This week more than 20 million people watched on YouTube and other video sharing sites a single performance from the ITV show Britain’s Got Talent in which a frumpy spinster from Scotland sang like an angel.You can see her astonishing performance here.
It’s not the singing that makes me write this, though the singing was good.I lived as a boy in the north of England and knew ladies like this Susan Boyle.What makes me write about it is the effect she and her singing had on the Internet and the Internet in turn had on the performance and its aftermath.
The video file as presented on YouTube is just over seven minutes and 26 megabytes long.Twenty million (and counting!) times 26 megabytes is 520 terabytes or approximately half the size of the Internet Archive.That’s 520,000 gigabytes or the equivalent of maxing-out in a single week the monthly bandwidth allotment of 260 co-lo servers at Rackspace.com.Running at top speed for a week would require 1040 such servers to do the job and we haven’t even made it to a week yet.That’s 520 million-million bytes.
Okay, so it was a nice lady singing a nice song, but what’s astounding is the performance had been round the earth twice or three times before the broadcast in the UK was even over.It was one of those seminal moments of mass-communication that showed the world was different than it used to be and thank God it didn’t require a wardrobe malfunction to do so.
What resonated with audiences about this performance was that it hit everyone – everyone – the same, as a long-coming reward for a life of good cheer and choir practice.I make documentary films from time to time and this performance is one of those emotional moments that every documentary director dreams of.It’s not the facts, you see, or even the stories that matter, it’s the emotional state of the people on-screen and how the viewer relates to them that matters.Real feelings count.
And thanks to the Internet in this instance such feelings count everywhere, it seems.For one happy moment we’re drawn together as a single audience to share a single emotional high that involves, for a change, no losers at all.
Think how rare that is, which explains its power.
Marshall McLuhan, who seems smarter every day, called it The Global Village.He said communication technology would link us together in ways we couldn’t imagine and those ways would lead to common experiences and shared values. McLuhan didn’t know about the Internet when he wrote that and he sure as Hell didn’t know about Twitter. But his prediction came true.
This Susan Boyle experience doesn’t come along very often, but with the growth of broadband technology it can’t help but happen more and more.It’s not the Super Bowl or the World Cup — it’s better. That’s because it is personal – a moment we all can share, well so far 20 million of us, one at a time.
Now the folks at Google are no doubt scratching their heads, as are the TV producers back in the UK, trying to figure how to put this effect in a bottle and make a living from it.But it can’t be done.
This is an event that was created for TV but not really anticipated by its creators, I’m guessing.They couldn’t reliably repeat it if they tried.
If they did try, it wouldn’t work.
That’s the beauty, because every time this happens, every time our Global Village comes together in this way, it’s because of a shared delight that makes us feel more alike and less apart.
We could all use more of that.
And the next time it happens, now we all know what to do.
Now we just need to figure out how to get the third world, China, our enemies, etc into The Global Village. Without them we are not complete.
-James
Actually, the third world (I´m typing from Brazil) is already at your side buddy.
For example: this video was a hit in Brazil, I received at least 20 e-mails whith this single video.
Actually, the third world was always in the “first world”, but the opposite is not true. As dominated countries, we always knew our culture and yours. 😉
I don’t think that Brazil qualifies as the third world. I’m talking about most of Africa and places where most people don’t have internet or even computers. They need to become part of The Global Village and those of us in the first and second world need to figure out how to get them there.
-James
That´s interesting: some years ago my sister went to Mali, which is one of the “poorests countries of the Universe”. She brought some photos and some of them were quite shoking: people producing their own knifes and things like that.
But, among the pictures there were some that really shocked me: cyber cafes in really poor buildings with some computers. Guess what kind of computers? iMacs. Brand new iMacs, not linux as we supposed.
(Apple products outside US are amazingly expansive. The basic model of the iMac in Brazil costs US$ 3000,00. Imagine how much it is in Africa!)
So, I think that our vision of “third world” is quite limited. And this is a good example of that.
But, before that, I think that there´s a simple question: is it a really good thing to became part of the “global vilage”? Are our principles and beliefs really so fine as we think? Personally, I have my doubts. Maybe is better to let things as they are in some cases.
I believe China, although attempting to censor (and failing) is filled with Internet cafes left and right. Alot of ‘third worlds’ pivot on information that comes from the west. Its curious, I recall watching a documentary in the early 80’s of a camera man filiming in a remote village that had very very little exposure to westerners. Tension with communication abound. Both parties questioned each others intensions, friend or foe? However, when one of the ‘natives’ saw a Disney Mickey Mouse sticker on the side of the camera man’s equipment, a smile broke and the villagers gathered in recognition. Everyone knew who Mickey Mouse was.
China? Heck I’d be happy if we could just get a shade more than the notch-filter demographic of urban young adult geek! Until it is no longer true that the top search for ‘Cookie’ is a browser persistence technique and the top spot for ‘Java’ is a virtual machine emulator, the internet can hardly be said to represent humanity. We’ve only come a long way if we look back; looking forward we can see we’ve barely scratched the surface.
I think it is time to lose the term “third world.” Like many titles it leads one to judge another. I think the people of the world needs a little less judgment and a lot more respect. The Internet and Internet services like YouTube have done a wonderful job at removing borders. It has opened the world to business. Recently I bought some camera cables from a firm in Hong Kong, a computer power supply from Canada, and one of my favorite new software companies is in Australia. In venues like this we can share ideas with people form all over the world. It does not take one long to realize we all have pretty much the same values and hopes in life. We are a lot more alike than we are different. The sooner we stop judging each other and the sooner we start listening to each other, the faster the world will become a better place.
Who says they aren’t there already? I’ll ask the folks at YouTube what their log data says about that.
Great angle on that story, Bob. And it reminds me of an article you wrote a while back about the YouTube business model, and why the Google acquisition was such a good idea.
Reflecting on your past post, this more recent article made me curious. As I tweeted yesterday, I wonder what happened to the YouTube business model between then and now?
Cheers,
M@
Oops, I forgot to add: If the InternetRevolution.com article is credible, then I wonder just how much did the Susan Boyle event cost Google?
I think the Rackspace analogy gives us a pretty reasonable handle on the costs to Google — 260*$$99=$25,740 so far. On the other hand they’ve probably gained several times that in publicity value. Blockbusters are always worth whatever they cost, as Hollywood well knows. It’s little knife-sharpening videos that are never seen by anyone that kill Google.
Google has the patience to eventually find enough of an audience for YouTube. The real test is whether another company would buy YouTube today for more than Google paid for it, no matter the losses. I have little doubt that some companies would.
Was it really necessary to describe this lady as a “frumpy spinster from Scotland”?
I think so, yes. It isn’t necessary if you watch the video but some readers may choose not to, in which case I think the detail is important to get the proper context. This isn’t poetry I’m writing here, you know.
Why don’t you write more poetry here Bob 🙂
1) She’s Scotch.
2) She is frumpy.
3) She’s 47.
4) She claimed, on the live broadcast, to have “never been kissed.”
2+(3+4)+1 = Frumpy spinster from Scotland
In this case, it does in fact add up.
I posed the question the other day, “How many image consultants have offered to give Susan Boyle a makeover before Round 2?”
The answer: if they had given her a makeover prior to Round 1, nobody would have uploaded the video to YouTube.
Hi Ike.
Sorry to be pedantic. Though I’m English, my wife’s family are Scots. The lady featuring in this post is a Scot, or she is Scottish :-)))) “Scotch” is a drink!
Nothing personal, and probably not a place to offer such corrections, but … for a happy life at home!!!! 😀
You’ll get nowhere correcting Americans on Geographical terms.
I know. My undergraduate degree was in Geography.
Harvard, the leading American University, shut down its Georgraphy department about a half century ago. Even in this age of globalism, they couldn’t be bothered. Most Americans are doing good if they know the names of all the continents. It’s why they can confuse Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, and so forth.
Hey, Tim, maybe you can get a job with the B-Ho administration. It’s like, they need more ideas about how to denigrate the US and it’s people because we’re so stupid and arrogant. Compared to the rest of the world, we’re just pathetic. Maybe we should commit mass suicide.
My humble apologies. I wish there was a way I could make the correction, for I do know better.
Maybe her smooth voice left me with a warm feeling, like Glenlivet. Purely subliminal.
Hari Seldon? As in future history, Foundation Trilogy?
Is he on YouTube today?
It’s funny you mention the “wardrobe malfunction”. One thing that I’m thinking a lot about lately is the changing nature of celebrity in the context of the web. That event only mattered because it happened to a celebrity during a spectacle.
Susan Boyle has become an inernatinoal celebrity, and her success is magnified by her appearance on the internet, but it was still created by a traditional television show. Her performance was sent to millions of viewers through the airwaves before it ever touched the web.
I’m still trying to figure out what happens as traditional broadcast shrinks and is replaced by internet. We’re changing the shape of media, and at the same time we’re softening the slopes on the sides of the pyramid.
Whereabouts in northern England did you live Bob?
Liverpool. Quite specifically Ringo Starr’s home town of Crosby, just North of Liverpool, where I spent three years in the late 1960’s as the only American at the Merchant Tailors’ School.
You learn something new everyday! I live in the far east of Lancashire, almost Yorkshire so its a fair way from there.
1.) North of England, the seventies? We couldn’t run into each other at that time could we? Ever been to Long Eaton?
2.) Such is the nature of the Internet, Susan Boyle qualified for a Wikipedia entry hours after TV clip went worldwide
3.) I don’t know how Google is making money with YouTube yet, but it makes certain YouTube members Google Partners and they receive a check every month because their original content drives enough traffic
4.) The internet is all about social networking, a phenom that far outstrips corporate concerns to comoditize it.
[…] the mawkish indulgence of Youtube to catch up with the latest technology opinions in Bob’s latest column. Yes, even Bob Cringely is blogging about Susan Boyle! Do read it – it’s a great column, one […]
Kevin – is that the Long Eaton in the Midlands ? ‘Fraid you have to be at least as far as Manchester to be a Northerner !!
Bob is surprising reticent about his time in the UK – referring to it only now and then !
PS what happened to the Ph.D from Stanford ? That’s the trouble with the ‘global village’ – like a ‘normal village’ everyone knows your business !!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_X._Cringely
Love the column, Bob, but I have to raise a factual question. You say:
“the video file as presented on YouTube is just over seven minutes and 26 megabytes long. Twenty million (and counting!) times 26 megabytes is 520 terabytes or approximately half the size of the Internet Archive.”
But is that for downloading? If it is, then the data necessary to stream is a whole lot less, right? That 520 terabyte figure seems suspiciously high. Anyway, I’m not trying to play “gotcha” — just want to confirm. Thanks, Bob.
At the time I wrote that a few hours ago the YouTube numbers stood just above 16 million, but I adjusted that to 20 because the first time I saw that video it wasn’t on YouTube but another service and now I see it everywhere. That estimate is based on 7:08 running time for a 500 kilobits-per-second stream. It’s just a guess, of course.
Bob
Just a personal hunch but I think 500 is too high. I’d peg it at about 400. That’s the figure that this month’s Credit Suisse report YouTube suggested. Anyway, just a friendly offering — not trying to do a smackdown.
Great post Bob. You are right about being able to duplicate it. This is similar to Paul Potts as well.
Everyone is always lamenting about how vanity is everything today but perhaps things like twitter will in the end teach us not to be so quick to judge and that ultimately everyone can contribute in some way if only they were given the chance.
26 MB? I measured it as 15.6 MB. Great video, thanks for the heads-up!
Putting aside the technical issues, I’m glad to finally have a chance to ask this: can she sing? I can’t really tell. The news stories only include a few seconds of her singing and the in the full clip she is almost completely obscured by the cheers of the audience. You really can’t judge for yourself.
An older performance has been posted that allows you to hear her voice well. To my ear and preference it is about a B+. The real novelty is not the quality of her voice but the contrast of her voice and her appearance. That’s not much to build a career on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8r9lRJ6yHY
To paraphrase someone on NPR, why is this such a big deal? Because an unattractive older woman with a cat can sing? Who would have thought – a non-attractive person has talent. Fancy that.
It’s not the singing in and of itself that’s the amazing part; we’ve all heard 16-year-olds bust out amazing performances on “Idol”. It’s that you can tell that this moment is her entire lifelong dream; you just know that her whole life has been leading up to these few minutes, that she has endlessly and carefully prepared for this performance. That’s when it turns from “amazing singer” to sheer awesome.
-Erica
This kind of event seems to me aking to the Superbowl in the US and the variety of ads shown that, many of them, do not have to do anything with football.
Now Google needs to come with a way to estimate on real time an event like this is happening and then charge ‘superbowl’ fees to advertisers who want to reach a very large amount of people.
I don’t see how this isn’t just a lesser version of Paul Potts.
And producers aren’t ‘shaking their heads’ how to bottle it; Simon Cowell already did. Britain’s Got Talent and American Idol (and now their endless derivatives Dancing With The Stars, etc.) are elaborately constructed machines designed to produce precisely these spectacles and they create some iteration of this moment like clockwork weekly, monthly, yearly, etc.
Yes, only a few of the moments are large enough fractals that people from the Brit version come to your attention, but that doesn’t mean the machine isn’t working as planned, or that people you never hear of aren’t headline news in the UK, etc.
The thing that keeps Britain’s Got Talent/American Idol going where documentaries flounder is that most documentaries don’t reliably humiliate their subjects, and thus are dull as dishwater without someone stunningly admirable. Cowell, of course, knows that humiliation is the air in his balloon, which is why he never deviates on-air from his asshole persona.
Re humiliation, in the docu field, the exception which proves the rule is Cops. Every segment offers someone we can feel superior to. It is the most successful serial documentary in history and it will run forever. In my view it is the grandfather of all reality content.
I agree completely with John, and his post was exactly what I was going to say when I loaded the page to comment. It’s exactly Paul Potts (well, 0.5 Paul Potts if the yt play count is any indication, but we’ll see in a year or so), and these shows are machines for regularly generating these moments. I think the emotions generated are real, even on the part of the hosts/judges (although Simon’s tv-perfect smile has to be partly about the beauty of humanity and partly knowledge that he just bottled another one), but that doesn’t change the fact that Simon and the network people are way ahead of this curve and have it pretty much nailed down at this point. C’mon Bob, your IT regularly stuff takes the analysis many steps deeper than this post, so if you’re going to broaden your coverage to this social stuff, you need to do the same depth of analysis.
Chris
my thoughts exactly. funny as Bob got it perfectly wrong 🙂
Maybe the next seminal moment will be when the internet brings an emotional event of global enlightenment to the world.
“And the next time it happens, now we all know what to do.”
What is that? Object when the TV network sues Google over copyright issues?
[…] on Britain’s Got Talent. I had seen one mention of this and then checked it out after reading Robert Cringely’s post about her and the “Global Village.” I didn’t mind being manipulated by the overly sentimental presentation of her […]
[…] and only became aware of this through our global communication network. And very quickly. See Cringely’s article for a good […]
[…] and only became aware of this through our global communication network. And very quickly. See Cringely’s article for a good […]
[…] and only became aware of this through our global communication network. And very quickly. See Cringely’s article for a good […]
[…] and only became aware of this through our global communication network. And very quickly. See Cringely’s article for a good […]
[…] and only became aware of this through our global communication network. And very quickly. See Cringely’s article for a good […]
[…] and only became aware of this through our global communication network. And very quickly. See Cringely’s article for a good […]
[…] and only became aware of this through our global communication network. And very quickly. See Cringely’s article for a good […]
[…] and only became aware of this through our global communication network. And very quickly. See Cringely’s article for a good […]
I’m guessing you had some kind of editorial oversight at PBS. Probably not much, but some.
At PBS I would be shocked by your first paragraph. To assume that every one of your readers would be familiar with 1 Youtube video and alienate every one who has never hear of it seems like a rookie mistake that any half decent editor would flag.
Your new website reminds me of a critique I once read about Robert A. Heinlein. The writer noted that, even though Heinlein was smart enough to “miss very little”, he completely missed the importance of having a good editor. He eventually became powerful enough to throw off the editorial yoke that writers despise and his later work suffered for it noticeably.
P.S. I just reread the first paragraph and the setup is better than I remember. I was probably skimming and it registered as fluff. I’m still posting this as I consider the bulk of it to still be valid.
You probably heard of Paul Potts, the mobile phone store manager who won the talent competition on the television show Britain’s Got Talent in 2007. What you may not have seen is his audition performance. Here is an edited version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k08yxu57NA
Although in the past he had performed in amateur operas, prior to this audition he had not sung in four years due to severe injuries from a bicycle accident. The accident left him in a difficult financial situation, since he was unable to work for an extended period, so he entered the competition as a way to hopefully help out his finances. If you never saw his winning performance, here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_5W4t_CBzg
It’s unlikely he has financial problems anymore. Since winning Britain’s Got Talent, he has released two albums and toured the world with live performances in 23 countries. It’s possible his world tour would never have materialized without his exposure on YouTube. It’s quite a story. https://www.paulpottsofficial.com
All I want to say is….. every so often, the Internet lives up to its (original) promise of bringing true talent / skill / serendipity to the masses and bypass the cultural filters that have been holding us back…..
FYI: While her skills aren’t that great, they shocked / challenged our cynicism…..underestimate these type of memes at your own peril….
PS: taking bets on how long it’ll take Al Gore to claim credit on inventing Susan Boyle….
Great post Bob!
While it’s tempting to think in terms of “global village” because of the ubiquity of YouTube, we seem to forget a seminal event that occurred 40 years ago — the worldwide broadcast of Neil Armstrong’s first step onto the surface of the Moon, viewed by an estimated 1 BILLION people simultaneously. Sure, the video quality was way inferior to even the cruddiest YouTube video, but the sheer geographic reach of that telecast is still unmatched. Where I lived at the time, it was about 3AM when the signal was beamed worldwide; I had asked my parents to wake me even though it was a school day. Not to take anything away from Ms. Boyle’s personal triumph, but Armstrong’s “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” is, IMO, a more significant marker in our journey as a species towards the global village.
Bob I must disagree with you that this moment was unanticipated by the TV show’s creators. In fact shows such as this depend for their popularity on 3 moments coming to pass over the course of various episodes:
1. Untalented clueless people make fools of themselves, inspiring hilarity
2. Talented sexy unknowns wow us with their talent and sex appeal, inspiring stardom
3. Talented unsexy unknowns wow us with their talent and ‘ordinariness,’ inspiring tears and feelings that the common man is just as good as the sexy stars.
The mechanics of such shows merely prepare the ground and wait for such moments to occur. Editing then enhances and ‘sweetens’ these moments.
If the show has enough of these moments coming often enough, it proves popular and stays on-air. If it goes long enough without any such, it goes off the air.
As you say, every documentary filmmaker dreams of moments such as these. How does he get them? By going out and shooting tons and tons of dross while waiting for the gold.
Bob,
What on earth has gotten in to you? Have you gone a bit soft in your old age? John above describes very well the ‘machine’ that is these awful shows, very similar to the music machines Orwell described in ‘1984’, designed to keep the proles entertained. This is the worst kind of low-brow dripping-in-saccharine emotional claptrap and I don’t want it in my global village.
Bob, you also claim to have concerns over climate change, of which energy consumption is a major component. How can you justify the energy required to deliver this drivel to a global audience?
Before you fire back and say something about a ‘shared experience’ or some such other nonsense, I think you might cast you mind back to the moon landings, or the fall of the Berlin wall. These are the kinds of events that remind us of our common humanity, that we really are in a global village and are genuinely profound. I’m sure this was a big deal for her and her family and friends, but can you please explain how this Scottish woman is in any way important? There is nothing unique about being ‘Frumpy’ as you put it, and being able to sing, nor is there anything special about Piers Morgan et al and their teary-eyed fakery (It seems it almost seems mandatory these days). In a years time, will anybody even remember this woman?
I know you main point it the technology, but at some point you have to ask what it is the point if this is what it is being used for. The very fact that this is globally popular is merely further evidence of the triumph of the stupid and banal. Geeking out over the bandwidth statistics is all very fine, but if this is, as you seem to be claiming, an example of the best that the internet is capable of, then we might as well hand back the keys.
-LG
OK. clicking the link was the first time I saw the segment in its entirety although I had seen brief clips on ‘news’ programmes. I, like Bob and loads of others, have seen similar women in choirs and churches singing just as well. What I am surprised at is that Bob was unable to see the manipulation by the programme makers.
The whole thing was incredibly well edited and put together. ITV knew exactly what they were doing (perhaps they’ve been taking notes from Charlie Brooker). It works by setting an expectation (with the ‘fuddled music and cuts to her eating her sandwiches, poor audience reaction shots – which may not have even been for her act!) and then knocking it down. It may be a very British thing – I guess whatever the US equivalent is would ‘big up’ the performance in a very different way while drinking from branded cups.
ITV will continue to shovel it out as long as there are stuttering teenage singing sensations, frumpy looking singing spinsters, and anyone with a bit of talent who wants to recount their bullying/abuse/death/abandonment sob stories in front of the camera to make them, ITV, and Mr. Cowell a bit more money. Unless several million viewers every weekend get bored of the talent show format; but that doesn’t look like its going to happen.
All this says about the global village is that the village idiots who go for this type of entertainment are, perhaps, a bigger online presence than people at google thought. It doesn’t make me feel closer to them. I just hope that my Saturday night internet browsing experience doesn’t become as bad as my Saturday night telly watching experience would be (if I was watching).
Hi ChrisD
There are two things which occur to me about this:
1) The allusion to Hari Seldon above hints that this is a mass movement – not simply the reaction of a few free-thinkers. TV/Internet companies and spammers know that a percentage will buy into something and give them the exposure and revenue they want. It’s a cynical trick. They don’t necessarily care about the product. “We” are the guilty ones for buying into it all whether by watching live TV or an Internet stream. Adverts get watched and income is generated…
2) The cost of the bandwidth used ultimately gets paid for by us, the consumer. I pay a set amount each month for a slow (where I live the line rate maxes-out at 2MB) but uncapped service. I guess if a lot like me spent all day downloading videos then the ISP would start making impositions or charging me more. So not only do I theoretically generate an income by watching this media, I also will ultimately get charged for watching it too – or until the infrastructure finally collapses under the weight of traffic.
🙂
I agree with the premise that this is one of the first signs that the internet as a communications medium is reaching maturity both in terms of the ability to deliver content and the appeal of the content available to the ‘mass market’ consumer. And that I do not fall squarely in to that category.
I don’t think that it will, in itself, change the TV industry and its advertising practices; not just yet. Not least because of the difference in product branding (e.g levis being a premium brand costing the equivalent of $110 in the UK), advertising and marketing practices (including efforts to make grey importing illegal) and expectations of the audiences in different regions. e.g. the blurring of in-shot advertising (like the branded cups) on the US versions of programmes like Britain’s Got Talent when they are shown in the UK.
Online delivery of programme content worldwide solves the third of these issues but makes the other two more difficult. And that’s before even starting to consider issues of language, translation and legality .
Regarding point 2 – we are already there with British ISPs and BBCs iPlayer which doesn’t have the third option of making the advertisers pay and pass it on to us in the form of higher product prices.
I’m not into YouTube, so haven’t seen that clip, but I have a suspicion the actual reason for seemingly “global interest” is that many people are bored and tired of the “OctoMom” video clips…
Wiz
I think this whole thing was a setup. Yes, she can sing. But there is a 1999 recording of her singing, she is not completely unknown.
I think the producers of the show told her to be frumpy in the first show. Its not as if there are no auditions to get onto the stage.
The show has managed this well, lots of exposure. Clearly she will win, and get mild makeovers each round of the “competition”. She will sign a record contract, it will be a gold record.
A setup.
For a large customer (though not the Apple, Hulu or Google rate) with either Akamai or Limelight, this is roughly $10000 worth of traffic. That’s nothing.
Another thought came to mind…perhaps this is 2009’s version of the “Dancing Baby” AVI of the mid 1990s…a temporary, fun distraction, but hardly world changing!
Wiz
Like others mentioned, Paul Potts is exactly the same character and situation. His video to date has 45m hits.
Situation: Cell phone salesman, plump, very unlikely to seem to have much talent, yet he’s a hit.
If this lady indicates anything, it indicates that the viral nature of the web seems to be accelerating. Take Mr. Guitar Solo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjA5faZF1A8 One of the first viral vids, but it took a long time for him to get attention, and that in 2005. 58 million after 3 years. This latest lady has 25+ in under what, two weeks?
The Global Village may just be coming together to watch her as if she is a freak.
It’s a small and shallow world now.
I don’t really thnk it says anything about the viral nature of the net, Graham. Youtube’s (and web video in general) audience and market share is merely larger. Three years ago noone had ever heard of youtube, now my grandmother uses it.
People like a good underdog story…which this is. Her singing is good and the emotion is there for us all, but it won’t change the world one whit. Just another media sensation. It will take a whole lot more than this to make us sing Kumbaya and hold hands around the world, get global peace, solve greenhouse gas and the energy crisis and evolve to another higher plane of existance.
Nope, just another media sensation. Nothing more…and it will be all forgotten in another two years or so.
Yet the internet technology and bandwidth story here is pretty cool.
Bob,
All good points, but I think this moment is a bit more manufactured than we are led to believe. The very same show pull the same trick last year with the Middle aged Carphone Wherehouse salesman who’s life’s dream it was to sing opera.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McSi6K83wC8
Everyone rolled their eyes at him and then was amazed at his abilities as a tenor. This does not take away from the authentic experience this must have been for Mrs. Boyle of course, but this is the stock and trade of this show where they do bottle this sort of thing and sell it.
David
It requires Adobe Flash. It therefore excludes every member of “the global village” who is unwilling to place absolute trust and faith in Adobe. Maybe it will eventually be available in an open, free (as in freedom) codec, but, until then, I’ll remain a 2nd class citizen of the global village — been burned too many times by software hiding secrets while dangling bait.
As a UK-based P.S to this story, I noticed a national newspaper claiming 100m hits for the video by now. Also the hint that things are going sour.
People are beginning to sneer about this lady. They are now digging too deep, coming up with derogatory comments about her health … etc etc…
It all seems to be proving what a double-edged-sword this instant communication, instant fame and snow-ball effect, really is. Hearing what I’ve been hearing recently (I have no intention of propagating any of it) it hardly seems worth striving for Warhol’s 15-minutes of fame if the price is so high…
Regarless of whether this is manufactured for shock value or preying on peoples low expectations, she genuinely deserves the recognition of her talent and it is now possible for her to turn her 15 minutes of fame into something more prosperous. I expect there will be a Hollywood movie about her story showing up sooner or later.
Bob, you underestimate the producers. The perfomance was a repeat. The predecessor was a cell phone salesman who needed to fix his teeth. He also sang very well. I have not searched, but I recall hearing of a kid who fit the formula. Expect heartwarming story IV soon.
@Charles Calthrop
You’re exactly right, the guys name was Paul Pott, and he has the same amount of views as the Miss Boyle, > 51,000,000 as i post this comment. I don’t think Simon Cowell’s comment was a lie, I think he expects it now (also these contestants are thoroughly screened before being given TV time.
Also lend credence to the “It was planned well” argument, would be the fact that they posted it on Youtube before the TV show had even ended. It’s time to stop assuming people don’t know the power of the Internets, because more of them (the successfuls) do than don’t. That’s why it’s the big RIAA/MPAA type organizations (who Aren’t responsible for the successes) that mess things up.
That’s the beauty, because every time this happens, every time our Global Village comes together in this way, it’s because of a shared delight that makes us feel more alike and less apart.
We could all use more of that. And the next time it happens, now we all know what to do.
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Susan Boyle may not be a very good looking woman but she has an angelic voice. :
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Susan is still doing well. Crazy that she was from such a small town and know so many people know her.
Susan Boyle have crystal clear voice that i really really like~,*
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