Susan Boyle by Alice Montgomery Page A

of forty years of dreaming. A life-long ambition.’
    And so it was time for the performance. Ant and Dec introduced her and there she was again, dressed in a long, silvery blue gown, singing ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ once more. Susan’s performance was as powerful and assured as before, but her expression was different. There was a more troubled dimension to it than there had been in the past. Susan had had a rotten week enduring a public backlash that had left her feeling vulnerable. For all the brilliance of her performance - and no matter how miserable she might have been feeling, nothing could stifle the beauty of her voice - you could see that all was not well in the world of Susan Boyle.
    Despite her troubles, the audience loved it. There were screams and applause, and the three judges all leapt to their feet, cheering and whooping. Susan smiled, though whether it was with relief or genuine enjoyment, it was impossible to tell, then Ant and Dec bounded on stage like frolicsome little puppies, determined to cheer up the diminutive singer with the magnificent voice.
    ‘Well done, Susan,’ said Ant. ‘Fantastic reaction, all of the judges on their feet. How was that for you? You’ve had a lot of pressure on you this week, but you went out there and performed and it seemed like you really enjoyed that.’
    ‘I want to thank the people for all the support they’ve given me,’ said Susan, who appeared to be a little more nervous than on previous occasions, ‘especially the people at home, the people in the audience - everybody. I’d like to thank you for all your support.’
    Her comment was greeted by a round of applause.
    ‘It’s been a week full of pressure for all the acts here tonight, none more so than you,’ began Dec. ‘Was that worth it, in front of everybody here?’
    ‘Well worth it!’ cried Susan emphatically.
    ‘That’s where you really feel at home, on stage?’ asked Dec.
    ‘Of course I do. I’m among friends, am I not?’ asked Susan, getting the audience cheering once more.
    ‘Of course you are, and let’s go to the judges and find out,’ said Ant. ‘Piers, what did you think of Susan’s performance?’
    ‘Wow,’ said Piers. ‘Susan, you’ve had a very difficult week - you’ve had an amazing seven weeks, but you’ve had a very difficult week where you’ve been the centre of the world’s attention. There’s been negative headlines, you’ve been “boiling over”, “cracking up”, going to “quit the show”, all this kind of thing, and quietly, what I kept thinking to myself was, All you have to do to answer all your critics is to walk down that stage to that microphone, sing the song that we all fell in love with, sing it better than you did last time - and Susan, I’m not supposed to favour anyone in this competition as a judge, I should be impartial, but you know what? Forget it. That to me was the greatest performance I’ve seen in Britain’s Got Talent ’s history. You should win this competition. I loved it.’
    The audience was cheering again: they clearly agreed. Susan looked gracious up on the stage, and while Piers clearly meant it, it was the least he could say. After all, he had, inadvertently, been responsible for causing some of the distress she’d experienced that week. A very public avowal of loyalty from Piers was exactly what Susan needed at that stage.
    Now it was Amanda’s turn. ‘Susan, I have never heard such powerful, confident vocals,’ she began. ‘You sang it so well this evening and I just echo what Piers said, really. You, out of everybody this week, have been under an enormous amount of pressure, but you did it, girl. You did it for Scotland and you did it for Great Britain.’ There was more thunderous applause. ‘And can I just say,’ Amanda added, ‘Simon had a tear in his eye. And I’ve never seen that before.’
    Finally, it was the turn of the maestro. Brushing aside questions from Ant as to whether Amanda’s comment was