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For the past month, I have been following the story of Susan Boyle. Like millions of others, I found something intriguing about her; for me her story was one of divinity. She not only has incredible talent, but also she truly loves singing, has her burdens and is still humble. These divine qualities are the essence of real success. And I believe these qualities are also what attracted her to us. She enables us to see the divinity within ourselves. Through her, we see God. This is the real cause of her fame.
The Susan Boyle story is one of an person going from obscurity to worldwide fame in a month, and much of this was based on the 100 million hits on YouTube. This clearly demonstrates the power of Web 2.0 and social networking as medium. We must also ask, “Why Susan Boyle” and this powerful surge in social media? There is synchronicity in everything. It must be she has a message for us.
The final show had record-breaking viewership with over 19 million viewers. Coincidentally I was in a pub in Central London during the finals, and saw this incredible performance. It is better than the first. Flawless.
When it was announced she was second place, it was a shock to say the least. And for her, she is having issues with all the attention. What can we learn from her and what has happened to her?
Listen to her lyrics. They are telling HER story, to the point it is almost spooky. They are prophetic. There was a public backlash due to her not being able to take the spotlight. This was a big part of why she placed second. I wonder how many of these critics could handle the same? Hers is a classic “hero” story, build them up, tear them down. In some ways, she is even playing the role of Jesus.
We also should remember that losing is oftentimes winning. Al Gore lost an election, but won a Nobel Prize. His former opponent retired with the lowest approval ratings in decades. Former Miss America Vanessa Williams was the first, and only, de-throned Miss America. Since, she has won Grammys and other awards. Can you name who replaced her? Or even who Miss America 2009 is?
What´s in her future? An invitation to perform for Obama on July 4th and a multi-million dollar deal on the table (thats going to but Pebbles a lot of cat food). With that divine convergence of qualities, hers will be a dream that only gets better.
Keep Dreaming Susan,
Brian
PS. Are there any other takeouts you can think of? Post below!
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What struck me most is how guilty I was of prejudging her – along with the live audience. Well actually, I first saw the video when you posted it, and you had said how wonderful it was. But I felt that I WOULD have viewed her with great skepticism if I hadn’t taken your cue. So the message would be that no matter how much experience we might have with humankind, each person is an individual who deserves to be taken as a clean slate.
Comment by Nadine June 1, 2009 @ 10:45 pmBreath-taking, inspiring, moving, simply perfect.
I think its an error to classify this show in the “reality” category, when it shares this space with the likes of “Survivor.” Susan is the real survivor, and reality is that dreams can truly happen – without creative editing, crafted plot lines, and alliances. Its also proof that dreams coming true doesn’t mean they are formed or fashioned absolutely as we’ve dreamt them. In fact, dream-like qualities require that when they come true, they are even better than we could have imagined them.
I hope, pray, and believe Susan, and all of those out there like her, will suffer this fate – a reality even better than a dream, and all of it coming true.
Thanks for sharing!
Tamara
Comment by T McMillen June 2, 2009 @ 3:33 am