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Most of the fascination with Susan Boyle is pure hype, created and generated by the Britain's Got Talent producers and Simon Cowell's American Idol connections in the U.S. Wallowing along with the story are the usual slavish followings by the media for any blown-up entertainment hyperbole.

The hoopla and subsequent public fascination is based on two effects: ridicule and reality. First, she's a most unlikely singing star, because she's an overweight, middle-aged Scottish barmaid whose face and figure are perfect for cartoons and late-night comedians' jokes.

The original producers of the British program probably put Susan in the spotlight to serve as ridiculous comic relief among the young, stylish and musically hip competitors. They wanted to give the viewers a laugh, as happened when American Idol put really-awful singer William Hung on the air several years ago. It generated great publicity, especially because this poor jerk actually thought he'd become famous, and went on to record some of his songs. Then, he descended into well-deserved oblivion.

TV viewers love their ridicule, whether for fallen politicians, drug-soaked pro athletes or poor schlubs with no clue about their lack of talent. Most likely, that was probably on the cynical minds of producers of Britain's Got Talent when they shoved Susan Boyle in front of the cameras.

Then, maybe to their surprise, she sang songs from Broadway musicals with a competent, clear contralto voice. The ridicule was still there, but to the delight of the producers, the stark contrast of the plain overweight woman and her unexpected sweet voice became a sensation. Unlike the one-step William Hung hype job, Susan Boyle was given a two-step shot at the slavish mass media coverage. For laughs, she looked like Tugboat Annie, but for fascination, she sang like a Broadway musical star.

The reality of Susan Boyle is, first of all, that she's a fairly good singer. No Beverly Sills, Maria Callas nor Grace Bumbry. Nor even a Doris Day nor Mary Martin. Just a pleasant, inoffensive voice. However, she didn't just emerge full blown from the fertile minds of PR hacks.

Susan had spent 25 years enduring smoke and suds as a singing barmaid in various pubs in her native Scotland, and had established a local reputation for singing Broadway numbers. Her rendition of I Dream a Dream from Les Miserables is what brought her to the talent contest.

If she's very lucky and grabs the brass ring, that could be where the universal reality of Susan Boyle emerges. Maybe she's popular now because she came along at exactly the right time. After audiences have been inundated with a half-century of discordant noise that passes for music, the listening public was pleasantly surprised, and teenagers were shocked, to hear someone sing a simple, pleasant melody. The lyrics spoke of love, and didn't promote drugs, anti-social behavior, murder and the gutterization of the English language.

Susan Boyle is wise enough to understand the reasons for her unusual entry into the entertainment spotlight. If she uses the moment productively, she will probably parlay it into a lucrative career. However, a more valuable benefit of her fame may be to finally end the stranglehold that greedy producers and their discordant music have had on popular culture for much too long.

Learn more about this author, Ted Sherman.
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