Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: NormanD - PM
Date: 12 May 09 - 12:36 PM

I fear also for those who have become so obsessed with her that any criticism or contradiction is treated with anger and vulgar language.

"Stilly, etc" - this whole correspondence says more about you than it does about Ms Boyle.

NormanD, I don't know you from a hole in the wall. You never participate on any other threads where I am active, so you are in no position to make such sweeping statements about someone totally unknown to you who has been following this newly discovered performer with pleasure. Some of us find this contest procedure to be slow-moving after the original broadcast, and we'd like to get our hands on a more well-rounded selection of her work, to see just what she is capable of. What about this offends you? We've speculated at the songs she might do well, and we've discussed the generally shallow nature of the audience voters (that lowest common denominator can be relied upon--there's a saying about never going broke by underestimating the American public--the same might be true here).

Have you read through this thread uncritically and consumed all of the the arguments as if they had equal weight, even when they smacked of trolling by others? If you can't sort out the players and the tone of their discussion, then no wonder you've reached this conclusion. However, your conclusion couldn't be more incorrect. I think the problem here is the "tone of voice" in your head and the spin with which you approached the topic. If we protest the wet blankets who want to rain on this parade, even telling them to get lost, go start their own thread, that makes us pathetic? No, I don't think so.

Emma, I have wondered about the women who were captured in the audience when segment was edited. The kid with the mascara probably got the worst of it, and the one when she mentioned Elaine Paige comes in second. In those glimpses their uncharitable attitudes were etched in stone, digitally speaking. There is another woman, near the end, who is happy and crying. But did she also sneer early on? It wasn't captured if she did. The point is, these micro expressions were frozen in time at that point in the film, yet when you see the audience swiftly respond to Susan, clearly all them them were swept along and one presumes that these women received that same "wake up call" that Amanda spoke of. They probably cheered just as loudly as the rest. It would be a shame if this happy discovery of a wonderful singer ends up with a few audience members being victimized for something many of them did.

SRS