Fat, Old Woman singing on Britain's Got Talent

I see what you're doing there.

Any relation to that other Boyle?

Aw, good for Susan.

That blonde judge is a knockout.

Well he's an exec producer on like every talent competition show on television in every country, so he has enough money to buy England.

And she's a cat lady!

Goddamn, this woman's a phenomenon.

You'd have to be one cold, stone-hearted bastard not to at least smile a little during that.

Smile I did, hell the hairs on my neck stood up. Crazy talent on that cat lady.

Obligatory Paul Potts clip from a few years ago.

I love that Paul Potts clip. Simon Cowell's mouth drops.

Old lady is nice too.

These are both awesome clips. But I prefer the Paul Potts one. Nessun Dorma has to be one of the best pieces of music ever written.

Man, it's just a great clip. Hairs on the back of the neck stuff. Check your soul if that doesn't get you on some level. Yeah, the format of these shows is manipulative and deliberately heartstring-tugging, but man the shock on the judge's faces is real. I really hope this eccentric old broad weathers the ludicrous storm in which she finds herself. Never had a boyfriend. Never been kissed. Quiet, private, unassuming. Now a worldwide phenomenon. Quite a leap.

I love the huge smile Simon gets. Great clip, and good for her.

Totally blew me away..I'm sure she'll have some stuff out soon enough. You'll be a fool not to sign her to something.

It's like the Grinch when his heart grew.

Yeah, I'm a big mush for watching the turning point when someone's impossible dreams come true.

Simon is such a good showman. If the talent-judging business doesn't work out, he should go into pro wrestling.

Maybe it's the long workday, but I bawled.

One of the most beautiful and pure voices I have ever heard.

I did shed a tear or two as well. Absolutely amazing.

There are so few truly magical moments on television these days, and I think that is one of the best.

For all the crap I might give AI and the like, sometimes, juuuuuuuuust sometimes, you get a Susan Boyle or a Paul Potts.

I'm sure this woman loves having her life invaded and getting chased around by the paps. But what are the Brit paps to do? They don't have an octowhore to chase about.

So its a huge surprise because she's "fat and old"? Have the judges heard of opera?

You mean you don't have to be young and attractive to have talent? Who knew?

Yes, heaven forbid you actually go out and prove to people that despite being such a sclub, you have talent. Heaven forbid.

Isn't talent just as superficial as looks? The world is saying "ah, we have learned once again not to judge a book by its cover," but isn't that just more cover? All we know is that she can sing; it's not like we thought she was a bad person and then saw her perform charity.

What I find most suprising about this is Cowel is a judge on The X-Factor. In which a big part of your talent is about having the right look.

So we should only be impressed by moral achievement, not intellectual or artistic achievement?

I'm impressed, by all of those of things. But they are separate things. (I mean, I think they are; maybe that would be an interesting discussion.)

It just feels like people are saying "well, we thought she was horrible because she was ugly, but now we think she's great because she can sing."

If Boyle is a "good" person, then she still would be without the above-average vocal cords, is what I'm saying.

It wasn't just that she was -- you know, I don't want say ugly, let's go with plain -- it was that she came across initially as a total kook. She looked and sounded like one of those deluded fools from the early auditions in American Idol who promptly open their mouths and embarrass themselves. So yeah, for that voice to come out of her was a genuine shock. It wasn't a judgment on her value as a person.

I was going to say the same. It was much more than looks, and when she was answering questions she just seemed "off". Not saying that it was good that they judged her before displaying her talent, but as Richard mentioned, she looked like one of those deluded fools who embarrass themselves on national tv during the Idol auditions.

I sincerely hope that she's able to perform other songs equally as well; with that voice, she certainly has the opportunity for a recording career.

Question: What kind of screening process do they have to go through before they actually make it on the show? Surely SOMEONE on the show knew that she was going to wow the audience. Indeed, the announcer behind the curtain that says words to the effect of 'you didn't expect that, did ya' seemed to know what would happen.

There's another one now (12 year old), and this moment (with Simon stopping him and asking him what else he can sign) seems very manufactured:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVU4IkzMNIo

Yeah, he can sing, but Boyle's story is so much more compelling.

My guess is that every person who goes on that stage has auditioned before. They wouldn't be able to send them ALL on to audition without the live audience getting restless.

I'm guessing everyone but you (the viewer) knew. There's a slight chance the three judges didn't know beforehand, but I'm a cynical asshole.

They could have edited in the sneering audience, and Simon is a master heel. The atmosphere in the room was probably much different than on the show.

And yeah, I'm sure the judges had heard her in earlier stages.

That's not anything against the performance, though.

I thought that the reactions from the 3 judges (and the audience) seemed pretty genuine. Either that, or it was very well rehearsed.

Look at that last video, at the very least, it seems Simon knew this kid had come prepared with another music track that would "wow" the audience.

Well yeah, the audience had no idea. But I could easily envision Simon, who produces/owns a part of the thing, being the kind of control freak who would flip out on a staff who blindsided him. "I can sell the surprise, don't come at me like that." I've worked with "talent" who would melt down at being thrown curve balls of any kind. In any event, bookers and producers on these shows always, ALWAYS know what they're getting when these people walk onto that stage. There's a lot of screening, give or take a suicidal fan.

What the hell point are you trying to make?

The same one you're making.

How dare you!

Oh... wait. Nevermind then.

She's pretty good, but the fact that she sings that particular song really makes me biased in her favor...

Pleasantly surprising.

She had to pick the worst song from that musical, huh?

Ugh, you're killing me here.

And I'm not really sure how Stars would have played, she doesn't really scream "determined cop hell-bent on redemption" to me...

I actually need to revise my statement. She could have sung "Castle in a Cloud" and that would have been a lot, lot worse.

But still, "On My Own" >>>>> "I Dreamed A Dream."

Yeeeeea... that one was mighty fishy. Clearly, all the big moments on shows like this are manufactured to a certain extent. Susan Boyle's was too, no question. But in that case, it seemed more like the producers took what was there and amplified it for TV. With the kid, they showed their hand a bit too much. The tense looks on all their faces when Simon stops his performance were silly. I agree that the reactions to Susan Boyle felt much more genuine.

The irony of it all is that it's not like Susan Boyle's talents/skills came to her all of a sudden. If she had the gumption to try out for this show, wouldn't she have had made some attempts to start some kind of singing career only to be turned away because of her looks? The sneaky part of these performance shows is that they made Boyle's normally disadvantageous eccentric looks and personality the first act of an ugly duckling narrative. It's the narrative that's made her an instant star moreso than her talents. Because people love simple stories. And damn it all if I wasn't taken in by the whole thing too. Manipulative as all hell, but I had goosebumps and a smile on my face.

And once again more proof that reality television is the lowest form of human intellect. Yes, even lower than Star Trek vore slashfiction with the cast as furries. You get one genuinely moving and surprising moment and then I guarantee you every god forsaken talent show in existence has a couple of knock-off "surprises" planned for the season.