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Britain’s Got Talent.
It takes a lot to stun Simon Cowell into silence. The caustic judge on Britain’s Got Talent is famous for destroying the dreams of the disillusioned. But in the past week, a reclusive 48-year-old who lives alone with her cat in a small Scottish village did just that. Susan Boyle, an unpromising looking contestant who announced her ambition to be as famous as the actress and West End star Elaine Paige, failed to impress as she stood on stage gyrating her hips in a grotesque show of pre-performance nerves. The audience rolled their eyes when she declared she wanted to be a professional singer, and the normally ascerbic Mr Cowell showed remarkable restraint as she struggled to remember the term for the small group of houses where she lives….a village.
As the opening bars of music began and the grey-haired spinster raised the microphone to her lips, a hush of anticipation descended, a hush that anticipated abject failure. But as her voice swelled with the first lines from I Dream A Dream, from the musical Les Miserables, the snears and malignant whisperings among the audience gave way to applause and finally erupted into a standing ovation.
It’s true that the great British spirit champions the underdog, and I’m no exception. For here was a woman who, on the face of it, stood not a chance of success in a world that tries to emulate everything that’s slick and fashionable. But her almost heartbreaking rendition of the song, and the line: I had a dream that life would be so different from this hell I’m living” seemed to catch the mood of everyone who’s trying to claw their way out of the abyss. Susan Boyle may or may not follow in the footsteps of Paul Potts, the mobile phone salesman who was propelled to international stardom by the show two years ago, but that’s to miss the point here. Her new-found fame, and the new-found wealth she might experience as a result of it, will give her choices. And for all of us, having choices is what feeds our optimism in life.
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