2 months ago everyone was patting themselves on the back for loving her. Now her collapse is back page news that most people wont even read. Sad
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...dream-that-became-a-nightmare/article1164306/
She dreamed a dream that became a nightmare
Even in the age of instant celebrities, Susan Boyle's rise and fall was ludicrously quick, taking her from anonymity to stardom to rehab in just 51 days. She is perhaps the highest-profile victim of the YouTube/Twitter personality mill, created and destroyed in less time than it takes for Madonna to find a new boyfriend.
Ms. Boyle has joined Kate Moss, Lindsay Lohan and Amy Winehouse as the latest celebrity to cite "exhaustion" as a reason for stepping out of the public eye. Like Ms. Winehouse and Ms. Moss, she sought refuge at The Priory, a mental-health facility in north London famous for treating models, actors and rock stars with drink or drug dependencies, depression - and that 21st-century malady, acute weariness.
Unlike other celebrities, Ms. Boyle's condition wasn't brought on by too many early morning tequilas or late-night parties. Instead, the 48-year-old Scottish singer seems to have come down with a severe case of public fickleness.
Ms. Boyle was taken to the clinic in an ambulance on Sunday night after the producers of Britain's Got Talent, in which she suffered a shock defeat the previous evening, thought she had become unstable. There are reports that she ran down a corridor yelling, "I hate this show" and threw a glass of water at a BGT employee after placing second to the street-dance group Diversity.
Since then, the woman raised to the heights of YouTube stardom has managed to unite political foes in concern over her well-being.
"I hope Susan Boyle is okay because she is a really, really nice person and I think she will do well," said Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who had taken his eyes off the upcoming European elections long enough to discuss Ms. Boyle's condition with Britain's Got Talent judge Simon Cowell.
Meanwhile Mr. Brown's arch-rival, Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond, blasted a culture that raised up heroes as quickly as it destroyed them. The separatist politician said there were "elements of a press who like nothing better than to build people up and then drag them down," according to the Associated Press.
Britain's media, not noted for its gentleness, can only be partly to blame: A sizable chunk of the country had turned on her as well. On Saturday night, 19.2 million people in Britain, one-third of the country's population, tuned in to watch Ms. Boyle perform, and only 20 per cent of them voted for her, compared with almost 25 per cent for Diversity.
Ms. Boyle reprised the Les Misérables ballad I Dreamed a Dream, which had stunned the judges when she sang it during her audition in April, a performance that has been watched more than 200 million times on YouTube. By Saturday night, though, the winds had changed: There were boos when judge Piers Morgan announced that he thought she should win, and Ms. Boyle looked red-eyed and tense throughout the show.
"The best people won," she said in congratulating Diversity.
However, she'd been dogged by unpleasant headlines all week. The pressure of instant stardom got to her, it seems, and she snapped and swore at people who approached her, and required counselling before going on to sing live in the finals.
This behaviour didn't jibe with the simple portrait that had been painted of Ms. Boyle: She was "the hairy angel," in one tabloid, "a Scottish spinster" more at home with her cat, Pebbles, her church work and the occasional karaoke night at the local pub than the cutthroat world of showbiz. It was reported that she had learning difficulties, and had been oxygen-deprived at birth, though no source was cited.
Ms. Boyle's hometown of Blackburn in southern Scotland is waiting for her return. Other deals are around the corner. Ms. Boyle will likely join other celebrities who transcended their public flameouts. Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction didn't derail her musical career, and Stephen Fry has maintained a successful acting career a decade after stage fright saw him fleeing the theatre before a performance.
Ms. Boyle's fiercest champion on the judging panel has come to her defence: "Nobody has had to put up with the kind of attention Susan has had," said Mr. Morgan. "Nobody could have predicted it. ... It's been crazy."
What will Ms. Boyle do next? There are reports of a possible singing tour of the United States, or a record contract. The first winner of Britain's Got Talent, Paul Potts, has found a successful career with a pop-classical repertoire.
Ms. Boyle's hero, the singer Elaine Paige, has sent messages of support, and producer Cameron Mackintosh - who knows Les Miz better than anyone, called Ms. Boyle's initial version of the song "touching, thrilling, uplifting."
A ghostwritten memoir could be a possibility, or an appearance on a reality TV show such as I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here. Unless she takes that title to heart, and decides that fame isn't worth it.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...dream-that-became-a-nightmare/article1164306/
She dreamed a dream that became a nightmare
Even in the age of instant celebrities, Susan Boyle's rise and fall was ludicrously quick, taking her from anonymity to stardom to rehab in just 51 days. She is perhaps the highest-profile victim of the YouTube/Twitter personality mill, created and destroyed in less time than it takes for Madonna to find a new boyfriend.
Ms. Boyle has joined Kate Moss, Lindsay Lohan and Amy Winehouse as the latest celebrity to cite "exhaustion" as a reason for stepping out of the public eye. Like Ms. Winehouse and Ms. Moss, she sought refuge at The Priory, a mental-health facility in north London famous for treating models, actors and rock stars with drink or drug dependencies, depression - and that 21st-century malady, acute weariness.
Unlike other celebrities, Ms. Boyle's condition wasn't brought on by too many early morning tequilas or late-night parties. Instead, the 48-year-old Scottish singer seems to have come down with a severe case of public fickleness.
Ms. Boyle was taken to the clinic in an ambulance on Sunday night after the producers of Britain's Got Talent, in which she suffered a shock defeat the previous evening, thought she had become unstable. There are reports that she ran down a corridor yelling, "I hate this show" and threw a glass of water at a BGT employee after placing second to the street-dance group Diversity.
Since then, the woman raised to the heights of YouTube stardom has managed to unite political foes in concern over her well-being.
"I hope Susan Boyle is okay because she is a really, really nice person and I think she will do well," said Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who had taken his eyes off the upcoming European elections long enough to discuss Ms. Boyle's condition with Britain's Got Talent judge Simon Cowell.
Meanwhile Mr. Brown's arch-rival, Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond, blasted a culture that raised up heroes as quickly as it destroyed them. The separatist politician said there were "elements of a press who like nothing better than to build people up and then drag them down," according to the Associated Press.
Britain's media, not noted for its gentleness, can only be partly to blame: A sizable chunk of the country had turned on her as well. On Saturday night, 19.2 million people in Britain, one-third of the country's population, tuned in to watch Ms. Boyle perform, and only 20 per cent of them voted for her, compared with almost 25 per cent for Diversity.
Ms. Boyle reprised the Les Misérables ballad I Dreamed a Dream, which had stunned the judges when she sang it during her audition in April, a performance that has been watched more than 200 million times on YouTube. By Saturday night, though, the winds had changed: There were boos when judge Piers Morgan announced that he thought she should win, and Ms. Boyle looked red-eyed and tense throughout the show.
"The best people won," she said in congratulating Diversity.
However, she'd been dogged by unpleasant headlines all week. The pressure of instant stardom got to her, it seems, and she snapped and swore at people who approached her, and required counselling before going on to sing live in the finals.
This behaviour didn't jibe with the simple portrait that had been painted of Ms. Boyle: She was "the hairy angel," in one tabloid, "a Scottish spinster" more at home with her cat, Pebbles, her church work and the occasional karaoke night at the local pub than the cutthroat world of showbiz. It was reported that she had learning difficulties, and had been oxygen-deprived at birth, though no source was cited.
Ms. Boyle's hometown of Blackburn in southern Scotland is waiting for her return. Other deals are around the corner. Ms. Boyle will likely join other celebrities who transcended their public flameouts. Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction didn't derail her musical career, and Stephen Fry has maintained a successful acting career a decade after stage fright saw him fleeing the theatre before a performance.
Ms. Boyle's fiercest champion on the judging panel has come to her defence: "Nobody has had to put up with the kind of attention Susan has had," said Mr. Morgan. "Nobody could have predicted it. ... It's been crazy."
What will Ms. Boyle do next? There are reports of a possible singing tour of the United States, or a record contract. The first winner of Britain's Got Talent, Paul Potts, has found a successful career with a pop-classical repertoire.
Ms. Boyle's hero, the singer Elaine Paige, has sent messages of support, and producer Cameron Mackintosh - who knows Les Miz better than anyone, called Ms. Boyle's initial version of the song "touching, thrilling, uplifting."
A ghostwritten memoir could be a possibility, or an appearance on a reality TV show such as I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here. Unless she takes that title to heart, and decides that fame isn't worth it.
