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If you haven’t yet heard of Susan Boyle, you must have been living on Mars this past week. She is a legend in the making.

When 47 year old Susan Boyle first appeared on the TV screens on the ITV show ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ the vast majority of the viewers thought instantly that it was going to be another ‘awful’ performer.

Before she went on stage, the viewers were shown Susan talking to Ant and Dec, where she revealed that she had never been kissed (and that wasn’t an offer), I don’t mean to be mean but when I first watched it, when she said that I thought to myself; ‘By the looks of her I am not surprised’.

By the time she had taken to the stage and was being asked by Simon Cowell about where she was from, as a viewer I must confess to still thinking that it was going to be awful. I was not alone in that thought. The camera panned across the judges faces, which showed an almost complete contempt. The eyes shot a look that showed that their brains were thinking ‘oh oh, this has awful written all over it.’ The crowd were thinking the same.

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How many times have we all watched similar shows, from ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ to the ‘X-Factor’ and everything in-between? People love to watch the early shows, the auditions, because they always reveal the best and the worst of what is on offer. We always see people come on, who look a certain way, or act a certain way and instantaneously the viewers judge them. A judgement made based on what they have seen before. 99% of the time if you think they are going to be awful, they are awful (sometimes worse). But not in the case of Susan Boyle.

I must confess that when watching the show, I laughed out loud when I heard Susan Boyle say she would like to be like Elaine Paige. I seriously let out a chuckle, quite worrying considering I was watching it on my own!
My expectations were very low, in fact a part of me really wanted her to be awful, but that was soon to change.

Here’s a link to the video.

Susan Boyle appears on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’

When she started signing, my jaw literally hit the floor, I was speechless, my thought was WOW. When the camera panned back on the judges the look of shock on their faces said it all. The fact is, here was a woman who could sing very well, just like a professional. Here was a woman that everyone prejudged as being awful and yet here she was on stage proving every single person wrong.

Of course it was not just those in the audience she proved wrong, every single person watching was shocked. The story still continues. The video of her performance on YouTube, at the time of writing, has had over 15 million views. Yes that is the correct number, as unbelievable as it seems. This lady is a legend.

But what does it say about the rest of us, that we instantly saw a person who at best (not meaning this in a negative way) could be described as ‘no-beauty’, a person who we instantly judged based on looks and the things she said. The vast majority, if not all, people who saw it when the show first aired thought the same thing. They thought ‘awful’ and how wrong we were all proved.

Saturday 18th of April sees the next show of ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ hit the screen and one thing is for certain, the viewers will not be so judgemental about people. The same goes for future shows of a similar ilk.

Could Susan Boyle go on to win the show? Well there is the possibility of it happening, of course there is every chance, what with public support. My own personal opinion though, is that she probably will not go on to win, due to the fact that there may just come along someone better or more different.

Irrespective of whether she does win or not, one thing is certain. Susan Boyle is a terrific singer who deserves more exposure for her talent. She also, although not intending too, taught everyone a lesson. ‘Never judge a book by its cover.’ It is a lesson that is well known but rarely practiced. Due to Susan Boyle, on the show, more and more people have learned a valuable lesson in life.

Susan Boyle is fast becoming a superstar and although her ‘fame’ may not last very long, it is deserved at the moment. We salute you.