.”

“He did give me quite a scare, but I think he got more of a scare than I did because he made off! But these things have to be looked at the appropriate manner by the appropriate people, and I’m sure it’ll be sorted out very soon.”

Asked is she was considering moving home, Susan confidently replied: “I’m staying right where I am – there’s nobody pushing me out of my house, nobody’s going anywhere.”

She ended the interview by happily waving to and joking with the attending Paparazzi.

You can view the full STV video interview here.

Susan Boyle returned home from recording the Haiti single to find an intruder at her home.

According to BBC News, a man was detained by police but subsequently released pending further inquiries.

It is understood that Susan had just flown back from London after contributing to the Helping Haiti charity single.

The man ran out of Susan’s house in Blackburn, West Lothian, when she opened the front door on Tuesday night.

A spokesman told the BBC: “Lothian and Borders Police were called to an address in Blackburn at around 9.50pm yesterday following reports of a disturbance.

“A man was detained in connection with the incident and released pending further inquiries.”

Despite Susan’s fame, she still lives in the same (ex) council house that she grew up in. Security is thought to have been increased recently at the dwelling – though not by enough, it would appear. What happens if the next nutter that Susan encounters doesn’t run away? It just doesn’t bear thinking about.

Susan Boyle joined a great selection of pop stars yesterday to record the song “Everybody Hurts”, originally by REM, to raise funds for Haiti, left stricken by the earthquake two weeks ago.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Susan said: “I am so honoured.”

Susan also did one of her trademark little dances as she sang her lines in the song.

Susan added: “It is just awful what is happening in Haiti. I’ve seen some of it on the TV and it’s so sad.

“To be asked to do this with all these talented singers is just great, it’s such an honour. It would be lovely to meet Rod Stewart, being a fellow Scot.”

Other stars who are adding their voices to the Haiti single include  Mariah Carey, Rod Stewart, Jon Bon Jovi, Leona Lewis, Alexandra Burke,  Kylie Minogue, Cheryl Cole,  Mika, Michael Bublé, JLS, Westlife and Robbie Williams.