Susan Boyle. WTF?

Alright, alright, alright. I guess you have already been witness to the Susan Boyle phenomenon - you know, the frumpy Scottish lady who blew them away on Britain's Got Talent.

It seems that Boyle-mania has hit the world (presently about 75 million views in toto) and for the first few minutes of the original video, first viewed on Sunday last week,

Susan Boyle:
I Dreamed A Dream

I was hooked - simply because of the one-two sucker punch that the frump could sing - but to be honest, by the end of the song, I was bored.

Perhaps it was because, as a songwriter, I thought the song stank (yes, it's from Les Miserables but so what? Read the words on the youtube page - they're limp...

[Uh-oh, I was invited and went to tea at the home of their very charming English-translation lyricist, Herbie Kretzmer back in 1989 - Sorry, Herbie, I like you but not your work.]

...and the tune, while grand, is hardly memorable).

However, this post isn't about songwriting, it's about Susan's voice and while it has control, isolated, it has no warmth for me. In no way do I enter another world when I hear it - and while a rock singer doesn't need to be able to "sing" brilliantly, a straight singer does.

Away from the drama of the LIVE audience, you may be able to hear what I'm referring to on her version of Cry Me A River (the best of the lot) & Killing Me Softly, recordings which have surfaced in the last few days as reported by The Telegraph.

Boyle's versions are OK but I promise you, they're not particularly special and I'm sure I'd talk over them if they were on the end credits of a movie and I'd certainly never, ever, consider buying a copy of ANY of her tracks.

I guess the world wants a respite from the pop-sluts of our time and sees Susan Boyle as a very real alternative but the way I see it is, like religious faith, it's wise to have a God who's worth believing in.

Amen.

Andrew Goulding

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