Free Susan Boyle by Alice Montgomery

more patient and sensible, though, biding her time, and eventually Cowell relented and gave an interview in which he admitted how extraordinary the SuBo phenomenon was: ‘It’s early days, but Susan could become the biggest star I’ve ever discovered,’ he told the Daily Record . ‘She’s got a real shot this year of doing something phenomenal for herself, probably more than she realizes. I think every record label in the world would want to sign Susan right now. She is in a fantastic position.’ She just had to be patient.
    Cowell had been in the music business for a long time, but even he was taken aback by the scale of Susan’s popularity. ‘I have never seen anything like it in my life,’ he said. ‘Susan is the biggest entertainment story this year. It has dominated the news for weeks and never gone off the radar. It’s the biggest phenomenon I’ve ever seen out of any of my shows. I’ve never seen anything travel so quickly, particularly what happened on the internet. She’s got the world at her feet right now - but there’s no need to panic. I read about her family saying they want to capitalize on this, and right now I think that would be a huge mistake. The offers she is getting from people won’t go away. There’s going to be as much support for Susan in one year’s time or two years’ time. I had a very similar situation with Paul Potts, where people were asking should he capitalize on his fame, but I said, “No, this is just part of the process.” He went on with the rest of the competition, he was treated fairly, he won and sold five million records.’
    It was sound advice from a man who had been there, done that and got the T-shirt. Simon was able to keep an eye on the bigger picture, so much so that he could envisage a future that even Susan couldn’t imagine for herself.
    ‘Susan is representing Scotland in a huge talent competition,’ he said. ‘Dropping out would be like Scotland being in the World Cup and saying just before the final, “You know what? I don’t think we’ll enter.” Broadway and Hollywood are possibilities for Susan, but it’s one step at a time at the moment. We have to take it a week at a time, and if she achieves what I think she can, then it’s going to be an incredible end for her in Britain’s Got Talent . That opportunity shouldn’t be taken away from her now.’
    Simon Cowell is not a man known for apologizing, but he did now: ‘I would love to sit her down for five minutes and say, “Susan, you proved a point, you turned us around in five seconds, I apologize we ever doubted you,”’ he went on. ‘“We are supporting you, we want you to do well and we’re going to be there for you.” The second Susan walked on, I think the audience smelled blood. I think they thought it was probably going to last about five seconds because she looked nervous, she had a funny walk and she was finding it difficult to answer my questions. And there was no doubt we all thought this was probably going to be an audition that lasts about five seconds. Then of course she started singing. I don’t think we’ve ever been shut up so quickly in our lives. The way she affected the audience was astonishing. One minute they were about to boo her, and the next she’s got them in the palm of her hand. Right now she is one of the most famous people in the world. If nothing else happens, she has acceptance and, for whatever reason, I don’t think she had that before.’
    Cowell was spot on. Susan’s music had always been her salvation, and now it was leading her into a whole different world of opportunity. The young Susan on the video, with so much to look forward to, had lived a difficult life, but her talent had endured, and now it was bringing her acceptance. Whatever life had in store for her, she would always have that astonishing audition and the respect she’d garnered that day.

    In the meantime, Britain’s Got Talent continued to motor on. Cowell has a genius