By now, most of the world has seen the you tube video of Susan Boyle performing on Britain’s Got Talent. If you haven’t, stop right now and watch it. Susan, you see, is not one of the beautiful people. And, in the music business she is also creeping right up there next to old. But, she’s got spunk, and a dream, and she knew that being on Britain’s Got Talent was, most likely, her last chance at letting the world know about her amazing voice.
What I love about this woman is she never gave up. Surely she’s known for years that she could sing but apparently one day, at the age of 47, she decided “what have I got to lose? Why not go for it?“ I, personally, have already passed that age and I have to say, it’s kind of scary. At 20 you see your whole life stretching out in front of you and then you turn around, you’re 47, and you think, “wow, that’s right close to 50, which really isn’t all that far from 60” and then you start to realized that by the time 47 more years pass, you’ll probably be dead. It just isn’t very comforting. In my case, I had to do some serious self-talk to get out of the “I’m nearly dead” funk. So, what I’m saying is, I’m very proud of Susan for giving it a try.
BUT, what really struck me during her performance, and pre-performance chat, was the way the judges AND the entire audience looked upon Susan with disdain. They weren’t even trying to be polite. All they could see was a woman who doesn’t look and act the way a singer should and they made up their minds about her before she sang even one note. Let’s be serious, we expect this from Simon. He’s made a career out of being nasty, but the audience?
In all honesty, I’m embarrassed to admit that I, most likely, would have had the same thoughts, it’s just that I wouldn’t have let them show on my face. But it gives me reason to wonder why we are all so quick to judge a person based on their appearance or demeanor? When children pick on the fat kid, or the kid with glasses, or the nerdy one, we pull them aside and explain that picking on someone because they are different really isn’t a kind thing to do. But, what if they are really learning their behavior from us? It certainly gives us something to think about.
I hope Susan makes it big in the UK music world. She has amazing voice and I, for one, can’t wait to get her first recording. You go girl! You inspire me. Never, never, never give up!
That was an awesome performance! WTG Susan!