She's never even heard of YouTube, but the video of Susan Boyle's performance on the talent show "Britain's Got Talent" has set the record for the number of views in a week - and it shows no sign of stopping any time soon.
For those of you who may have been living under a rock for the past couple of weeks, Boyle is a 47-year-old Scotswoman who wowed both the judges and a live audience with her rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" from "Les Miserables."
Boyle's voice - albeit skilled - could have come out of almost anybody, but it came out of her. She certainly isn't a contender for "America's Next Top Model," with her frizzy hair, matronly attire and thick eyebrows - but Boyle walked onto that stage with nothing but a prerecorded instrumental track and an audience with very low expectations. Needless to say, she blew them all out of the water.
She opened her mouth to sing, and it took about three seconds before the cheers erupted. Simon Cowell, Mr. Grumpus himself, even replaced his trademark unimpressed stare to a soft smile, watching her perform as she received a standing ovation from the audience. Wait, does Boyle have magical powers that render Cowell - dare I say it - human?
Someone obviously knew what this woman sounded like. Boyle had to audition in front of the show's producers, but unless the judges were able to feign amazement that well, they had no idea the unassuming woman holding the microphone would shatter their preconceived notions about her.
And while people are being charmed the world over by Boyle, her performance was a loud wake-up call.
Society has been bombarded with a large number of "isms" - ageism, sexism and what I'd like to call "Plain Jane-ism." Despite all of this, Boyle had the courage to get up on that stage and unabashedly show the judges just what she could do. She's not a pretty, young, slim, cookie-cutter blonde; she's well over the defined age that a starlet should be, and she only shares her bed with her 10-year-old cat, Pebbles.
Can old, celibate and frumpy be talented? Perhaps now we'll be able to pick singers by just that: their ability to sing, and not how young, curvy and manicured they are.
I've watched the now-famous YouTube video a handful of times, and each time, it brings tears to my eyes that I tend to save for "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." I'll admit to not knowing much about music, but it's not Boyle's intonation or her range that truly make her performance the sensation that it's become. It's her boldness in how she belted out the lyrics with a smile on her face, knowing that she had surprised everyone.
With all the gloom and doom in the world, it's refreshing to see so much international support for Boyle. Her fan club Web site, which warns to "never judge a book by its cover," has more than 13,000 members, culminating in a feel-good site that exudes collective joy.
This "never-been-kissed" church lady is proof that sometimes when you least expect it, the underdog does triumph.
Naudia Jawad is a journalism graduate student. Her column appears on Wednesdays.
