Susan Boyle

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Exploited? Surely everyone has the capacity to say 'No'?

Ditto! I concur 100%. She is not being exploited in the least. She entered the show in the knowledge that her lifestyle would take a different route should she win. Obviously, she was attracted by the fame and fortune victory would afford her, or else she would not have entered BGT in the first place. She has been extremely fortunate to have been given the opportunities she has and is now, thanks to the show and what is widely regarded as her talent, living a more prosperous life. Although she can sing, I would not say she has a great voice.
 
I like Susan Boyle purely because what you see is what you get. Ok so she doesn't fit the picture of a celebrity that the public are comfortable with but that just endears her to me even more. I wish her all the very best but hope she isn't being asked to do anything she isn't happy with in order to sell records, she may be contracturally obliged, though.

isn't that all part of it? if she did, she probably wouldn't have been such a sensation.
 
I like Susan Boyle, she's got a fantatsic voice, seems like a lovely person and I don't consider myself gullible if I buy her records. I just like her voice, which won't be to everyone's taste :)

CC
 
The whole Susan Boyle 'phenomenon' is truly indicative of where the music industry is going today...ie down the pan. There is no way Simon Cowell etc were actually shocked when they heard her sing, do we honestly think they didn't know that was coming? They don't take risks on multi million pound TV shows, they seek out these contestants who will 'shock' everyone, win over the public vote and make them a fortune in voting royalties/record sales/public appearances. SB had previously sung on a charity single in Scotland so was already familiar with recording studios/performing so the notion that she emerged out a cave somewhere and managed to sing on national television is nonsense.

I agree that she has a limited run at doing covers, she really doesn't have a great voice, her breath control is woeful and her range limited. I can see her having a couple more albums, a Christmas special and that'll be it.
 
The whole Susan Boyle 'phenomenon' is truly indicative of where the music industry is going today...ie down the pan. There is no way Simon Cowell etc were actually shocked when they heard her sing, do we honestly think they didn't know that was coming? They don't take risks on multi million pound TV shows, they seek out these contestants who will 'shock' everyone, win over the public vote and make them a fortune in voting royalties/record sales/public appearances. SB had previously sung on a charity single in Scotland so was already familiar with recording studios/performing so the notion that she emerged out a cave somewhere and managed to sing on national television is nonsense.

I agree that she has a limited run at doing covers, she really doesn't have a great voice, her breath control is woeful and her range limited. I can see her having a couple more albums, a Christmas special and that'll be it.

I'm guessing your not a fan? :grin:
 
If you hear her interviewed on the radio she comes across very well. She's clearly a sweet natured soul. It's only when you see her being interviewed that its somehow uncomfortable.

None of us know what life in the spotlight is really like, however much we want it. I don't believe Susan Boyle wanted fame. I think she wanted to sing and she has to deal with the fame that has come her way.

Staged surprise or not, her first appearance on BGT was outstanding. She is talented. Perhaps not the best trained singer in town. Good luck to her. I hope she continues to be successful if that's what she wants.
 
The Artists who appear on QVC, seem to be those whos careers is wein, or trying to reinvent themselves, i.e. steps, who i ablousetly loved the first round, and am pleased even though its 10 years down the line, that they are back, and dont look any older
 
I agree that appearing on Q seems to be for those whose time in the limelight is waning, does that mean we'll be treated to One Direction in a few years time?
 
i for one will never forget seeing her on bgt. i was so choked at her vunerability and her beautifull voice. i wish her all the very very best that life has to ofer. i suppose i am a bit of a softy!
 
I personally feel the Susan I watched on her very first BGT (gold lace dress) introduction has gone. I don't know where, but she's gone.
 
If you hear her interviewed on the radio she comes across very well. She's clearly a sweet natured soul. It's only when you see her being interviewed that its somehow uncomfortable.

None of us know what life in the spotlight is really like, however much we want it. I don't believe Susan Boyle wanted fame. I think she wanted to sing and she has to deal with the fame that has come her way.

Staged surprise or not, her first appearance on BGT was outstanding. She is talented. Perhaps not the best trained singer in town. Good luck to her. I hope she continues to be successful if that's what she wants.


This is the problem though (imo anyway!). She's not the best singer in town by a long shot, yet she is catapulted to a life of fame, singing in amazing venues, album sales etc. At best she is a reasonable singer. Is that what we aspire to though? That's what make the cut these days? How many truly awesome, talented, hard working singers are out there trying to make it and live the dream but can't make it becuase shows like the X factor want a 'story' rather than a talent? All contestants need to do now is talk about how they are singing for their dead granny/postman/labrador... If SB had waltzed on stage looking fabulous, admitting she has sung before and been recorded, that would have been that. Paul Potts the same, there's an average talent if ever I heard one. Record labels don't nurture talent anymore, A&R artists don't have to bother because all we need is Simon Cowell telling us what to like and shoving it down our throats.
 
Xfactor et al are here whether we like it or not. As is Simon Cowell. But if you go by the millions who watch the shows and the millions who buy records by the likes of Susan Boyle, she has her place. And she's earned that place. Perhaps by a fast track route but her record sales prove she is popular.

I agree she may not be the best singer in town but talent and hard work never was enough. Luck always has played a part. Luck these days comes in the form of BGT or Xfactor. But even that is no guarantee.

Susan Boyle sells records. She sells out concert halls. Her fame may not last and I've never bought one of her records and I won't be buying this one either but somebody is. Her fame came late in life. Let her have her 15 minutes. Let Paul Potts have his. Luck doesn't always belong to the most hard working or the most talented.
 
Well said, Tinkerbelle. You don't have to buy SueBo's records (I haven't) it's not compulsory, but I do wish her well as she sings for the sheer pleasure of it, as do the Army Wives, as do all the other 'ordinary' people who appear on our TV's. I truly believe SueBo would still be singing karioke in her local for pleasure if not for the fame had she not appeared on 'Britains Got Talent'. She certainly has an inspirational story....if she can make it so can any one of us (not that I want to be a star). It gives me a 'feel good' factor when I see a wee wifey like her rubbing shoulders with the showbiz elite who are so up themselves with equally mediochre talent but a lot more smoke and mirrors.
 
Xfactor et al are here whether we like it or not. As is Simon Cowell. But if you go by the millions who watch the shows and the millions who buy records by the likes of Susan Boyle, she has her place. And she's earned that place. Perhaps by a fast track route but her record sales prove she is popular.

I agree she may not be the best singer in town but talent and hard work never was enough. Luck always has played a part. Luck these days comes in the form of BGT or Xfactor. But even that is no guarantee.

Susan Boyle sells records. She sells out concert halls. Her fame may not last and I've never bought one of her records and I won't be buying this one either but somebody is. Her fame came late in life. Let her have her 15 minutes. Let Paul Potts have his. Luck doesn't always belong to the most hard working or the most talented.

The issue is though that these programmes shouldn't be on whether we like it or not, shouldn't we have a say in what we see on TV, hear on radio? Programmes like X Factor, Big Brother are lowest common denominator television, made on the cheap, shoved down our throats, make an absolute fortune for the producers and create celebrities out of people with little or no talent but either have a good story or are willing to do pretty much anything to be famous. Do we really feel satisfied by tv like this? What happened to musicians being talented, working hard and making it slowly? Apart from anything else, making it the hard way means that a) you appreciate when it does happen and b) you are somewhat more likely to be able to handle fame. Of course there is an element of luck in anyone who makes it big but more often than not, hard work led them to be in the right place at the right time for that 'luck' to happen. I work in the music industry and I dispair of the absolute crap that is touted as music now, it's all part of how disposable music has become and the more people like SB become famous on the back of little talent, the more the world and it's mother thinks they can do the same. So we end up with lots of half arsed singers feding us drivel and Simon Cowell telling us we'll like it. People in many ways are sheep and will watch and buy what they are told to buy (why and how QVC are in existence haha!) but it's a shame to see it happen in music.
 
I agree. You just don't get genius talent like Leonard Cohen anymore.


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But RedT we do have a say. Millions of people watch Xfactor and BGT etc. It might not be you and I but the audience is there. If it wasn't the programs would be canned.

Xfactor is the only one I've watched. It churns out two or three new acts a year and not all of them succeed. Lots disappear without a trace after a year. Steve Brookstein, Shane Ward ... to name a few. And those that do succeed aren't necessarily talentless. Leona Lewis has an amazing voice. JLS aren't my cup of tea but they were a hardworking, talented bunch of lads before they started.

The music business might have been about talent back in the fifties and sixties but someone somewhere has always been manufacturing music successes. People driven to succeed in music have always been prepared to do whatever it takes.

Michael Buble was interviewed and asked whether he would have done something like Xfactor. So many "stars" are sniffy about it but his answer was "hell yeah".

I hear what you're saying but I don't agree. No-one is shoving anything down my throat. I've watched Xfactor but none of the other reality TV. No one makes me watch it. And Simon Cowell might make stars but he doesn't make me buy their records. He made Susan Boyle the star she is. She has a level of success for how ever long she has it because her audience chooses to buy her records and see her concerts. They're certainly not the same people who are buying JLS records. All Simon Cowell can do is give an audience what they want. It's not what everyone one but if Susan Boyle fans love it then let them have it.
 
I have read Tinkerbelle and RedTs very well written posts with interest and can see both sides. Personally I would love to go back to the time when bands and singers could write and play instruments and really understood music, people like Kate Bush and bands like Fleetwood mac. While the Xfactor allowed a truly amazing singer like Leona to get noticed and earn her deserved millions, I can do without One Direction who appear unable to play instruments or write. Maybe they can. Susan Boyle is over rated IMO and whilst a very good singer, I dont see her as being worth the millions shes earned but she saw a chance and took it as was her right. I have a son the same age as Jedwood and while he slogs away at a degree at university with uncertain job prospects, although his chosen subject should serve him better than others, they have millions in the bank and a life that consists of dressing up in costumes and larking about on telly. My son of course, could have gone on X factor and larked about like that too, but its not him so each to their own. Good luck to these people who will do anything to earn millions-Simon Cowell provides the platform.
 
I have stopped watching Xfactor and have only voted once (guess who for :) as I believe the format is too contrived. It's had it's day in my opinion....but the initial post from Burly Bear was asking if SueBo is being exploited. That's the issue, and as she is being asked to promote her CD to us sheep who watch QVC and aren't able to say 'no' to the hard sell, I guess your CD is in the post RedT, lol. I managed to resist but remain of the opinion she shouldn't be disparaged for entering Simon Cowell's Xfactor and doing well.
 
I'm probably the only person on the planet who has never watched X Factor or BGT - I only saw susan boyle after all the press hoo haa on Youtube. I got the measure of Simon Cowell after seeing him interviewed before the X factor began.

I have never watched Opera either (but I do like the music)

Strangely I want to hear and understand each word that singers are singing, - to me (and this is just a personal opinion) its all very much waaaaaaahing and woooooooohing, unless I download the lyrics for both operatic and pop songs from the last 30 years, I haven't a clue what the words are !!!! and I dont think I'm in the minority here.

OK, its an age thing, and yes I danced to all the groups in the 60's, but Frank Sinatra is the only one who "does" it for me - every word is distinguishable, along with other old time crooners. However, even Rod Stewart - since bringing out his American Song Book collection, has a clearer diction than before, but he can do no wrong anyway.
 

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