Is Susan Boyle of BGT Authentic?
I know this is a little late, but it was too interesting not to post about it. I’ve previously called out Donald Braswell from America’s Got Talent for not being a real underdog story. I just explained that Donald had been singing as the three tenors in San Antonio before going on America’s Got Talent and after his surgery. That didn’t seem quite right for me. I was blaming the producers as much as I was Donald, but that didn’t stop Donald Braswell fans from going on about how great Donald was. Turns out I love those fans, because they bring a nice bit of traffic to my site;-)
Well, in a little bit different way, I guess Susan Boyle, of Britain’s Got Talent fame, has been called out by BuddyTV as well. Here’s what they uncovered/implied about Susan Boyle:
- Britain’s Got Talent found Susan, not Susan finding BGT
- Simon Cowell new about Susan Boyle well before she was on stage and so his reaction was disingenuous
- Susan Boyle has been kissed (I added this one from an interview I saw Susan Boyle do)
At the end of the day, Susan Boyle has inspired millions. Certainly it was well contrived on the part of Britain’s Got Talent. Now that I’ve seen the audition process up close on this blog, I can see how there’s no way Simon Cowell didn’t know about Susan before he saw her. I guess we can say that Simon is a great actor. He sold it.
At the end of the day, it rubs off a little of the shine that was on Susan before, but it’s still amazing that “frumpy” Susan Boyle can sing like that. Should be fun to see her in the next rounds after being so famous.
I don’t think prior performing experience is against the rules – only having already a great career or something like it. Previous winners had some performing experience as well, some of the finalists from previous season had some performing experience. Remember “Quick Change” – they had performed in Las Vegas before. All of the circus acts have performed as well.
But I do agree that some of these performances do look set up. Like Susan Boyle or this child Hollie Steel — the element of low expectations followed by a “surprise”. With Hollie Steel it’s almost more pronounced than with Susan Boyle: a little girl in a tutu dancing, Simon ready to press a button but not quite making it than the little girl starts to sing… I do also agree with though that at the end of the day it matters little. Susan has a nice voice, she is musical and expressive and. In her choice of repertory she is really good.
But… This emphasis on background story rather than talent bothers me a bit. This is almost a common theme in all these shows. Does anybody really believe that simply a great performer who doesn’t have a “sob” story or “surprise”, who is not an underdog, would have an equal chance to even make it before the judges?
As to Donald – some performances in some small towns with a couple of other tenors is not a major career. I’d be extremely surprised if these performances and his CD had earned him enough to live on. After the accident he probably no longer can sing a full opera or project over an orchestra in an opera theater where there is no sound amplification or maybe he lost some of his range or something like it. Notice how during the whole show he hadn’t sung a single opera aria. His CD has 2 “art” songs and Broadway but no opera arias. So the accident story was true. He couldn’t sing opera anymore and he is trying to switch to classical cross-over/Broadway so that he could make a living singing. And really is someone is more deserving to win simply because he or she is an amateur or is “underdog”? 10000 people graduate every year majoring in “classical voice”. About 200 of them make to earn enough singing to make a living. Is the fact that they may have sung in a few concerts or a few performances in small theaters makes them somehow less deserving or less in need of a break than an amateur with far inferior talent?
This is off-topic, but there was a movie documentary recently called “The Audition” – part of Met HD movie broadcasts. It’ll be shown on PBS in fall. The documentary is about the Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions – a major international competition for opera singers. This is a trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odqrkmePyPQ
Keep in mind that being a finalist or even a winner of this audition is no guarantee of a job at the Met. Plus the documentary concentrates on a choice of finalists from semi-finalists. But there are many others who are good who didn’t get that far – regional finalists, for example. Are these singers somehow less deserving of a lucky break simply because they spent a lot of years of hard work perfecting their skills and maybe even appeared in few concerts? This is what makes me really sad about all of these popular talent shows – AGT, BGT, Idol — none of the winners or participants is nearly as talented as the wonderful young singers you see in “The Audition”. Yet none of these great young singers will get nearly as much exposure. This is a bit off topic, though… Just wanted to vent.
This whole emphasis on “underdog” stories rather than real talent makes me sad. Mind you, I do think Susan Boyle is talented and deserves to win assuming nobody with greater talent shows up.
kitty,
I think you’re kind of missing my point. Maybe I did a poor job describing it. It’s not about whether it’s against the rules or not. Really, it’s not a knock of Susan Boyle or Donald Braswell either. They’re taking what they can and making the most of their exposure. I’m certainly happy for them. I guess like you I’m disappointed with the producers of the show who are telling a story that’s not completely accurate. If it’s really reality TV, then stick with reality and let it sell itself. It would I’m sure. Just look at Susan Boyle. It didn’t need any editing.
As far as the documentary, that was really interesting. I’ll keep an eye out for it. I saw something similar to that on PBS which was I believe an opera house in England that was going around doing almost American Idol style auditions for a part on their stage. It was a fascinating documentary about some people with raw talent actually being taught. It wasn’t just about analyzing and criticizing, but was also about teaching these people who’d never done opera before to do it well. Great stuff.
I do admit I like the back story and find them interesting. I also love underdogs that are fulfilling dreams. I’m even fine with people having extreme biases for one person or another. The beauty of it all is that we can each have our own reaction to what’s presented.
I see, yes I missed a point. Like you, I don’t like the inaccuracies in the stories, but it’s not going to change. This is true about all reality shows on commercial TV networks even non-competitive reality shows. I saw numerous commentaries from participants of those warning not to believe all you see. These are entertainment programs and some part of them are staged. The audience for example may even have been told to act in a certain way for all we know. They do go overboard with it on AGT and BGT though. But… Until I saw your post on Susan Boyle and Simon I had believed that at least judges’ reaction was genuine. It’s too bad that it isn’t.
BTW – I believe the program you mentioned on PBS was called “Operatunity” and the theater was “English National Opera” – a good theater, not a major theater, but a well known theater nevertheless, stepping stone for many young professionals. You are right – this program was indeed fascinating. “The Audition” is obviously different as it is a major international professional opera competition, but it is still pretty exciting. There is some background drama there as well and some participants’ background stories, but like in “Operatunity’ and unlike in AGT, the judges are helpful and genuinely want participants to succeed. My mentioning it was a little off topic.
Everyone likes underdogs fulfilling dreams. Me too. It’s just that in some of us the desire to see an underdog succeed conflicts with the knowledge of so many young professionals with greater talent who don’t succeed. Plus in case of AGT and BGT a bit too much emphasis is given to these stories and they are often repeated multiple times throughout the story. But – it’s just the matter of personal preference.
[…] I saw Susan Boyle I really enjoyed her story. I was a little disappointed when I found out some background information on Susan Boyle. However, the story of Susan Boyle is still really fantastic even if a bit […]