Britain's Got Talent: Susan Boyle through on hype or talent?
ONE HUNDRED MILLION people can't be wrong, can they? If YouTube is to be believed, that's how many have logged on to see Susan Boyle sing.
Shock! Horror! Gasp! An ugly woman can belt out a song. What's new there? Didn't Alison Moyet prove that point back in the 1980s?
And so we're into semi-final week of Britain's Got Talent and there's no prize for guessing who made it into the final first.
Yes, Susan Boyle can sing. Yes, she can sing rather well. But does she really deserve to be credited as a bright moment in a dark year of recession, as Piers Morgan suggested tonight? No. She ain't going to trigger a cure for cancer or a solution to world poverty either. She might, however, convince a lot of people that a brown lower set of teeth really isn't a nice look and is something they should seek to sort out.
She's a good singer, but those who gasp, and indeed those who have voted for her into the final, are simply perpatuating some sort of myth that people who don't have a flawless complexion therefore don't have talent.
But being quite frank here, was her talent the best on display tonight? Was it so different from your average operatic society singer that it stood out and made everyone think that the next Lesley Garrett had just been unearthed? No. In fact, I suspect it would be pushing it a bit far to describe her as a male Paul Potts at the moment.
In terms of originality, Faces of Disco - the dancing, celebrity mask-changing duo - won it for me and appeared superb for the Royal Variety. Nick Hell, the chainsaw maniac who likes to swing things off his ears, was also original, but for all the wrong reasons. Darth Jackson was ok, and original, but his act had started to feel like a one-trick pony returning for a repeat performance.
Julia Naidenko, the belly dancer was easy on the eye but that was about it while Natalie Okri, the 10-year-old singer might have been cute, but her act is nothing you don't see in community talent contests up and down the country.
Which leaves us with Diversity and Sue Son. Diversity joined Boyle in the final after being picked by the judges to go through. Their dancing was good but it did have a "we've seen this before feel about it." As for Sue Son, Simon Cowell criticised the fact her personality didn't come across in her performance. Personally, I'd consider being able to dance and play the violin in front of an audience of millions quite a talent, and quite an achievement too.
Did Boyle's personality come through when she sang Memory from the musical Cats? It certainly did when she won. Quite what that little dance was all about and the strange comments she made, I'm not sure - but it sure as hell didn't fit in with the "humble" Susan Boyle image which everyone around her has been so careful to cultivate over recent weeks.
As for the performance itself, for the first three-quarters of the song it was instantly forgettable. The last verse was belted out superbly, but without the hype, the faux surprise that someone with a hair out of place can sing, would she have made it through?
I'd argue that she wouldn't have done. Britain may have talent, but at the moment all we're seeing is hype.
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Susan Boyle's performance wasn't even as good as her audition. Who voted for her?
I hate susan Boyle. She is a fraud. She knows damn well she can sing and the look of shock was as dodgy as an expenses list. I don't think cowell buys into her either. She lacks what paul potts had - he was humble and worthy. Susan is in it for the wrong reason - you mark my words. Over-hyped. The welsh singer is the real talent.