A 47-year-old charity worker from Scotland has become a global star via the Web, scoring around 20 million hits on YouTube for assorted clips of her performance on U.K. TV show “Britain’s Got Talent.”
Susan Boyle performed “I Dreamed a Dream” from the musical Les Miserables during the April 11 launch episode of the third series of the ITV1 show. The rapturous reception from the judges, including Simon Cowell, and the audience was followed by the footage becoming an Internet phenomenon.
The show is produced by Syco TV, a division of Simon Cowell’s Syco label venture with Sony Music Entertainment. Syco did not comment on reports it is in talks with Boyle, with a spokesperson stressing it was only the first episode of the series.
Paul Potts, who sang “Nessun Dorma” and won the first series, also became an Internet success in 2007. That helped sales of his debut “One Chance” reach more than 3.5 million globally, according to Syco. A second album, “Passione,” is out on June 1 in the U.K.
Boyle is the bookmakers’ favorite to win “Britain’s Got Talent.” An original cast recording of “I Dreamed A Dream” is threatening to enter the U.K. singles chart on Sunday (April 19); it is currently No. 40 on the iTunes top sellers in the U.K.
