Susan Boyle

Archive for the ‘General Interest’ Category

The Susan Boyle official website have opened an online store selling Susan Boyle merchandise. Linked to the official Susan Boyle website, the store sells items including T-Shirts, hoodies and a shopping bag, emblazoned with phrases such as: “Dreams Come True”, or with a logo displaying the outline of a cat (Pebbles) with the words “Susan Boyle” across the front. The popular press have named the shop the “Subostore”.

I don’t know how you feel about merchandise such as this -  there seems to be a mixed bag of comments on the official site. An American fan said: “Love the Store. I’m buying a T-shirt. I would like a tea cup with Susan on it. Thanks.” Whereas another fan was completely unimpressed, remarking: “This site is solely about making money.” A third lady, from Canada, commented: “I would like to know where the profits from the Susan T. Shirts etc go?”

You can visit the store here and make your own mind up about it.

Imagine the scene. You’re looking through some old photos with your mum, and suddenly you come across a photo of Susan Boyle. This is exactly the situation that Tori Graham and her daughter, Julia, found themselves in recently.

Julia was flicking through the photo album, and did a double take when she saw Susan on the right hand side of the shot.

Mrs Graham told the Daily Mail: “It made us all laugh. It’s funny Susan Boyle hasn’t changed much at all. She was exactly how you’d have expected her to look.

“Her lack of awareness is one of the things that made her a success in the first place. People can relate to her.”

The photo was taken at Edinburgh Waverley station in 2002. Tori is in the red zipped top and she is with her friends, returning from a charity trek.

Here is another chance to watch the duet between Susan Boyle and Elaine Paige, first broadcast on Susan’s TV Special “I Dreamed a Dream: The Susan Boyle Story”. Susan and Elaine sing “I Know Him So Well” from the musical Chess, a beautiful song written by the Abba boys Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus with lyrics from Tim Rice.

Another Susan Boyle video has been uncovered. This one is from 1998, and our favourite lady is singing “Fame” in a talent competition in the Wishaw & District Ex-Servicemen’s Institute, Lanarkshire, in 1998. Susan was 37 at the time.

The video was made by Andrea Mains, whose daughter Charlene was competing in the same competition. Andrea recalled:”It is really ironic to watch Susan singing Fame when, 11 years later, she’s known all over the world.”

The video was posted on YouTube by the wonderful Haricornflake, who posts loads of great Susan Boyle videos.

People everywhere love Susan Boyle, and this could not be more clearly demonstrated than with this amateur video of her arriving at JFK Airport before her stunning performance at the Rockefeller Center for NBC’s Today Show.

Fans of Susan greeted her at the airport and showed their support by wearing red scarves and carrying the Scottish flag.

As people are shouting welcome greetings to Susan, you can hear Susan saying that her trip to New York was “very exciting” and that it was a “good place to be”. She added that it was her “first time” in New York.

Here is a great video of Susan’s arrival, which really captures the excitement of her arrival.

Here is Susan Boyle singing “The Power of Love” from 2001. Just listen to her voice, with barely no backing her voice carries itself, strong and true.

Check out the complete set of Susan Boyle questions and answers so far here.

Question 11

Have you found / reached / achieved your dream?

Susan Boyle has answered a further three of our questions, which are reproduced below. Click here for a full list of questions and answers so far.

Question 6

What have you enjoyed most in your new career?

Question 7

Who were you blowing kisses to during your matinee performance at Wembley?

Question 8

Susan, do you enjoy reading? If so, what kind of books do you like? Who is your favourite movie actor?

Susan Boyle has been talking about a former boyfriend who broke her heart.

She has revealed to the Daily Mirror that she did used to have a boyfriend. She said: “I had a boyfriend, John. He asked me to marry him after seven weeks.

“We went to visit his mum and she started telling me what our kitchen was going to be like when we got married! Even what fridge we could have, although we’d only ever had a peck on the cheek!

“He got cold feet. It made me sad, in a way. It makes you feel unattractive. You feel that life is passing you by. But I thought, ‘Maybe there’s something for me later’. I was always optimistic.”

Susan has also added that she was not pleased with her appearance when she saw herself on TV, and decided then to have a makeover. Formerly described as “the Hairy Angel”, a reference to her untamed eye brows and frizzy hair, Susan says: “I saw this wee wifey with the mad hairdo and the bushy eyebrows and said, ‘Hmmm, not really telegenic’. So I decided to spruce myself up a bit.

“When I look in the mirror now, I see this sophisticated lady. I’m still a bit like that wee wifey inside, but more refined.

“I think any woman would have done the same. Would you want to look like the Hairy Angel? I don’t think so.”

Susan is still coming to terms with her fame, and puzzled as to why she has become so popular. She told Weekend magazine: “I suppose it’s a bit of a Cinderella story, isn’t it?”

Meanwhile, the Daily Mirror have launched a search for Susan’s ex John – the poor guy!

Question 3

Which five people, alive or dead, would you have over to a dinner party?

Question 4

What was in that sandwich the day of the Glasgow audition?

Question 5

What was the first Broadway/West End Show you remember seeing?

Click here for all the questions so far.