Amanda Greever

A friend sent me a link to a video featuring 47-year-old Susan Boyle, a singing hopeful on “Britain’s Got Talent.” (Check her out for yourself.) She reminded me of a relative that comes to visit and always pinches your cheek. She was jolly, frumpy and slightly eccentric. Her amusement at life was infectious, and I had to wonder if perhaps she had snuck a nip of sherry before her audition.

At first, I thought my friend was trying to make a pointed remark about crazy cat ladies when Susan lamented the fact that she had never been married or even kissed and lives alone with her cat, Pebbles. Hey, two of those three could apply to me. So I paused my video and inquired about the wiseness of comparing me to a potentially crazy cat lady. He was baffled at my calling Susan “crazy” and suggested I keep watching.

The judges didn’t quite know what to make of Susan’s sturdy gait or the fact that she wiggled her hips suggestively when she told them her age. She gave off a confidence no one expected, and I was with the judges when they balked at her desire to become the next Elaine Paige, a major star of musical theatre. When she told them she was going to sing “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables, I was convinced I was in for something akin to the bad auditions on “American Idol.” After all, there was no way this woman could ever dream of nailing that song, right?

Wrong.

When Susan opened her mouth and let those first notes drift out, my mouth opened (or should I say dropped) as well. She didn’t just own the song, but the stage, the judges and the audience. She smirked just before she began and looking back, I realize it was because she knew she was about to hush those who’d doubted her. There’s something about making others eat crow that is a little fun, and Susan served up a heaping plate of it. She hit all the notes — high and low — and she knew it. Here was this lady that hadn’t exactly had a fair shake in life, and we all judged her because of it — and she knew it. She knew her appearance and behavior didn’t offer a lofty opinion of her.

The lyrics of the song added to the moment. They speak of dreams being dashed and stepped on. Yet the singer still hopes to find that soul-mate with whom to face all of life’s trials and triumphs. But by the end, the singer has realized that some dreams just don’t come true. I’ll admit it: I was crying before Susan was through.

I cried because this woman had wowed her critics and found a small piece of glory. She tried to leave the stage right after her song. It was as if she had done what she intended to do and whatever the judges might say was inconsequential. I cried as the irony of her song choice set in. OK, I cried because of the song, period. I cried as judge Piers Morgan called her song “… stunning. An incredible performance.” Judge Simon Cowell called it “extraordinary.”

And I cried as Susan reeled from the fact that all three judges had given her three yeses and she was on the next round. She was blown away and couldn’t help but cry. I have to admit that I’m a little ashamed of myself for assuming the worst of this woman based on her looks and background. And yet during this audition, Susan wasn’t a matronly spinster who had never married or been kissed. She wasn’t the crazy cat lady who lives next door with Pebbles.  Despite her performance, she wasn’t even just a singer. Even for a brief moment, Susan Boyle was a star.