"Oh, my God, on all the shows I've ever worked on, far and away" Boyle has been the biggest sensation, said Sara Lee, the program's publicist. "I don't think anybody in the U.K. has seen anything like this."
As proof of Boyle's instant fame, it wasn't long before the British media treated her the way they do just about every homegrown celebrity: by trying to take her down a peg.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday, May 23, 2009 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 4 National Desk 1 inches; 22 words Type of Material: Correction
Susan Boyle: An article in Friday's Calendar section about "Britain's Got Talent" contestant Susan Boyle said she was 47. She is 48.
She was dismissed by one commentator as a "pretty good singer, but . . . not a great singer." Others aloof from the general mood of adulation have said the same.
Britain's pull-no-punches tabloids then took Boyle to task for succumbing to the temptation of a makeover, though by all accounts it was an inexpensive indulgence -- less than $60 -- to lend just a little color and shape to the over-exuberant gray locks that had prompted more than one or two public snickers.
"Out went the virgin sensation's unkempt, shapeless mop. In came a modern, wavy, brunet style to complement the slimmed-down eyebrows she'd had trimmed for 5 pounds [about $7.50] days earlier," reported the Sun. The paper alleged that the producers of "Britain's Got Talent" were "frantic" that Boyle's endearingly frumpy looks were about to change.
More serious were the whispers that her image of a dowdy, lonely spinster was a slightly exaggerated one. Not long after her performance, she backtracked on her much-ballyhooed declaration that she'd "never been kissed," saying that actually, she'd "never stopped."
Nor was hers a talent kept hidden under a bushel, a diamond that had never come to the surface. She had sung at community and church events in her small town in Scotland, taken voice lessons, contributed a track ("Cry Me a River") to a charity CD and auditioned for another talent show.
Coupled with another contestant whose claims of debilitating stage fright were contradicted somewhat by evidence that he had performed in public before, the seeming discrepancies in Boyle's life story caused some to wonder about the truthfulness of "Britain's Got Talent."
"No one with teeth like Cowell's can be said to believe in realism, but his series is getting too far away from it," television columnist Mark Lawson wrote in the Guardian.
But the backlash against Boyle was mild compared with the venom often shown toward the rich and famous here. And the general contours of her biography -- the humble background, the mild learning disabilities, the grief at her mother's death, the quiet life at home with a pet cat and the unkind teasing from neighborhood children -- have stood up to scrutiny.
Together, they formed an irresistible brew for a battered British public seeking relief from the misery of a nose-diving economy, a self-serving Parliament and a slew of bad news.
"She's really the ugly duckling story," Hobsbawm said. "She's not the prettiest kitten in the box, and yet she has the sweetest voice. And that is a good story."
"The British public loves an underdog. The whole world does. Susan especially is the ultimate underdog," added Lee.
That, however, isn't really an accurate description anymore. According to Britain's bookmakers, Boyle is now the odds-on favorite to win "Britain's Got Talent" when it wraps up May 30.
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henry.chu@latimes.com
