Video: World’s second-biggest celebrity sings again
posted at 8:20 pm on May 24, 2009 by Allahpundit
Hot off the YouTube presses, three minutes from tonight’s semi-final of “Britain’s Got Talent.” She won the public vote, of course, so she’s through to the finals. The hair’s a bit darker, the wardrobe’s a bit nattier, and whatever that thing was on her lip seems to be gone. But the voice is still there. Exit question: How many days before this clip hits 100 million views?
Blowback
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HA contribution: 100
HuffPo contribution: 10000
Er… I don’t know.
Upstater85 on May 24, 2009 at 8:22 PM
Nice yes, but can she sing Crazy Train?
Kini on May 24, 2009 at 8:23 PM
+ 1 hit
Upstater85 on May 24, 2009 at 8:24 PM
Who’s the First?
Kini on May 24, 2009 at 8:25 PM
Dear god that sucked…
ninjapirate on May 24, 2009 at 8:28 PM
The background change when she hits the glory note? Obama-esque.
SnarkVader on May 24, 2009 at 8:28 PM
Not nearly as good as her last performance.
Charles Martel on May 24, 2009 at 8:29 PM
Hmmm, no – she didn’t do it this time.
Tough song admittedly but she just doesn’t have the range.
SteveMG on May 24, 2009 at 8:29 PM
Allah, are you tone-deaf? Listen to the first few notes.
I_C on May 24, 2009 at 8:29 PM
She seemed a lot weaker on this one…if this had been what she’d auditioned with I’m not sure we’d have heard of her.
Sarjex on May 24, 2009 at 8:30 PM
I think it was Letterman the other night who was singing the praises of NASA.. and lamented about how we can put a man on the moon, but we can’t put a man on Susan Boyle.
Ugly on May 24, 2009 at 8:31 PM
I still don’t know what the big deal is with her, as I’ve never thought her singing was that great from day one.
Could it be that people feel so guilty about how they judged her that they keep pushing her through?
Paul Potts was exceptional. She is not.
therightscoop on May 24, 2009 at 8:32 PM
Why the West is Boyle’d
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/KD21Ad01.html
We need Carrie Prejean wind turbine karaoke…
ninjapirate on May 24, 2009 at 8:33 PM
Just listened to Babs sing in on youtube. BS is much better.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78Ruh0ewBVo
jsulman on May 24, 2009 at 8:34 PM
I give her a B
SouthernGent on May 24, 2009 at 8:34 PM
BTW – I thought she sang wonderfully :)
Ugly on May 24, 2009 at 8:35 PM
Sheesh, tough standards: Comparing her against Streisand?
Much better? Not even close.
SteveMG on May 24, 2009 at 8:36 PM
Oh C’MON Kini…that’s a gimme:
http://tinyurl.com/qraf5h
Nigel on May 24, 2009 at 8:38 PM
Yeah she missed a few notes but hey it’s live and that is normal. She has a very sweet quality to her voice and I think that is what people respond to.
ronsfi on May 24, 2009 at 8:41 PM
She was weak out of the gate on the first few notes. She felt her stomach and got her mojo back. Obama is going to be pissed that she had the halo thing going later on. He’ll probably call her again. I love her. Go Susan Go.
suzyk on May 24, 2009 at 8:45 PM
Michelle Obama is so much better than her.
LibTired on May 24, 2009 at 8:46 PM
Not to take anything away from Boyle. She is good, just not the cream.
jsulman on May 24, 2009 at 8:46 PM
you must be a masochist
right4life on May 24, 2009 at 8:47 PM
She seemed nervous at first, notice she put her arm to her abdomen as if to calm herself. She gained strength towards the end but the entire song felt ‘rushed’. The tempo didn’t appear to allow her the luxury to sustain her strong points. Under the stress of severely limited time allowance to prepare (musically and aesthetically) for each presentation, this was not her strongest performance. B+
heroyalwhyness on May 24, 2009 at 8:47 PM
Cannot make that decision. Would have to see Boyle’s armpits. Until she goes sleeveless I’ll never know.
jsulman on May 24, 2009 at 8:48 PM
She has a beautiful voice. It is amazing to see Simon giving her a “standing O.” You’ll never find a tougher or more expert critic. She may not be looker, but by God, she can sing.
Star20 on May 24, 2009 at 8:48 PM
har har!!
Ugly on May 24, 2009 at 8:49 PM
Why is her tongue blue? (check it out during last note of the song)
I think she is a “Lizard person”!! :)
AnthonyK on May 24, 2009 at 8:51 PM
THAT is what is causing all the adulation? Give me a break!
Gatordoug on May 24, 2009 at 8:52 PM
Exit question response: What is is about her that pisses you off so much you post such a snarky thread? Is she a cute little thing with a good voice? No. But she does have more raw talent than most of the sluts, whores, and others whose voices are mixed into a perfection that matches the outside. What the hell is wrong with you that you hate it when less attractive people get recognized as being better at something. For God’s sake man (and He loves you even though you hate his Son) see a therapist about why you have all this hatred.
highhopes on May 24, 2009 at 8:52 PM
Star20 on May 24, 2009 at 8:48 PM
Comparing Susan Boyle to the spoiled Maybelline twits who normally win these competitions seems weird but good God she is a diamond. Not in the rough, either.
I’m not saying she should win and I don’t expect her to. But she has been a welcome & naturally talented diversion. The fact that she’d taken care of her mother for so long and has never even kissed a boy… only heightens the mystique.
Ugly on May 24, 2009 at 8:55 PM
As a vocal major I don’t feel like she puts much passion into her songs but I still love listening to her. She started off shaky but she nailed the main part of the song.
I think she will get better as she goes along.
Most of these people are amateurs. They shouldn’t sound professional. She’s good for who she is, a lady from a village.
GoodBoy on May 24, 2009 at 8:56 PM
That sorta sums up the status quo.
Nancy Reagan worked to stop drug abuse.
Barbara and Laura Bush worked in the area of literacy.
The first-whore is working to stamp out flabby arms because in the Obama’s world, ugly people suck.
highhopes on May 24, 2009 at 8:56 PM
AnthonyK on May 24, 2009 at 8:51 PM
I noticed that too. I assumed she was enjoying a lolly just before stage time.
;)
Ugly on May 24, 2009 at 8:56 PM
I know, right :P
Ugly on May 24, 2009 at 8:57 PM
This is the worst song in the history of Song!
NO ONE should sing this song! The song sucks, it sucks so bad – it is the suckiest bit of suck that ever sucked!
This is the first time I have heard Mrs. Boyle sing. Not to be mean, but if you listen to her sing without looking at her, the voice isn’t bad. It’s nice and she has a decent voice, an actual singing voice as opposed to what passes for music these days, but she isn’t all of that and a bag of potato chips.
catmman on May 24, 2009 at 8:58 PM
Although I agree that this performance wasn’t to the level of what she did with “I Dreamed a Dream,” it was still quite good. I don’t think Susan Boyle is a particularly accomplished high belter, and the tessitura of “Memory” is so high–much higher than that of “I Dreamed a Dream”–that she wasn’t within her comfort range most of the time. So most of the time she wasn’t operating in the part of her voice that was so able to soar in the previous song. Listen to the section at the end: It’s almost all in head voice, and that’s not really what’s right for that song.
That said, it works with her personality, and that’s ultimately what’s most important, I think. If you have vocal limitations–and to some degree, every singer does–then you need to work within them to make the song work anyway. And Boyle definitely succeeded at that. As a way of telling her own personal story, “Memory” was a fantastic choice that she totally sold, even if she didn’t sing it the way those of us who know and/or love the song feel it’s ideally sung.
WesternActor on May 24, 2009 at 8:59 PM
If you only saw this one but didn’t see the first video, you wouldn’t understand the reason she became universally loved.
I don’t know how they pick tunes for these people, but she should have done something else. That thing makes me want to jam sharpened pencils into my ears, no matter who is singing it.
capitalist piglet on May 24, 2009 at 9:00 PM
Oh please, Simon probably got paid to bring in the “Standing O”… I don’t think people realize how much we consume in the media is not spontaneous… the Susan Boyle phenom and the Carrie Prejean flap were both pre-planned by PR people… buzz buzz buzz buzz buzzshiat … she’ll only make money because people are drones…
ninjapirate on May 24, 2009 at 9:00 PM
Her best was the single she sang for Christmas–Cry me a river.
promachus on May 24, 2009 at 9:01 PM
Sooo. . . . Adam Lambert or Susan Boyle?
2klbofun on May 24, 2009 at 9:03 PM
yeah, first few/several seconds was rough, but after that – good stuff.
Midas on May 24, 2009 at 9:04 PM
That was awful.
windbag on May 24, 2009 at 9:05 PM
That could be, I hate that type of song,opera, and show tunes as well, no one sounds good singing that bilge
Gatordoug on May 24, 2009 at 9:05 PM
The critics come out! I am so sure any of you that dog Susan would get out on stage, plow thru the pressure and give it your all!! s/x’s 2.
Give another person a break man. Her voice is amazing and it is a gift to us as she does not have to do this at all! Take the gift. It may a long time before we get another.
Coastal Paradise on May 24, 2009 at 9:07 PM
Crisps. I believe they call them ‘crisps’ over there. French fries are ‘chips’. The French don’t know what to make of any of this.
Anyone else smell tuna?
Ugly on May 24, 2009 at 9:07 PM
Hmm. Close-minded. Probably racist and homophobic as well. REPUBLICAN!!!
/Janeane Garofalo
Ugly on May 24, 2009 at 9:10 PM
Catmman, I’m with you. Andrew Lloyd Weber is the biggest hack alive.
A long time ago, I devised the “Fishheads” test after hearing yet another long, tedious ballad of his. If you can sing Barnes & Barnes “Fishheads” to a song, it sucks.
Try singing it to almost any ALW tune. You can.
Now try singing it to Sondheim, even his simplest melody, “Send in the Clowns.” You can’t.
Sondheim rules.
As for Ms. Boyle, well, she didn’t nail this one nearly as well as her first performance. And while I may hate Streisand’s politics, you cannot deny that she is one of the greatest singers alive. Boyle doesn’t hold a candle to her.
But she did “I Dreamed a Dream” quite nicely.
P.S.: Simon stood up because he’s not a moron. He knows perfectly well how to gauge the audience, and, well, he set this whole thing up. He’s just playing his role.
Meryl Yourish on May 24, 2009 at 9:10 PM
She was going to sing “At Last,” but Etta James said she’d kick her butt if she did.
notropis on May 24, 2009 at 9:11 PM
Crazy man. Crazy.
watson007 on May 24, 2009 at 9:11 PM
Or any other Andrew Lloyd Webber song IMO. I just don’t get why some people think his songs are so great.
I liked the last Susan Boyle vid a lot. I think she could have sung a better song this time out.
jix on May 24, 2009 at 9:12 PM
add jon+kate plus 8 to that… drama drama drama drones…
ninjapirate on May 24, 2009 at 9:12 PM
Dropping the first few note means little. It’s what she does with it from there. She didn’t fall apart. The sign of a pro is one who makes you forget the first few notes and she picked it up and did a fine finish.
katy on May 24, 2009 at 9:13 PM
THat is me! LOL
Gatordoug on May 24, 2009 at 9:16 PM
Bad start but she came on after that. She’s got a big set of pipes.
PackerBronco on May 24, 2009 at 9:18 PM
She’s good period. The premise of the show is finding raw talent and Susan Boyle is that. As to putting passion into her performances, I gotta ask the following…..
Passion comes from experience. Susan Boyle’s experience to date is mostly taking care of her mother in a small village. This particular television program and the timing gave her the opportunity to break out. There are countless individuals like her who have put their innate talents as secondary to their responsibilities of taking care of parents, raising families, or otherwise being good citizens and siblings. How does a woman like Susan Boyle get the experience to sing with the passion expected by popular culture?
The real question at this point is if Boyle has the grounding and people around her to make her new-found fame into something more than a fluke. Does she establish herself in a career as a professional singer with carefully selected performances or does she milk this for all it is worth in the short-term and, at some point in the future, we see her on Dancing with the Stars with others on the B list.
highhopes on May 24, 2009 at 9:18 PM
I’m guessing this crew won’t be impressed until she comes out on the stage and nails “Bawitdaba”.
Fogpig on May 24, 2009 at 9:21 PM
She has talent. Probably wasn’t her best performance, and the earlier one set high expectations.
She didn’t exceed expectations, but came close to meeting them. Good job.
cs89 on May 24, 2009 at 9:25 PM
Meryl
I have to disagree with your assessment . You are comparing a gifted professional singer who had years of training and honing her craft to a talented amateur singer who sings at church choirs and karaoke bars . If circumstances were very different , you will be saying that Barbara Streisand won’t hold a candle to a classically trained Susan Boyle that does not have brain damage and other physical impairments .
DinobotPrime on May 24, 2009 at 9:25 PM
Notwithstanding the fact that Simon told Adam Lambert on Tuesday that he would be the next American Idol only to find out that America had a different idea. Why didn’t that “standing O” get the same results? Did he get paid to say those things about Adam so all the “Jesus Freak” tweeners would text in to save Kris?
highhopes on May 24, 2009 at 9:26 PM
100 million views? Nope. Her 15 minutes will be up soon. That was an average performance at best, she will fade into obscurity with the rest of the contestants on these shows…
echosyst on May 24, 2009 at 9:26 PM
As several have noted above, it is unfair to compare Susan Boyle to anyone “professional” that you have heard. Those people are rehearsed to death and edited sixteen times until the entire performance sounds perfect. She had one take here, and made it work.
If she were given the amount of coaching, rehearsing, training, AND EDITING that most “professionals” get, she’d be world class.
Stop snarking and start thinking, people.
HTL on May 24, 2009 at 9:27 PM
http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2009/05/only-radar-simon-says-kris-will-win
ninjapirate on May 24, 2009 at 9:27 PM
311 views, 791 ratings? View counter noy keeping up?
Jim708 on May 24, 2009 at 9:27 PM
I’m a big Susan Boyle fan, but I was a bit disappointed with her nervous start on this song. She got better though after a few lines and showed us her naturally angelic voice.
However, I would say that she could have chosen (who chooses the songs the contestants sing, btw?) another song to showcase her extraordinary talent.
Her rendition of ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ was awesome, but ‘Cry Me a River’ was simply fantastic.
I hope she does not sing ‘Memories’ again, I’m not a fan of BS, you see.
mz.josephine on May 24, 2009 at 9:29 PM
Absolutely right-on. She isn’t going to go out and be trememdous right out of the gate, but she has a heck of a lot of potential. She needs more confidence and some good coaching and she’ll just get better and better. She was definitely nervous (especially since she knows everyone is watching her now), but I look forward to her next performance.
XWing5 on May 24, 2009 at 9:31 PM
Now try singing it to Sondheim, even his simplest melody, “Send in the Clowns.” You can’t.
Sondheim rules.
No kidding. Now I want to hear Susan sing “Being Alive.” :D
Sarjex on May 24, 2009 at 9:36 PM
Susan Boyle will fade into obscurity scarcely able to garner more than 30 million views on YouTube and 2 or 3 book deals while the great Geochelone will rise to master the Universe by making silly comments on HotAir. Bwwwaahhhhh.
Geochelone on May 24, 2009 at 9:38 PM
When I first heard Susan Boyle I was transported into another dimension with the sublime realization that she hath a voice of an angel.
But now I want to puncture my ear-drums and confine myself to a subterraining existence. She deserves to be put in a Turkish prison for her disgustingly wretched latest performance where she had to the nerve to sing three notes off key.
Geochelone on May 24, 2009 at 9:42 PM
It was obvious she was more nervous this time cause now she has more to lose. Also, not fair to compare her to BS. No one sounds like she does. As a matter of fact, if BS sang this song today, she wouldn’t sound as good as she did on the tape. Even the great ones lose something as they get older, Boyle is already starting where most of them end!
marnes on May 24, 2009 at 9:43 PM
She needs to do this song next. She’ll blow them all away (as well as anyone else that has a snarky comment about Ms. Boyle’s talent)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaFtjZItK5M
mizflame98 on May 24, 2009 at 9:44 PM
Thanks for providing that link but that only is a way for Simon to cover his backside and slam Americans as being too damned stupid to pick the one he called a talent of worldwide proportions.
Not that you asked but by personal opinion is that Adam Lambart was indeed the more talented of the two finalists but he was just too damned freaky to win. He wanted to be a “Glam Rocker” when that era passed somewhere in the early 1980′s. In 2009, it is all about the pensive persona that Kris provided.
highhopes on May 24, 2009 at 9:46 PM
I like Susan Boyle.
I DON’T like B.S-at all.
That said-her music has served me well over the years.
I sing-good not great voice-and sang “Don’t Rain on My Parade” for my 1984 Chicago Academy for the Arts audition.
It must have been a good choice. I spent 9th and 10th grade there.
annoyinglittletwerp on May 24, 2009 at 9:47 PM
A little shaky coming out of the gate, but God, I love her to death. Not so much because she’s talented, but because she’s ballsy and had the guts to even try.
Even if she never makes it professionally, she’ll be an inspiration to millions. Isn’t that worth something?
Barack Obama, this is what hope is all about and Susan Boyle has given more hope than you’ve got in your little toe.
Knucklehead on May 24, 2009 at 9:49 PM
I like this gal. Nice delivery. I’ll give her a ten. Good talent.
mixplix on May 24, 2009 at 9:52 PM
If she can come close to this vid she will bring down the house. She is a superstar, period. She was under extreme pressure in a live contest, a circumstance hardly designed to determine ones true singing ability.
Geochelone on May 24, 2009 at 9:52 PM
I like this gal. Good delivery, good talent. Needs just a litttle polish.
\
mixplix on May 24, 2009 at 9:53 PM
I loved that she nuanced it, when it would have been so easy ~ and SO American Idol ~ to give it the full-throated Celine Deion decibel shrieking treatment from start to finish.
Loveses it.
tree hugging sister on May 24, 2009 at 10:02 PM
Noy likely
Ugly on May 24, 2009 at 10:06 PM
The world has gone to hell in a hand basket. These people like “Ugly” are truly ugly. Can you imagine what he or she looks like? Get up at noon, pick their nose, scratch their butt and wonder what they are going to complain about next or who they are going to attack.
All you liberals can go to hell.
suzyk on May 24, 2009 at 10:06 PM
I want to hear her do ANY Sundays song. Very easy, you’d think, when listening to one. But in my heart, Harriet Wheeler is Queen.
Ugly on May 24, 2009 at 10:10 PM
suzyk on May 24, 2009 at 10:06 PM
??
Pardon?
Ugly on May 24, 2009 at 10:11 PM
Yo, dawg – for me, it started off pitchy, and it was too old-fashioned. It was just okay for me. It wasn’t bad, it was just okay. For me.
aero on May 24, 2009 at 10:11 PM
Przepraszamy, ale nie będę kliknięcie. Tutaj jest trochę porozmawiać z Polski dla Ciebie jednak.
Loxodonta on May 24, 2009 at 10:12 PM
Loxodonta on May 24, 2009 at 10:12 PM
haha estoy de acuerdo
Ugly on May 24, 2009 at 10:16 PM
Przepraszamy is such a big word for ‘Sorry’
Should be a song.
Ugly on May 24, 2009 at 10:20 PM
It surprises me that people think it is unusual that an unattractive woman has a great singing voice. Hasn’t anyone heard the expression that the show ain’t over until the fat woman sings?
keep the change on May 24, 2009 at 10:22 PM
Yes, she was nervous at first…but if you want a little weakness on the open listen to Adam Lambert’s “Mad World” and compare to the real singers like Gary Jules or Tears for Fears.
Yeah, Babs is better…and the point?
Boyle backed into the last note but she tried…but in her range she’s got a good sonorous voice.
And who knows, with a little training and ocnfidence she might have really been a very good singer (and yes, I think it is too late, sorry)
BTW, listen to k d lang for a amazing female voice
r keller on May 24, 2009 at 10:30 PM
Not even under penalty of death would it be worth listening to that hag.
Jim708 on May 24, 2009 at 10:35 PM
Thanks for that… gorgeous! My favorite version is Hayley Westenra’s. She was only 13 when she recorded it. I know she doesn’t have the power of a Streisand, but I absolutely adore her silvery voice in anything she sings:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvuNqLD3IA0
I’m not that impressed by Susan Boyle, before or now, however, I’m glad that she’s bringing this kind of music to tv once more as I’m a huge Andrew Lloyd Weber fan.
-Aslan’s Girl
Aslans Girl on May 24, 2009 at 10:37 PM
If it makes you feel better, It was Betty Buckley who sang the song in the original cast. Babs recorded it as a me too move.
Laura in Maryland on May 24, 2009 at 10:38 PM
I didn’t know K D was a female. Could have fooled me.
Knucklehead on May 24, 2009 at 10:39 PM
This is the first time I’ve bothered to watch a Susan Boyle performance. After all the hype, I’m surprised that her voice isn’t any better than it is.
jaime on May 24, 2009 at 10:39 PM
Ah, someone rose to the bait. Just for fun, at least spend 2 minutes on a song she did with take 6 in the movie Dick Tracy:
And I know everyone has different tastes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRj8EHvN29c
r keller on May 24, 2009 at 10:40 PM
Slow news night, huh?
Good Lt on May 24, 2009 at 10:41 PM
Seriously… wtf? This is bugging me.
Ugly on May 24, 2009 at 10:48 PM
Well said. I thought she may have picked this song based largely on the lyrics as well as it’s popularity.
She started off horribly, but regained her composure. This is a feat in itself given the expectations and pressure for another amazing performance. Not to mention the LIVE broadcast. I think if they used a lower key, the overall performance would’ve been better. The tempo was too fast; it felt rushed. I’d like to hear her sing this again with these changes. I think she’d hit it out of the ballpark.
It’s never too late.
But this is an opinion given by someone who thinks k d lang is “a [sic] amazing female voice.” K D Lang?!? Seriously???
conservative pilgrim on May 24, 2009 at 10:51 PM
Wrong thread/blog/universe dear.
conservative pilgrim on May 24, 2009 at 10:53 PM
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