Susan Boyle

Posts Tagged ‘2009’

Susan Boyle sold around 650,000 copies of her debut album, I Dreamed a Dream, last week in the US, bringing her total US sales so far to in the region of 2.5 million, and maintaining her number one position on the Billboard 200 for an amazing 4th successive week. Taylor Swift’s album has, to date, sold 2.7 million copies in the US. However, in the last week, Susan’s album sold approximately 650,000 copies, whereas Taylor Swift’s album sold 230,000 more copies.

Nevertheless, in the US, there are still two full sales weeks left and the highest selling album will not be known until January 3rd, 2010. With Susan Boyle is currently selling about three times as many copies of her album as Taylor Swift, will her sales surpass Taylor’s next week or the week after? I predict that they will.

In the meantime, I Dreamed A Dream is officially the second biggest selling album of the year in America, overtaking Eminem’s Relapse, according to Undercover.com.au.

Susan Boyle has lots of reasons to celebrate today, as it has been announced that her album is the best selling album in the UK for 2009, outselling her nearest rival Lady Gaga whose own debut album, The Fame, has been on the chart for 49 weeks. Susan’s album was only released on November 23rd although it was available on presale just less than three months earlier, and has currently sold in excess of 1.4 million albums in the UK alone. Remember – this is the same country that placed her second to diversity in the Britain’s Got Talent competition!

Susan is clearly enjoying her time in the spotlight, and has been seen playfully throwing snowballs at paparazzi outside her home in Blackburn, West Lothian. She is clearly becoming more relaxed and at ease with fame. Speaking to the Daily Mail, Susan said: “‘It got to the stage where I couldn’t even go outside because the media – American television crews too – surrounded the house.

“I had to draw my blinds, and even after that they started hammering on my door. I was quite frightened. I felt very vulnerable, because I was living on my own.”

The Scot of the Year competition is an annual search for the best public figure to have boosted Scotland’s profile. This person does not necessarily have to be Scottish, although I would imagine that it helps if they are.

As fans of Susan Boyle, we might think that shes a dead cert to win the competition. However, memories of her coming second in the Britain’s Got Talent final mean that no victory is ever guaranteed.

Other contenders for the title include the  Hollywood film star Gerard Butler and also the former House of Commons speaker Michael Martin, who had to resign over the expenses debacle.

Mohammed al-Fayed, the owner of the Harrods department store in London, is also an unexpected contender, according to an article in The Scotsman, after he declared his ambition earlier in the year to be the president of an independent Scotland.

The Scot of the Year poll is run by a charity called ScotsCare, who provide help and advice to Scottish people living in London.

The chief executive of ScotsCare, Willie Docherty said: “We have a diverse range of contenders for this year’s Scot of the Year title.

“I look forward to seeing who the public feel has waved the flag for Scotland in the right direction.”

Susan Boyle may not have been the winner of Britain’s Got Talent. However, she appeared to be the winner of America’s Got Talent, receiving more media coverage and acclaim than the show’s actual winner, Kevin Skinner.

The Huffington Post wrote: “She wasn’t even a competitor on the show, but Susan Boyle arguably stole the finale of America’s Got Talent”.

Susan performed her debut single “Wild Horses” in front of the America’s Got Talent judges, Piers Morgan, David Hasselhof and Sharon Osbourne.