The Remote Island

"Britain's Got Talent" Phenom Susan Boyle: Overrated? [VIDEO]

Posted by Lindy Parker

Okay, so here's the thing: Hate us if you must, but the first time we saw the much-hyped Susan Boyle video from Britian's Got Talent, we were underwhelmed at best. The problem is that before we saw it, ten or eleven people had gushed so effusively about how mind-blowing her voice was, and how this woman was just so inspirational and talented, blah, blah, blah. The long and the short of it is -- they way oversold how amazing this clip was going to be, to the point where when we saw it, we were expecting Lea Salonga to walk out and rock our worlds until we were sobbing with the brilliance of it all.

In reality, we were unimpressed. Don't get us wrong. Susan Boyle has a decent voice (for sure better than us unless we've had three margaritas and find ourselves singing "Bette Davis Eyes" to a room full of karaoke enthusiasts -- then we rule the world and no one can touch us), but if we're being honest, we wouldn't buy her CD or go see her in concert. We never got chills or felt particularly wowed while she was singing. Yes, she can stay on pitch and hit all the notes, which in a song like "I Dreamed a Dream" is impressive, but as any self-respecting American Idol watcher will tell you, it takes more than a decent voice to be a great performer. Is there really anyone who thinks Susan Boyle is a great performer?

In order to make sure we covered all our bases, we did a little googling to see if we could find a clip of Susan Boyle singing something else. Maybe the overhype of the "I Dreamed a Dream" clip made us unduly harsh?

Okay, fine. If we close our eyes and listen, we admit her voice is nice. Good, even. But again we say, is that enough to become a professional singer? There are literally thousands of people with pretty good voices all vying to make it in an industry that requires not only vocal talent, but showmanship, charisma and beauty as well. Is Susan Boyle really going to climb the Billboard Music charts or headline a broadway show? We think not. There, we said it. Bring on the haters.

Previously:

Is Simon Leaving American Idol? Our Top Three Choices For His Replacement

Britain Still Reeling From The Revolutionary War, Ranks American Television Shows

American Idol: Paula Abdul Fashion Retrospective

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Posted Apr 17 2009, 06:00 PM

Comments

Brielle Silvestri said:

Agreed.

April 17, 2009 6:25 PM

Raymond said:

Despite the current economic situation of our great nation and the fact that we should al be preparing for thunderdome, I would pay hard earned money to hear you sing "Bette Davis Eyes".

April 17, 2009 7:26 PM

suk-it said:

I guess, being as cool as you gives you the right to have the attitude and veneer of a dashboard for a heart. Why aren't you looking at this for what it is?

This woman is a freakin hag, that was brought up to be made fun of, in what I think was the first round try-out of this stupid show. This is the round where they get all the goofball cut away segments for how horrible it was in the beginning... so they can do the montage with the stupid song "so you had a bad day"

She nailed the song, and held her shit together and had a level of dignity that most people never muster in a life. I don't like this kind of music, I don't care for TV shows like this, I don't watch TV, . But just watching it, made me cry. I had an immediate emotional reaction and connection to her, and the gem that is inside this woman who has lived a tangent of a life.

I don't have a TV, i actually saw a moment of the CBS morning show, online interview with her. It was so distasteful and horrifying, because now she is being paraded around like the gorilla that can sing pretty. These people are the disease.

Given your questioning of whether or not she should have a professional singing career, is like hearing this conversation in a bar, 4 beers in.

and Lindy, if you're really a purveyor of dreams, one beer at a time, you're ending up like those monsters on the TV. . .

seriously.

cut to the car chase, and prepare for ThunderDome

April 18, 2009 12:38 AM

MarionL said:

Yes, she deserves success. Everyone is not going to love Susan Boyle. In fact, some people will hate her. It's a numbers game. However, she is a phenomenon. I don't care how well a person sings, there are no "Perfect" singers in this world. But there is something called "Talent" and she has it in spades. Not only is she talented, Boyle has touched millions of people in a visceral way that is very difficult to achieve by just about anyone with or without talent. Susan Boyle will not be loved by everyone but she provides hope and inspiration for those who "get it."

April 18, 2009 6:15 AM

Jean said:

Too cynical! It *was* inspirational--this woman who's had no singing success (and apparently never even been kissed) got up there, was on the verge of humiliation, kept her cool in the face of cruelty, and blew everyone's expectations out of the water with her talent level. I have to believe that if Simon thought she was better than expected, but still not talented, he would've said so. Stop killing a girl's moment to dream a dream, Remote Island Lindy!

April 18, 2009 4:36 PM

yoursecret said:

>>>There are literally thousands of people with pretty good voices all vying to make it in an industry that requires not only vocal talent, but showmanship, charisma and beauty as well.

And yet many of them don't make it. You're confusing talent with marketability.

Simply because of the attention she has been given, she will sell records because she will be marketed as a "slumdog millionaire"-like participant. And she's good enough to not obviously be a hyper-marketed over-sound engineered piece of techno-candy like most pop acts these days.

Not saying it's pretty, just saying it's how the music industry works.

And BTW, Lea Salonga is overrated -- plenty of other Asian voices that are better. She got lucky with her talent. Bravo.

April 20, 2009 1:09 AM

Lindy Parker said:

I'm not sure I understand why her being Asian is relevant? I referenced Lea Salonga because she recently performed the same song ("I Dreamed a Dream") on Broadway -- something I don't imagine Susan Boyle capable of.

April 20, 2009 1:48 AM

Erica said:

I completely agree with you, the clip was like a movie that was overly hyped and although decent could never recover to the reach the premature bar I had set for it.

April 22, 2009 4:07 PM

chriseberleinmusic.com said:

Overrated. Thank you someone else realizes that. She is decent, but I believe the image that came with the voice is what surprised most people.

April 27, 2009 5:43 PM

Tony Young said:

I'm sorry, but no. She isn't as nearly as good as a trillion other singers I have seen perform. She is capitalizing on her below average looks to oversell what is essentially a decent but uninspiring vocal ability.

tony

April 28, 2009 4:56 AM

Dylan said:

What Tony Young said. If she wasn't such a troll no one would give half a damn about her voice. She's only getting the attention because you don't expect to hear anything remotely decent from someone who looks like that.

April 29, 2009 4:15 PM

About Lindy Parker

Lindy Parker has worked as a ghostwriter, editor, dance instructor and a purveyor of dreams, one beer at a time. She now writes for nerve.com's TV blog, "The Remote Island." She loves Charles Dickens and Gabriel Garcia Marquez and also, straight-to-video releases with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. It's possible she reads more teen fiction than she should. She hails from Los Angeles, her hometown and soul mate, but she lives in Brooklyn, the fling she'll never forget.

about the blogger

Bloggers

Lindy Parker has worked as a ghostwriter, editor, dance instructor and a purveyor of dreams, one beer at a time. She loves Charles Dickens and Gabriel Garcia Marquez and also, straight-to-video releases with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. It's possible she reads more teen fiction than she should. She hails from Los Angeles, her hometown and soul mate, but she lives in Brooklyn, the fling she'll never forget.

Olivia Purnell left Ohio for sunny Los Angeles; then found that she couldn’t ignore New York City’s call, and brought herself to Brooklyn where she has worked with GenArt, BlackBook, the School of American Ballet, and finished an M.A. in Creative Writing from N.Y.U. She loves one-liners with sting and hates the stench of the subway in the summer. That said, she can’t get enough of either.

Jake Kalish is a freelance journalist and humorist whose work has appeared in Details, Maxim, Stuff, New York Press, Spin, Blender, Men's Fitness, Poets and Writers, and Playboy, among other publications. He is also the author of Santa vs. Satan: The Official Compendium of Imaginary Fights.

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