Where’s My Teeth? Britain's Got Talent Creates Unlikely Star – Susan Boyle    
April 17, 2009 – A week ago Susan Boyle was just an unemployed charity worker living alone with her cat Pebbles in Blackburn, West Lothian. The 47 year old is now the most talked about singer on the planet after her historic audition on the ITV1 reality show `Britain's Got Talent.'

The Scottish woman was laughed at as she walked on stage. Even judge Simon Cowell rolled his eyes before her audition. The unassuming Boyle looked completely out of place and admitted she’d never even been kissed, but then, she sang and everything changed. If this isn’t a reality check about our idea of what makes a star then we’re all doomed and sentenced to listen to Heidi Montag forever.. Her rendition of `I Dreamed a Dream` from the musical `Les Misérables` was delicious, honest and a complete surprise to everyone, not only in the audience but, around the world.

The video has now gone viral and her YouTube hits have surpassed 25 million. The world has fallen in love with Boyle. Even Broadway legend Patti LuPone gave her a huge thumbs up a few days later on The Early Show.

In just a few minutes on that stage Boyle reminded us that talent might not be about Britney’s lip-synching circus or mimed national anthems but someone with humility, a smile, a great set of pipes and a real face and body. If Ashlee Simpson looked like Boyle would we be talking about it? Susan Boyle doesn’t fit the music industries model of what talent is, even though she can sing circles around the JLO`s out there and, who knows, she may start a trend where we can enjoy music, not because of what it looks like but, for what it sounds like again.

Now, at least for a while, we are all going to be reminded that beauty is on the inside but probably not for long. I look at it this way, any shift away from the ``beautiful people`` thinking is at least a step in the right direction`.

Think of all the singing hopefuls who have been laughed at, just like Boyle, because of what they looked like, especially woman.

Our new sweetheart has done hundreds of interviews since her fateful audition including Larry King and has already received an invite from Oprah. "It has been a really hectic week, all go," She said this week, "I didn't expect this kind of reaction. It was weird to begin with, but I like the attention and I could get used to it. I am taking it all in my stride."

She told CBC Newsworld, "I think it's great [that people] are supporting me all the way, wishing me well, I'm grateful for everybody, for what they are showing.`

It’s important to note that Boyle has recorded before. In 1999 she released a charity CD, `Cry Me a River,` which sold 1,000 copies but now Cowell has proclaimed that Boyle will easily have a No. 1 album and he’s probably right.

Making her even more of an underdog story, she was considered learning disabled after suffering oxygen deprivation at birth. She left her music dreams behind a few years ago to look after her ailing mother, who died in 2007 at the age of 91.

As she walked on that stage, Boyle says she knew most of the audience and judges would be cynical but says, ``I decided to win them round.``

In true modern music fashion her looks lost but, in the end there was hope, her talent won. Maybe this will give more "real" people a chance. Check out her performance here. – by John Beaudin