Simon Cowell Encourages Susan Boyle
Susan Boyle
Simon Cowell said on Friday he was embarrassed at his first reaction to British singing sensation Susan Boyle, but warned that just because she is a hit with fans, doesn’t mean she is a winner yet.
Cowell said he was tired of stories about the hair, eyebrows and flaws of the never-married 47-year-old Boyle, and he told her to focus on winning the talent competition.
“She has got four weeks to prepare for the biggest night of her life, and she has got to sing better than she sang before with all those expectations on her. But it could all go horribly wrong for her because there are so many other distractions,” Cowell told TV reporters in Los Angeles.
“Get yourself together sweetheart for the big one — the semi-final. Shut the door, choose the right song and come back as who you are, not who you want to be,” he said.
Boyle became one of the world’s hottest celebrities quick last week after surprising the judges with her rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” on the talent show. Her performance has been watched over 50 million times on YouTube.
“We were all guilty on the panel of judging her before she sang, and we got it utterly wrong. You watch it back and it is embarrassing,” said Cowell.
“I am seriously thinking now we should hold two more open auditions (of “America’s Got Talent”) off the back of Susan Boyle. You don’t have to be a singer who is 47 and never been kissed, but just someone who says ‘I think I am talented, and I don’t think people are going to judge me because of the way I look’,” he said.
Recording executive Cowell, who makes the decision to sign Boyle if she wins the talent show, goes back and forth weekly between Los Angeles and London as the judge on “American Idol” and “Britain’s Got Talent.”
He says its not stressful. “It’s only stress when it doesn’t work,” he said. “I don’t feel under any stress whatsoever when something like the Susan Boyle thing emerges. It is honestly the best feeling in the world.”
