Susan Boyle, Viral Videos, and Idol's Worldwide Appeal
If you’ve spent any time surfing the Net this past week, chances are you’ve seen the video of Susan Boyle, the 47-year-old singing sensation who stunned judges on the reality TV show Britain’s Got Talent and garnered more YouTube views than Tina Fey’s portrayal of Sarah Palin (source).
Being something of a viral video junkie, I admit to being one of the early discoverers of Susan's video, and I confess to having pushed the play button more than once. Call me sappy, but I like seeing underdogs succeed (despite speculation that this whole thing was stage managed). And I liked seeing the way Simon Cowell’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline when Susan started singing.
Apparently, so did millions of other people. While scrolling through the video's comments, I saw posts in Spanish, French, Russian, and Polish (in addition to the standard English). This got me to thinking about the universal popularity of the musical reality show juggernaut (i.e. Idol in all its incarnations), and subsequently led me on a search for Idol-related videos from around the world.
While I have a fond affinity for obscure, non-commercial indie artists, part of me is intrigued by the mass market appeal of musical reality TV. So, with that being said, here are my top video finds (all titles and comments by me):
“Ken Lee” (or, The Joys of Phonetic Singing) from Bulgarian Idol
Paul Potts Audition, Britain’s Got Talent
The former mobile phone salesman shot to stardom on the same show which launched Susan Boyle, and is set to release his second album, Passione, on May 5.
Freestyle with Kazakh Dombra (as seen on SuperStar KZ, a.k.a. Kazakh Idol)
An inventive contestant engages in a freestyle rap while accompanying himself on a traditional Kazakh dombra. Love it!
Although Idol has been knocked for its commercialism, its worldwide appeal really can't be denied--I guess there's something compelling about people putting themselves out there. And there's always that element of surprise--you never know when the next Kelly Clarkson or William Hung will emerge to (perhaps inexplicably) capture the public imagination.
Okay. That's enough Idol for one post. To balance this out, my next post will focus on some little-known musical art form. Promise!
--Bri Nguyen
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warcraft gold on April 22, 2009 at 05:59 PM
The "Ken Lee" video was just hilarious! I can't help but laugh my heart out whenever I see this video, you can't tell if she's just making this up to gain popularity. :)
Christopher Ronk on April 22, 2009 at 09:46 AM
I think Susan Boyle is great. I think we are great for accepting her and receiving the lesson that she has taught us.
And yes, she is terribly ugly and I think she is wonderful.
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