Susan Boyle Transcript

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Susan Boyle, 47, is a contestant on the 3rd series of Britain's Got Talent. She surprised the judges with a strong performance of "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables in the competition's first round, eliciting the "biggest yes in three seasons" from Piers Morgan and a yes from Simon Cowell and Amanda Holden. Amanda claimed it was the biggest shock and wake up call ever, referencing the initially skeptical crowd; Amanda also said that it was "an absolute privilege to listen to that". The performance was of such quality that the entire audience, which was cynically laughing and booing before the performance started, gave a standing ovation after the first vocals left Susan Boyle's lips.[1] At the crescendo of the first act, the judges joined in the standing ovation. Following the performance, Piers stated that it was "the most incredible act I have ever seen, ever". [2]

Susan is the youngest of nine children and lives in Blackburn, West Lothian with her ten year old cat, Pebbles. She stopped her pursuit of singing to look after her sick mother who died in 2007 aged 91. After her mother's death, Susan did not feel like going back to singing, but then, luckily for everyone, entered Britain's got Talent.




[On the day following the performance, the YouTube video was the number one article for all categories on Digg, with nearly triple the votes ("diggs") of the second most popular.[3] Less than 14 hours after submission, it is in the top five popular items for the past seven days.[4]

The same video was also popular on Reddit, with enough clout to top the front page as well.[5]

The most popular YouTube video submission garnered 500K+ views in the first 24 hours with a five star rating across the board.[6] This was despite embedding of the video being disabled.


[edit] Mainstream
Times Online ran an article with the headline Singing talent of Susan Boyle stuns Simon Cowell into silence[7]:

As soon as she begins singing I Dream A Dream, from the musical Les Misérables, however, everyone in the auditorium falls silent, before erupting into a standing ovation. Afterwards Morgan said: “Without doubt that was the biggest surprise I’ve had in three years of this show. When you stood there with that cheeky grin everyone was laughing at you. No one is laughing now. That was stunning. I’m reeling from shock.” Andrew Llinares, executive producer for TalkbackThames, the programme maker, said: “She was a complete revelation. Everyone was cynical about her. She’s a woman who’s grown up in a tiny little village and has never got married. “I think the expectation was that she wasn’t going to be any good. But that’s what’s sensational about the show. No one saw it coming.”

The Herald published an article by the title What's the story with ... Susan Boyle?[8]:

Susan is 47 years old, she is reported to have never kissed a man and she lives at home in Blackburn, West Lothian, with her cat, called Pebbles. At auditions for the series, Susan walked out in front of the audience and said she wanted to be like Elaine Paige. The audience laughed. Then she started to sing and the audience clapped. As the applause faded, Piers Morgan described Susan's rendition of I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables as stunning; Cowell called her a little tiger; and Amanda Holden movingly wiped a tear from her eye.

They also reported on the her origins, and the condition of her town:
Piers hasn't been quite so nice about where Susan comes from, though. It was reported that the BGT camera crew who arrived to film her home town were ordered to shoot in nearby Bathgate instead after judge Piers described the town as a dump. Despite that, Susan's story is just the kind of tale the producers of Britain's Got Talent love: ordinary person, preferably very ordinary, with out-of-the-ordinary talent. One of nine children and a devout Catholic, she has sung in the local choir since she was 12 and tried her hand at amateur dramatics before landing a regular gig in her local bar.

The Telegraph wrote a piece titled Britain's Got Talent finds an unlikely superstar[9]:

Susan Boyle astonished the judges at the auditions for ITV1 show Britain's Got Talent with her rendition of I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables. Her eccentric ways and less than polished appearance drew sniggers from the audience when she first appeared on the stage, but they were mesmerised from the moment she broke into song and gave her a standing ovation. Simon Cowell pronounced her voice "extraordinary" and Amanda Holden was reduced to tears by hearing her sing. Fellow judge Piers Morgan said the performance was "without a doubt the biggest surprise I have had in three years of this show".

Daily Mail published the article Middle-aged ‘hairy angel’ wipes the smile off Britain’s Got Talent judges' faces[10]:

Miss Boyle told presenters Ant and Dec that she lived alone with just her cat Pebbles for company. She said: ‘I’ve never had a boyfriend. I’ve never even been kissed.’ She then stomped across the stage and began clumsily gyrating her hips towards the judges, prompting laughter from the audience. A smirking Cowell asked her who she would like to emulate - to which she replied Elaine Paige. ‘I would love to be in musical theatre. I have just never had the opportunity,’ said Miss Boyle, who is from West Lothian in Scotland. Moments later, the music mogul and fellow judges Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan were left speechless by her powerful rendition of I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables. Miss Holden appeared close to tears as she sang, while Cowell looked almost adoring. The audience gave the singer a standing ovation and cheered as she finished the song.


[edit] References
^ 1:56 - 2:00
^ Mirror
^ Digg
^ Digg 7 day history
^ Reddit
^ YouTube
^ TimesOnline
^ The Herald
^ Telegraph 

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Self-Enquiry - Practice

Extract from 'Be As You Are' – David Godman

Beginners in self-enquiry were advised by Sri Ramana to put their attention on the inner feeling of 'I' and to hold that feeling as long as possible.

They would be told that if their attention was distracted by other thoughts they should revert to awareness of the 'I'-thought whenever they became aware that their attention had wandered.

He suggested various aids to assist this process - one could ask oneself 'Who am I ?' or'Where does this I come from ?' - but the ultimate aim was to be continuously aware of the 'I' which assumes that it is responsible for all the activities of the body and the mind.

In the early stages of practice attention to the feeling 'I' is a mental activity which takes the form of a thought or a perception.

As the practice develops the thought 'I' gives way to a subjectively experienced feeling of 'I', and when this feeling ceases to connect and identify with thoughts and objects it completely vanishes.

What remains is an experience of being in which the sense of individuality has temporarily ceased to operate. The experience may be intermittent at first but with repeated practice it becomes easier and easier to reach and maintain.

When self-enquiry reaches this level there is an effortless awareness of being in which individual effort is no longer possible since the 'I' who makes the effort has temporarily ceased to exist. It is not Self-realization since the 'I'-thought periodically reasserts itself but it is the highest level of practice.

Repeated experience of this state of being weakens and destroys the vasanas (mental tendencies) which cause the 'I'-thought to rise, and, when their hold has been sufficiently weakened, the power of the Self destroys the residual tendencies so completely that the 'I'-thought never rises again. This is the final and irreversible state of Self-realization.

This practice of self-attention or awareness of the 'I'-thought is a gentle technique which bypasses the usual repressive methods of controlling the mind. It is not an exercise in concentration, nor does it aim at suppressing thoughts; it merely invokes awareness of the source from which the mind springs.

The method and goal of self-enquiry is to abide in the source of the mind and to be aware of what one really is by withdrawing attention and interest from what one is not. In the early stages effort in the form of transferring attention from the thoughts to the thinker is essential, but once awareness of the 'I'-feeling has been firmly established, further effort is counter-productive. From then on it is more a process of being than doing, of effortless being rather than an effort to be.

Being what one already is effortless since beingness is always present and always experienced. On the other hand, pretending to be what one is not (i.e. the body and the mind) requires continuous mental effort, even though the effort is nearly always at a subconscious level.

It therefore follows that in the higher stages of self-enquiry effort takes attention away from the experience of being while the cessation of mental effort reveals it. Ultimately, the Self is not discovered as a result of doing anything, but only by being. As Sri Ramana Himself once remarked:

Do not meditate - be!

Do not think that you are - be!

Don't think about being - you are!

Self-enquiry should not be regarded as a meditation practice that takes place at certain hours and in certain positions; it should continue throughout one's waking hours,irrespective of what one is doing.

Sri Ramana saw no conflict between working and self-enquiry and he maintained that with a little practice it could be done under any circumstances.

He did sometimes say that regular periods of formal practice were good for beginners, but he never advocated long periods of sitting meditation and he always showed his disapproval when any of his devotees expressed a desire to give up their mundane activities in favour of a meditative life.

Meditation Events Around San Francisco Bay Area

* California Vipassana Center -Teacher: Goenka, Location: San Jose, San Francisco: Every Mondays and weekend.
* Dharmata - Teacher: Anam Tuhbten, Location: Point Richmond, Time: Every other Sunday.
* Sunnyvale Zen Center - Location: Sunnyvale, Time: Every Sunday
* Insight Meditation Center - Location: Redwood City
* Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley - Location: Berkeley
* Shambhala Meditation Center - Location: Berkeley
* Ananda Sangha of Berkeley - Location: Berkeley







If you would like to share event information, please leave it in comments section.