Subo - Daily Mail

[counic]

Thanks for checking, everyone. If anyone is dying to have it, let me know and I'll pm it to you in full.

[counic]

Since it's so slow today, I thought I would re-post the article, this time in full, because I think that if the website allows sharing each article through downloads, email,. and social media, that it should be ok to share it this way too, so here it is in full. Consider it a little antidote to the Today Show piece:

Title:SUBO
Source:The Daily Mail (London, England). (Mar. 24, 2012): News: p12.
Document Type:Article
Full Text: The Daily Mail The Daily Mail
Full Text:
Byline: by Jonathan Brocklebank

SHE could be spending her days sunning herself in the Caribbean, or splurging cash in the fashion stores of New York's Fifth Avenue - and few would begrudge Susan Boyle the chance to enjoy the enormous riches which came her way, late in life for a pop singer, after Britain's Got Talent made her a star overnight.

But instead the 50-year-old busied herself last weekend with a shopping trip to the Poundland bargain store near her home town of Blackburn, West Lothian. And when she had finished shopping, she did not allow herself the luxury of a taxi home.

She waited for the bus back to the three-bedroom former council house where she has lived all her days. And, global celebrity or not, she has no intention of moving out of it.

Three years after Miss Boyle's performance of I Dreamed A Dream turned a dowdy spinster into the ultimate poster girl advertisement for the life-changing opportunities provided by reality TV shows, it becomes increasingly clear that substantial areas of her life really have not changed at all.

She remains a single woman devoted to her cat Pebbles, and still spends many an evening watching TV from the sofa in her living room, just as she did before she became one of the most successful female recording artists of all time.

And while she may now have a housekeeper and a personal assistant, she prefers to venture out to the shops under her own steam, as she has always done, rather than rely on a driver to ferry her around.

Her extraordinary voice has taken her to parts of the world she never expected to see - far less appear in as a star attraction - yet there is a marked reluctance to spend too long away from her friends, family and the security of home in Blackburn.

But last night Miss Boyle was out of town. She was in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, making a special appearance in the premiere of the musical of her life story, I Dreamed a Dream, starring Scots actress Elaine C Smith.

For the next two months, the show will tour the country, inspiring audiences with its heart-warming story of fulfilment - the tale of a devout Catholic girl, bullied at school, unlucky in love and seemingly destined for a lifetime on benefits, who used her remarkable singing talent to prove everyone wrong.

YET it is hardly a conventional rags to riches tale, as Miss Boyle's visits to Poundland prove. Riches do not seem to matter much at all to the singer who seems to care more for more maintaining control of her life and ensuring that fame does not overwhelm her.

She still likes to do her own grocery shopping, or to visit Bathgate, which is slightly larger than Blackburn, with a bigger array of shops - and she is never reckless of flash with her money.

Certainly little has changed about her living accommodation. The only major change is that she now owns the ex-council house in Blackburn which she once shared with her mother Bridget, who died in 2007.

She also owns a second property in Blackburn which she bought two years ago for [pounds sterling]300,000 - almost ten times what she paid for her council house - but she finds the new pad too posh to call home. She uses it simply as an office or a place where she can go to practise her singing, and a store for her growing array of awards and platinum discs.

It is hardly surprising, perhaps, that Miss Boyle is resistant to change. Not for one minute did the 47-year-old who auditioned at Glasgow's Clyde Auditorium before Simon Cowell and his fellow judges look as if she hankered after the trappings of fame and wealth.

Gauche, with a greying mop of hair and a cheap, shapeless dress, she told presenters Ant and Dec that she had 'never been kissed'. She looked the very antithesis of a preening pop star, or even a media-savvy young wannabe.

Indeed, she told the panel she wanted to be a professional singer like Elaine Paige.

WHEN she turned out to have a voice worthy of that ambition, it was not this alone that propelled her to stardom. A crucial element of her appeal was the fact that the voice came in such an unlikely package. Immediately recognising the huge potential of her story arc, the show's producers went to town.

The feigned surprise on the faces of the judges was worthy of pantomime. But there was nothing fake about the rather unworldly, middle-aged woman on the stage. She really had led a sheltered life - and the millions who watched her performance on YouTube over the days that followed loved her for it.

Mentally, however, Miss Boyle seemed ill-prepared for the avalanche of attention which Britain's Got Talent brought her way. She was famously admitted to the Priory clinic in London for several days following the live final of the show, after she was reported to be acting strangely in her hotel room.

Friends now insist that Miss Boyle's admission to the Priory was no more than 'a blip' and that she has adjusted well to her celebrity. Where once she worried that, like so many performers from Cowell's talent shows, interest in her would swiftly evaporate, she is now confident of her longevity as a performer.

She has also learned that there is no need to change who she is to be a showbiz personality - indeed, that her homely, unaffected image is a key part of her mass appeal. And the extent of that appeal is simply staggering.

In the space of three years, she has sold 17million albums and broken music records which have stood for decades. Last year, appearing on China's Got Talent, she performed before a live audience of 60,000 and a potential television of audience of half a billion.

Audiences in the U.S. cannot get enough of her. Australia is equally smitten. Yet her world continues to revolve around the unprepossessing town, just off the M8, which provides her support system.

She says she is proud of Blackburn, and wants to be where her friends and family are. Many of the neighbours have known her all her life. Those close to her say Miss Boyle tries to keep her private time there as low-key as possible, but insist she does not simply sit at home when not working.

She is heavily involved in charity work in the community, most of it anonymously, and makes regular donations. She often sees friends and family, too - though, as yet, there is still no man in her life.

HER siblings once claimed that their father chased off her one boyfriend when she was in her 20s. Even then, the romance lasted just seven weeks and never progressed beyond a peck on the cheek.

Miss Boyle said recently: 'I've had a few offers in the post and, let me tell you, some of them are beauties. They say: "I've seen your YouTube video and I think I like you. I live on my own and I need somebody, too."

'And some of the photographs I've been sent - oh my God! Let's just say they were not suitable for me. Only Donny Osmond has really caught my eye - but he's spoken for.' Her latest album, Someone To Watch Over Me, is about her search for a partner: 'It's about that special person I would love to meet, that longing for that person to come along. When he does, he'll be that person to watch over me and I will watch over him. You need someone to watch over you, and I haven't had that since my mother died.' In the meantime, she cherishes the godsends that success has brought - a worldwide audience and the opportunity to travel the globe and perform for them.

The fact that she is now worth an estimated [pounds sterling]20million makes it easier for her to surround herself with key personnel whose job is to make life easier for the superstar.

Manager Andy Stephens is the man who makes sure SuBo's more glamorous trips go to plan and is the person who is always at her side with a guiding hand or a wise whispered word in her ear.

Wherever she travels, she is hardly the most demanding of pop performers.

A working kettle is all she really requires for her dressing room. She even brings her own teabags.

Often, while staying in top hotels, she will order exactly the same breakfact she would make for herself at home - scrambled egg.

ON trips abroad, Miss Boyle makes a point of visiting the local landmarks and tourist attractions - and friends say her ability to retain facts about them is second to none. As one puts it: 'She likes to immerse herself in the culture of a place.' While many may raise an eyebrow at Miss Boyle continuing to shop in Poundland as if she were blissfully unaware of the possibilities now open to her, it becomes clear her horizons have broadened in exactly the way she wished. She dreamed a dream of being a professional singer like Elaine Paige - and that is exactly what she has become.

Her publicist said: 'Susan will never change. That's her life and that's what she wants, and it's a quality that many people admire. For whatever reason that she wants to maintain that lifestyle, it's an admirable lifestyle.

'She does have the funds. Of course she has the funds. She doesn't need to take the bus, but that's what she wants to do, and that's something that endears her to people all over the world. She is still the same person that people fell in love with.' That much was clear last night as Miss Boyle took to the stage to rapturous applause at the premiere of the musical of her life story in Newcastle.

Henceforth, she will appear at some, but not all, performances of the musical as it tours around the country, arriving for its only Scottish run in Aberdeen on April 3. She is understood to be very pleased with the show, as are her close-knit circle of friends and family.

And that, it seems, is what makes Susan Boyle truly happy.

j.brocklebank@dailymail.co.uk

CAPTION(S):

Television personality: Susan Boyle on The Oprah Winfrey Show

Home body: Yet Susan Boyle is a celebrity, interviewed by Piers Morgan, above, and played on stage by Elaine C Smith, below

Comfort zone: SuBo pictured in her kitchen before her incredible rise to fame

by Jonathan Brocklebank

Source Citation
"SUBO." Daily Mail [London, England] 24 Mar. 2012: 12. Custom Newspapers. Web. 15 Apr. 2012.

[Revel]

Thanks for the full article, counic!

"And the extent of that appeal is simply staggering.

In the space of three years, she has sold 17million albums and broken music records which have stood for decades. Last year, appearing on China's Got Talent, she performed before a live audience of 60,000 and a potential television of audience of half a billion.. . . Audiences in the U.S. cannot get enough of her. Australia is equally smitten."

Sometimes my feelings for Susan are so personal, it's hard to remember/imagine the simply gobsmacking worldwide reach of her music (being a "foreign" fan myself notwithstanding).

Susan's impact the world over!

[andante]

Thanks counic. I've so enjoyed reading this and was smiling all the time. Yes, that is Susan and that is why we adore her

[Jeanwkirk]

Counic, that was great to read! Somebody ought to tweet it to Keir Simmons.
Anyway, thank you for posting it here!!!

[jordie]

I enjoyed rereading this article, counic...Thanks for putting it up again.

[Randma]

@ counic. I completely agree with the others. Thank you so much for posting this article in its entirety. A lovely read, only misinformed on Pebbles...

[diane wheldrake]

Thanks for posting this wonderful article Cournic, makes one so proud of Susan and to just love her to bits, extraordinary woman.

[Amber Duke]

Counic, that was great to read! Somebody ought to tweet it to Keir Simmons.
Anyway, thank you for posting it here!!!

How true, Jean. With the heading, "How to present a humble celebrity's story without sounding dismissive - 101."

Thank you so much, Counic, for going to all the trouble of copying the whole thing. It's just right, and a real pleasure to read. And written by a man, too. He really did his homework and understood Susan well (OK, except for Pebbles). Can't we get this reprinted over here? Have People subcontract him to write an Update On Susan Boyle. Their own writers have never done too well.

[cac1936]

Counic, that was great to read! Somebody ought to tweet it to Keir Simmons.
Anyway, thank you for posting it here!!!

My thoughts exactly, Jean. In fact, let's all tweet the link to him. I want the link tweeted all over the place anyway, but it wouldn't hurt to make a special effort for Mr Simmons.

I just tweeted this to our Mr Simmons. Think I'll tweet it to the Today show as well.