Did Susan Boyle self-destruct? Or is Simon Cowell tricking us again?
At first we could hope it was all a misunderstanding and Susan Boyle didn’t really scream and swear at the police. Or at her biggest "Britain's Got Talent" rival, 12-year-old Shaheen Jafargholi, as she watched him on the telly in her hotel bar.
Or, worst of all, threaten to leave the show -- only days before Saturday’s finale, the most important day of her life.
Now it’s all been confirmed -- in the British tabloids that started the whole mess and in live interviews on American TV. For her mental health, Susan has been moved away from the London hotel swarming with tourists and tabloid reporters to some kind of safe house. And Susan herself (or the "BGT" publicity department, in her name) has released a statement that: “I want nothing more than to stay and sing in the "Britain's Got Talent" final.”
Phew, that was a close one.
Ah, for the innocence of last Sunday’s semi-final, when there were flaws in her performance but the fans knew the pressure she was under and chose to revel in the notes that she hit beautifully.
Susan was the clear winner of the night in the call-in voting, yet the best part was judge Piers Morgan’s tribute after her song: “When the world was going through a pretty tough time and was looking for a bit of hope and inspiration, along came Susan Boyle to provide it and, on behalf of the whole world, ‘cause they’re all watching you tonight, thank you, Susan.”
Even Simon came through for her: “I just want to apologize because of the way we treated you before you sang the first time. You’ve made me and everyone else look very stupid, and I’m very happy for you.”
The British papers started calling her SuBo, raising her to the level of JLo and LiLo and Brangelina. And then, as the American press did with LiLo’s drug, grand theft auto and girlfriend’s-family-hires-five-security-guards-to-keep-her-out-of-a-party problems, the press looked for Susan’s melting point and found it.
The first inkling that something was wrong was the Tuesday morning Sun
Report that Susan was practicing her singing till 2 a.m. in her London hotel room, and guests were complaining that the “cacophony” was keeping them up.
One guest griped, “She just sings all day and all night.”
If only she’d left it at singing.
Under the headline “SuBo Goes Loco,” the Sun reported that Susan was enjoying Shaheen’s rousing semi-final song at the hotel bar … until Piers told the young contender, "I think that, pound for pound, that was the best singing performance we've seen so far."
As the ever vigilant Sun described it, “Hairy Angel Susan … stood and screamed ‘f--- off’ before flicking a ‘V’ at the screen and storming out.” What woman wouldn’t feel slighted, coming only a day after Piersy blogged how Susan had rushed up to him after her own semi-final “and kissed me full on the lips for quite some time.”
