Read Online Susan Boyle by Alice Montgomery - Free Book Online Page A

was canny enough to know that to walk away at this stage would have been madness. And the fact that this wasn’t the first time she had sought a big break into television meant that she knew how rare these opportunities were. She wasn’t going to throw it away.
     
    Soon problems of a different nature reared their head when it turned out that some of the other acts were thinking of walking on the grounds that Susan winning seemed to be a foregone conclusion. The saxophone player Julian Smith even came out and said as much: ‘I don’t think I can compete with Susan,’ he complained. ‘I feel no one else has a chance. She’s captured the world’s imagination.’ Other acts were said to feel the same way, and it was certainly true that none of the other acts had found a way into the public’s hearts in quite the same way, but that didn’t actually mean Susan was guaranteed to win.
    Again the world piled in with their opinions. Piers wrote on his blog, ‘I think Hollie can beat Susan. And so can Shaheen from last week. So can a few other acts you haven’t seen yet.’ The intention was clear: to show the world that there was everything left for everyone to play for, not that that helped Susan. Even her great supporter Demi Moore voiced concern: ‘Just seen Hollie,’ she tweeted. ‘Wow, the talent keeps on coming. More competition for Susan.’ On a more positive note, however, it was reported that Catherine Zeta-Jones was interested in playing Susan in a film of her life. Hollywood had certainly lost none of its fascination with what was going on across the pond.
    As tempers frayed, expectations soared and controversy mounted, Susan inadvertently caused another row by seeming to imply that her appearance on the show hadn’t been the extraordinary chance everyone had thought, but was a result of the show being fixed. She was asked on an American television channel, ‘Did the show find you or did you find the show,’ to which Susan replied, ‘No, the show found me.’ This sparked a furore on the internet, with claims that Britain’s Got Talent ’s producers knew exactly what they were doing when they picked out this wee Scottish lady. After all, she had auditioned for Barrymore! The claims were hotly disputed by the show’s producers: ‘How exactly would we find Susan?’ demanded one member of the production staff. ‘She’s not exactly someone who sticks out from the crowd. For years she has been looking after her mum and living an ordinary life. In no way did the producers hand pick her for the show.’
    Indeed, it appeared that in reality what Susan meant was that she had been trying to find somewhere to show off her talent and, having seen Paul Potts on Britain’s Got Talent the previous year, decided that this was the place to do it. To date there have certainly been no serious allegations that she was hand picked in advance, but at the time it added to the rumours and clamour surrounding the show. Not that anyone involved could really have minded - it was becoming one of the most talked-about shows of the decade.
    It did seem incredible, though, that it had taken so long for Susan’s talent to be recognized, especially when another video surfaced from 1984. This one was truly jaw-dropping in the light of what the world knew about Susan. It was taken at Motherwell FC’s Fir Park Social Club, which was staging a singing contest between the locals and Coventry’s Tam O’Shanter Club, and Susan was seconded in to sing when someone dropped out. She performed ‘I Don’t Know How To Love Him’ and ‘Memories’, the theme tune from The Way We Were , and her voice is as clear, strong and powerful as it is today. But what really knocks the viewer for six is Susan’s appearance.
    The video of Susan singing so many years ago established beyond a shadow of a doubt that Susan was an extremely pretty young woman. This isn’t just a polite compliment to a lady coping with a great deal of unfavourable