Showing posts with label Les Miserables. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Les Miserables. Show all posts

PostHeaderIcon Susan Boyle comes in second in the Britain Got Talent competition



After weeks of exhausting public scrutiny, Susan Boyle, the singing phenomenon that was the favorite to win the finals of Britain Got Talent, came second to the dance group called Diversity. Third place was awarded to saxophone player Julian Smith.

Boyle’s better rendition of Les Miserables’ I dreamed a dream did not give her enough points to win the talent contest, but nonetheless, it was received with rousing appreciation from the judges and the audience alike. Her “debut” as a singer brought 100 million hits in You Tube prompting music promoter and contest judge Simon Cowell to say: “Its the biggest phenomenon I’ve ever seen out of any of my shows.”

Soon after her Saturday performance, Boyle received a glowing endorsement from Judge Piers Morgan who said it was the "greatest performance I've seen on the history of Britain's Got Talent.” Amanda Holden, the other judge was impressed by her powerful voice.

The 48 year-old Scottish songbird with an angelic voice who lives alone with her cat in Blackburn, gamely accepted her defeat acceding that the best people win. Wearing a dark blue sequined long gown during the finals, she expressed her thanks to the people who supported her.

Having gone through a lot during the competition, including the news that she almost withdrew from the finals because of pressure, Boyle’s meteoric international fame is likely to open new opportunities to the celebrated singer. Among them, an album is what her fans are eagerly expecting. (Photo Credit: Pascal Turcotte) =0=

UPDATE: Susan Boyle was taken to a hospital Sunday, May 31, 2009, to recover from emotional and physical exhaustion brought about by her instant fame. Upon the advise of her private physician, Boyle voluntarily went to the hospital after she lost to a dance group during the finals of Britain Got Talent.

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PostHeaderIcon Susan Boyle moves ahead in her bid to win in Britain’s Got Talent contest



The 47 year-old singing sensation who wowed the audience of Britain’s Got Talent last month has qualified for the next round in the talent contest. Susan Boyle whose stunning performance brought 60 million viewers to watch her sing in You Tube will compete on Sunday in a field of 40 contestants---- her bid to win in the final contest on May 30, 2009.

Boyle drew attention when she sang Les Miserables’ “I dreamed a dream” which charmed the TV judges and viewers alike. The plump middle-aged lady with a salt and pepper hair caught the attention of the incredulous audience because of the disparity between her appearance and her angelic voice.

"The youngest of nine children, Boyle grew up in Blackburn, a community of 4,750 people 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Edinburgh, in Scotland — a district blighted by unemployment and crime. Boyle had learning difficulties as a child and was bullied by other children. As an adult, she's struggled for work but had been a regular on her local karaoke circuit and performed in church choirs."---AP (05/23/09, Stringer D)

For the instant attention and phenomenal fame she received, Oprah Winfrey invited her to guest in her show. Boyle who enjoys global popularity had been a favorite to win the contest which is the counterpart of the American Idol in USA. (Photo Credit: Conceptmail.net) =0=

Boyle Advances to the Final Round

UPDATE: May 24, 2009---Susan Boyle once again electrified her fans with a spectacular rendition of "Memory." a song popularized in the musicale Cats. For her commanding performance she is chosen to move ahead to the finals among 8 contestants in the TV show "Britain Got Talent" on May 30. 2009.

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PostHeaderIcon With more than 47.7 million viewers, what’s up for new singing star Susan Boyle?

Most of those who saw Susan Boyle sang Les Miserables’ “I dreamed a dream” were mesmerized, They probably gave her a more rousing standing ovation than Lea Salonga when she sang the same song in the Great White Way. The judges in the Britain's Got Talent were unanimously enthralled by her unexpected stunning performance.

Susan Boyle, the 47 year old aspiring British talent caused a world-wide stir for that singing. She displayed pure talent, rocking her watchers on their seats and earning her 47.7 million viewers as of Friday, April 17, 2009.

Almost everybody instantly loved the matronly Ms. Boyle who dreamed of being as successful as Elaine Paige, the popular singer and actress of musical theatre. Perhaps it was because she epitomized the regular lady in the block with little chance of being noticed in the competitive arena of entertainment.

In a discriminating world, she brought down the artificiality of the glittery musical world where performers are supposed to be young, of perfect voice, pretty face, and desirable figure. For a change, people liked to watch and hear plain Susan.

Yet, B. Saunders in her comment titled “How long will Susan Boyle’s dream last” which appeared in Sunday Star Times (sstlive.co.nz) argues that in order to have a great musical career, a fantastic voice like Susan’s isn’t enough and a certain glamour is needed. Saunders vented her pessimism further saying:



“Poor Susan's private life isn't ideal either. As a child she was bullied because oxygen deprivation at birth had affected her ability to learn. At 47, she is unemployed, has never been kissed, and was recently suffering from depression after her mother died. This is tragedy aplenty but it is not the sort of tragedy that anyone much wants to identify with. That wouldn't matter if Susan was super sexy - in fact it would be great because it would fulfill the tragi-glam requirements.

Susan does not have any sort of glamour factor at all though. What she does have is a huge amount of talent and an even bigger dollop of novelty value
.”

It is too early to predict what is in store for Ms. Boyle. Actress Demi Moore is said to have shed tears seeing her sing. Oprah Winfrey has invited the new darling of song to appear in her show before the talent contest winner is known. An admiring fan has a website site set up for the newest UK singing sensation at: susan-boyle.com

According to Chris Matyszczyk (http://news.cnet.com), Visible Measures, a company which tracts online audiences said there are than 200 video clips of Susan Boyle’s contest performance including those which can be viewed in You Tube. She seemed to have garnered more attention than the Iraqi shoe thrower, Tina Fey as Sarah Palin, and President Barack Obama, during his presidential victory address. (Photo Credit: You Tube; AP/ Milligan, A) =0=

I Dreamed a Dream
(from the Broadway Musicale "Les Miserables")

There was a time when men were kind
When their voices were soft
And their words inviting
There was a time when love was blind
And the world was a song
And the song was exciting
There was a time
Then it all went wrong

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving
Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used and wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung, no wine untasted

But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
And they turn your dream to shame

He slept a summer by my side
He filled my days with endless wonder
He took my childhood in his stride
But he was gone when autumn came

And still I dream he'll come to me
That we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed.


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PostHeaderIcon When friends will sing no more

Whether one gets killed in a battle, perishes at sea, or dies by natural causes, a common thread exists because of the loss. Not a day after I tell Ibalonians of my “maudlin” reaction to the empty chairs and tables pictured in Myty’s blog of the Princess of Stars ship tragedy where more than 800 innocent passengers drowned, I learned with sadness that there was a fine human being who died in the foothills of Albay during a military skirmish some eight years ago.

Maria Graziella Miranda, a brave and idealistic UP Ibalon member of Daraga, Albay was lost in that encounter in Bicol. The details of her demise had been sketchy, making this remembrance even more important.

She joined the ranks of Ibalonian Bantayog ng Bayani hero Floro E. Balce and Ibalon friend Naga-native Alexander Belone II. To memorialize Maria Graziella and her dreams, I post Les Miserable’s Empty Chairs at Empty Tables in her honor. She studied at the College of Music. I enjoin the readers to remember her in prayers. Requiescat in Pace (Photo Credits: Bloomsdayflowers; twol942) =0=



Empty Chairs at Empty Tables
---Marius, Les Miserables (by Victor Hugo)

There's a grief that can't be spoken.
There's a pain goes on and on.
Empty chairs at empty tables
Now my friends are dead and gone.

Here they talked of revolution.
Here it was they lit the flame.
Here they sang about `tomorrow'
And tomorrow never came.

From the table in the corner
They could see a world reborn
And they rose with voices ringing
I can hear them now!
The very words that they had sung
Became their last communion
On the lonely barricade at dawn.

Oh my friends, my friends forgive me

(The ghosts of those who died on the barricade appear)

That I live and you are gone.
There's a grief that can't be spoken.
There's a pain goes on and on.

Phantom faces at the window.
Phantom shadows on the floor.
Empty chairs at empty tables
Where my friends will meet no more.

(The ghosts fade away)

Oh my friends, my friends, don't ask me
What your sacrifice was for
Empty chairs at empty tables
Where my friends will sing no more.



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