'They called me Susie Simple', but singing superstar Susan Boyle is the one laughing now
By Natalie Clarke
Last updated at 10:21 PM on 19th April 2009
Despite the common perception that she sprang from nowhere, Susan Boyle is not entirely unused to fame. She was well known in the village where she has lived all her life as the slightly batty spinster who lived alone with her cat, Pebbles.Every village has one, and 48-year-old Susan Boyle, who was born with minor brain damage and has learning difficulties, obligingly played the role to which she had been cast.
Show stealer: Susan Boyle is now the star, not the laughing stock, of her town. She adopted eccentric habits such as keeping money in an empty whisky bottle and cheerfully allowed herself to be teased by the local children on the rare occasions she ventured out of her pebbledash-fronted terrace house.They called her Susie Bong, or Susie Simple. This week Susie Simple went global. It all began last Saturday when her rendition of I Dreamed A Dream, from the musical Les Miserables, was screened on the launch of the third series of ITV's Britain's Got Talent.
Always musical: Her talent was spotted at a young age
She stepped out onto the stage in a brown lace dress that bore the unmistakable stamp of 'local boutique', set off by thin black tights and tan shoes.She announced she wanted to become the next Elaine Paige and did a hip wiggle that was mildly disturbing. The audience and judges leaned back in their chairs and prepared to be entertained, for all the wrong reasons.By the end of the song, they were all on their feet and one of the judges, Amanda Holden, had tears in her eyes.
It was the start of the Susan Boyle phenomenon. So far, assorted clips of Boyle's performance have been watched more than 20 million times on YouTube. Judge Simon Cowell is said to be lining up a record deal for her with his Sony BMG label (she says she can't talk about it, but is not denying it).And America, a market even British A-list pop stars struggle to break, has gone crazy for her. Oprah Winfrey wants her on her show. Cowell is predicting a number one album over there. Yesterday she was booked to appear on Larry King Live on CNN and NBC's Entertainment Tonight.On Thursday, Susan sang an a capella version of I Dreamed A Dream on CBS's Early Show via satellite. Offering technical praise and advice at the end of a phone was world famous musical singer Patti LuPone, who created the role of Fantine, who sings I Dreamed A Dream in the original show of Les Miserables.
Overnight success: Susan made a guest appearance on Good Morning America with host Diane Sawyer. 'The ones who were mean to me are now nice to me,' Susan revealed during her interview with CBS, a reference, surely, to those people who have teased and tormented her over the years.
U.S. chatshow host Kathie Lee Gifford was moved to tearsl
The video clip has also been shown on NBC's Today Show and reduced the host, Kathie Lee Gifford, to tears. Susan was also interviewed on the American breakfast show Good Morning America. Hollywood's contribution to the Susan Boyle phenomenon came from 46-year-old actress Demi Moore and her 31-year- old husband, Ashton Kutcher.Kutcher posted a link on the social networking site Twitter, about Susan's singing, saying 'This just made my night', and his wife replied: 'It made me teary!'Articles have appeared in newspapers all over the world including such diverse and far-flung publications as The Washington Post, The Toronto Star and The Maldives Chronicle. At least two Susan Boyle internet fan sites have been set up and she now has her own entry on the internet encyclopedia Wikipedia.
To cap it all, Dr Robert Canfield, Professor of Anthology at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, has published an academic essay about the Boyle phenomenon, entitled Susan Boyle And The Power Of The Moral Imagination.'Buried within the human psyche are feelings, yearnings, anxieties too deep for words, usually,' he wrote. 'Always it is something outside ourselves that touches us, somehow, where we feel most deeply. At such moments we remember that we are humans - not merely creatures, but human beings, profoundly and deeply shaped by a moral sensibility so powerful that it breaks through our inhibitors; it can burst out, explode into public view, to our own astonishment.'
Impressive performance: Wowing the judges on Britain's Got Talent
Or to put it another way: you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.
The lady who started all this off has spent most of the week at her home in Blackburn, near Bathgate, West Lothian, with Pebbles the cat, trying to make sense of it all. (Interspersed by a series of television interviews, naturally.)'It has been an incredible week but I'm just taking baby steps, seeing where it goes,' she says.'Singing on CBS was amazing and being given advice and encouragement by Patti LuPone was out of this world. She's a brilliant singer.'How is she feeling at the moment, as the world goes crazy about Susan Boyle? And does she have an explanation for what has happened?
'I've been very calm and relaxed,' says Susan. 'I'm taking it in my stride. I have no explanation for it, none at all.' 
At home in her village in West Lothian: Susan lived a quiet life in her parents' home before she shot to stardom on Britain's Got Talent Has she been living it up this week? 'No, I'm just carrying on as normal. Tonight I'm staying in and having fish and chips.' Susan, a devout Catholic, has lived in Blackburn all her life, and is the youngest of nine siblings (five girls and four boys).
No makeover: Susan, pictured near her home today, is being warned against a style transformation.Her mother, Bridget, was a shorthand typist before she had her children; her father, Patrick, worked as a storeman at the British Leyland factory in Bathgate.The factory closed a few years ago, contributing to a decline in the Bathgate area. As they grew up, Susan's brothers and sisters left the family home one by one.Most of her siblings stayed in the area, but one brother moved to Australia. Susan alone stayed with her parents. She had suffered mild brain damage after being starved of oxygen at birth. Recalling her childhood, she said earlier this week: 'I was born with a disability and that made me a target for bullies.'I was called names because of my fuzzy hair and because I struggled in class. I told the teachers but, because it was more verbal than physical, I could never prove anything. 'But words often hurt more than cuts and bruises and the scars are still there.'
Yet, bullied though she was, there wasn't anyone in Blackburn who could deny that Susan had an amazing voice. She was a musical child and, at the age of 12, her mother placed her in the choir of her local Catholic church. 'I also sang in musicals at school, lots of them, I can't remember what.'After leaving school, she became a regular on the microphone at the Happy Valley Hotel in Blackburn and performed karaoke at local pubs.When she was 18, she took her one and only job as a trainee cook in the kitchens of West Lothian College. 'It was a six-month contract and then it stopped,' she says, suggesting that she is not as talented at cookery as she is at singing.Ever since then, she has done voluntary work, on and off, helping the elderly, supported by her parents. She did not move out of the family home, and she did not go out on dates.In an interview last weekend, she talked about the lack of romance in her life, and regret at not having children.'I've never been kissed,' she said. 'If someone even pecked me on the cheek it would be nice, but I've never even got that close.
Susan Boyle is keeping her fingers crossed that she will get the chance to sing for the Queen at the Royal Variety Performance in December'My parents didn't want me to have boyfriends, so I've never been on a date. I suppose I've accepted it's never going to happen.'But today, Susan, perhaps mortified that throwaway remarks about the lack of romance in her life are being quoted around the world, is in a more reticent mood.Does she want to talk about men, I ask her? 'No comment. It's not relevant to Britain's Got Talent. I prefer to keep myself to myself,' is all she will say. 'I'm a lady. Let's just leave it at that.'Until last Saturday Susan had led a quiet life.Ten years ago, her father died, leaving just Bridget and Susan in the house. All her siblings had moved away long ago, and Susan has said that two of them have died.
At home: Susan never moved away from the house where she was born, instead choosing to look after her parents in their old ageIt was Bridget who encouraged her daughter's talent and said she should enter a television talent show.In 2000 she auditioned to appear on the Michael Barrymore show My Kind Of People, but didn't make it. 'He said he liked my singing, but I didn't get through.'Two years ago, Bridget died, aged 91. They had been inseparable, particularly in the later years, and Susan was distraught.'For a while after my mother's death I wasn't able to sing,' says Susan. 'I was too upset.'She became even more insular. 'I stayed at home, did the housework, day to day tasks.'Now that she was on her own, she was picked on even more by the local children, who would knock on the door and run away.
Enjoying the attention: Susan hammed it up for the cameras today by copying a move made famous by Strictly Come Dancing host Bruce ForsythShe had the occasional holiday - on her own, of course. One time she went off to France. Mostly, though, she stayed at home with Pebbles. But after a while Susan began to feel a little better.She was still grieving deeply, but the thought of making her mum proud gave her the strength and the courage to audition for Britain's Got Talent.'I realised I wanted to make my mum proud of me and the only way to do that was to take the risk and enter the show.'In the run-up to the audition, Susan practised in the bedroom that she has slept in since she was a child, holding her hairbrush in front of the mirror.'Well, that's what everyone does,' she says. 'I practised for a couple of weeks before the show, at least an hour a day.'
The media spotlight is on the singing superstar at her simple home.The audition took place at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow in January. Susan decided to wear a dress she'd bought a few months' earlier for a nephew's birthday. 'I bought it at a local shop,' is all she will reveal.I was very nervous before I went on. I had a sandwich and then I went out there. The response from the judges really blew me away - it was a knockout.'I was shocked by their reaction actually. My mouth was just wide open when they said all the nice things they did.'It was the best feeling, being in front of that panel. I loved it.'
Piers Morgan described her performances as 'without a doubt the biggest surprise I've had in three years of this show'.She liked all the judges, but was particularly impressed by Piers. 'I think he is very nice. Unfortunately I didn't get to speak to him very much on the day, but he said some really complimentary things.'He's such a gentleman, and very professional.'
Impressed: The panel of Piers, Amanda and Simon were shocked by Susan's performance
Afterwards, Susan simply went home. 'There was no big celebration. I just went home to bed. I do have the occasional glass of wine, but most of the time I'm teetotal. I prefer a half pint of lemonade.'After the excitement of the audition, it went quiet for a few months until last weekend when the show went out on television, watched by 11.4million viewers.And that marked the end of Susan Boyle's life as she knew it.Susan knew she was going to appear on the show and watched it herself on the night.'I thought there was room for improvement,' she says, ' particularly with the dress.' (Although judge Amanda Holden has vowed she won't allow Susan to have a 'Simon Cowell makeover', saying it would spoil her charm.)
The following day, Susan went to church for the Easter Sunday service. She received a standing ovation when she walked inside.'Although we sing in church, not a lot of them knew how well I could sing, so it was a bit of a shock to them. I'm a bit shy and retiring, so they would never have known.'Everyone has been very nice and it's lovely when all the kids stop me in the street to congratulate me.'But Susan hasn't quite been able to escape the teasing that has followed her throughout her life. Her rather wild hairdo and bushy eyebrows have led her to be dubbed the 'hairy angel' in some quarters.But she's used to it, and right now she really doesn't care. 'It's like water off a duck's back,' she says.Susan is already the favourite to win Britain's Got Talent. The winner of the show will receive £100,000 and the opportunity to perform at the Royal Variety Performance later this year.
Overcome: Susan burst into tears after realising she had made it through to the next round on Britain's Got TalentShe says it would be her dream because the Queen is her heroine. 'She is beautiful and regal and has the ability to lead. She is a very dignified lady.' Rather like Susan Boyle herself.Her life has changed irrevocably of course. Susie Simple was the last person on earth that those who know her would have expected to become a global superstar.And that, perhaps, explains in part the madness of this past week.All of us can dream our dream, and get out there and live it, if we just have the courage.