Outward Appearances

Here is a video of Susan Boyle singing in some kind of talent show in Glasgow. While I normally don't watch these things, it was in the headline news so I checked it out. The Lord has used this to literally melt my heart. Oh how foolish we are to ever judge anything by outward appearances.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnmbJzH93NU

Wow!!! Gave me chill bumps!!! Amen and Amen!

very true.We are all guilty of this.

Her voice is beautiful. She does not seem to fear man.

Here is a link to a report of her 1999 singing for a charity, [b]and that recording[/b]. How I pray that this could turn fully to the Glory of God. Her character seems to have Christian features and she may be a wonderful testimony as she appears to have a mild form of Downs Syndrome which in this day can spell death.

I know little about the music industry. I don't suppose Elaine Paige sings Christian music. We can pray. If they sing again in this competition she could sing a song with the message of Christ.

We can pray. If they sing again in this competition she could sing a song with the message of Christ.

Please provide the link if you get a chance. :-)

[b]Will she crack? Susan Boyle faces final showdown[/b]
[i]By GREGORY KATZ, Associated Press Writer – Fri May 29, 4:48 pm ET[/i]

LONDON – Can she do it? Or will she crack?
It's testing time for Susan Boyle, the Cinderella-like Scottish church volunteer who may or may not be a world-class singer. She goes on stage Saturday night in the finals of "Britain's Got Talent," even as tabloid newspapers call her a foul-mouthed lout and some critics suggest she isn't all that great at the microphone.

All this untested amateur singer who suffers from learning disabilities has to do now is outshine nine other tough competitors on live television in front of millions of viewers in Britain and a huge Internet audience around the world.

The pressure would rattle a pro — even Aretha Franklin admits she wasn't at her best at President Barack Obama's inauguration — and there are signs Boyle is feeling the heat.

Already this week she lost her cool during a confrontation with two reporters that saw the police intervene, and, according to one contest judge, contemplated pulling out of the competition to soothe her frazzled nerves.

Judge Piers Morgan has called for everyone to back off and give Boyle room to breathe. He said she would carry on, no matter what.

"She is one tough lady who has had to fight since the day she was born," he wrote on his blog Friday. "There is no way she's going to quit now as some of the papers seem to be suggesting, trust me."

"Britain's Got Talent" has mesmerized Britain all week as a bizarre range of competitors vie for the finals.

The last two finalists will be chosen Friday night under complex rules that give both call-in voters and the three celebrity judges a say. All 10 finalists then compete Saturday, with the winner announced at the end of the show. The prize: $159,000 and a chance to perform before Queen Elizabeth II at the Royal Variety Show.

It won't be shown live in the United States, or streamed over the Internet, meaning U.S. fans will have to rely on video sharing sites like YouTube, where videos will be posted by fans and by the show's producers once it ends at 5 p.m. EDT Saturday.

Boyle sailed through her last test — a performance Sunday of "Memory" from "Cats" — although she started poorly and did not seem to captivate the audience as much as in her first round, when no one knew her dowdy looks masked a soaring, evocative voice.

But the competition is real — and if there is more evidence of diva-like behavior in the run-up to the performance, Boyle risks breaking the almost mystical bond she enjoys with the British public.

If that happens, voters could easily swing to an incredibly cute, talented soul singer, Shaheen Jafargholi, who's only 12, or teenage heartthrob Shaun Smith, whose has the easy good looks of a male lead in a Disney movie.

They could also be swayed by the schmaltzy appeal of John Neill and Sallie Lax, a granddad and granddaughter singing duo known as 2 Grand. It's hard not to be moved when Neill talks about how he is wearing his late wife's wedding ring on a pendant underneath his tuxedo.

And the judges seemed quite taken with finalist Julian Smith, a handsome saxophonist in the soft, Kenny G style.

There are also several dance acts, including a two-man comedy team that performs shirtless and in skirts.

Boyle became a favorite to win the competition almost immediately after her first appearance in April. Her frumpy appearance drew condescending looks from the judges — who include Simon Cowell of "American Idol" fame — and the studio audience, but her voice silenced the doubters and turned her into an Internet sensation.

Videos of her performance of "I Dreamed a Dream" from the musical "Les Miserables" are the fifth most-watched in YouTube history, viewed more than 220 million times, said industry watcher Matt Fiorentino of Visible Measures, a Massachusetts firm. The video of her second performance is nearly as popular.

Not to mention the traffic on Twitter, which was filled Friday with speculation about whether Boyle could lose or fall apart.

Industry analysts point out that FremantleMedia Enterprises, which owns the digital rights to the show, has failed to capitalize on the unprecedented demand for video clips of the show.

Eliot Van Buskirk, a writer for Wired.com who covers the industry, thinks a unique commercial opportunity was missed.

"This video of Susan Boyle is quickly becoming the most viewed video of all-time — and nobody's making money," said Van Buskirk. "It's been sort of a growing pains stage of ad-supported media."

Rebecca Perfect, a spokeswoman with Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, which is handling publicity for FremantleMedia Enterprises, would not comment on whether the company has struck a new deal allowing it to profit from the video clips.

"We're not having any comment on that," she said.

The majority of the hits received by videos of Boyle were unofficial uploads by fans. None of the videos carried advertising. But the producers have built global brand recognition for the show.

Hunter Walk, a product manager for YouTube, credited "Britain's Got Talent" and its producers for thinking "very new media" about their content and moving quickly to distribute it.

"To the show's credit, they immediately got the sense that their audience is worldwide and that's why they chose to quickly partner with YouTube to get this content out there," said Walk. "They worked with us to get this content up immediately after broadcast."

Boyle's life story — she cared for her widowed mother for years, lives alone with her cat Pebbles in one of Scotland's poorest regions and said she's never been kissed — also helped win over the world's media.

Psychologist David Wilson warned in the Daily Mail Friday that a woman of Boyle's background would have difficulty coping with the intense media focus, which has turned her — for this week, at least — into one of the most famous, and hunted, women on the planet.

He said she was "a psychological lamb to the slaughter."
___
Associated Press writers Jake Coyle in New York and Raphael G. Satter in London contributed to this report.

Source

And the judges seemed quite taken with finalist Julian Smith, a handsome saxophonist in the soft, Kenny G style.

Some guy with Kenny G style may take it? Okay, now I do believe in conspiracies.

MC

From what I have read of Susan Boyle, she has a learning disability that prevents her from getting a job...and this provokes a response from me!

We have at times hired other young folks to work PT at our green houses. One fellow is a high school graduate with one year of college. His work ethic: you have to tell him every move he should make. He will do no more no less then what he is told. Makes my husband tired.

We have had another young man who suffers from a learning disability (IQ is low). My DH told him now after we get done doing this, I want you to pull weeds here in the GHs. As they were going in and out of the building, he would reach down and grab some weeds, pull them out and discard them after leaving the building. This fellow had very little education but has an excellent work ethic.

Another. We hired an intelligent girl, a 20 YO Christian to prune plants. She caught on, did a fine job. But she has a cell phone addiction. After my DH talked to her about it, she decided to quit. Now my DH is a soft spoken man, very gentle. Needless to say, he was very unimpressed with her response. (She did work that takes me 5 hours to do and she put 19 hours into it.)

Intelligence? work ethic? Education? Life seems to say there is very little connection between intelligence and a good work ethic. A person with limited mental skills can outshine a person of great intelligence. And this is what I would guess makes Susan Boyle attractive to the public.

ginnyrose

A person with limited mental skills can outshine a person of great intelligence.

Here is Susan Boyle singing during the semi finals. While her appearance has seemingly improved, and her voice is still wonderful, she has lost something in the translation. A sort of self consciousness has set in. She has lost her innocence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiC_nXo3s94

A sort of self consciousness has set in. She has lost her innocence.

How could it be otherwise with all the attention she has received since her first performance? All that popularity, media attention could destroy any innocence! Poor lady...bless her heart!

ginnyrose

We all lose our innocence the moment we venture out into the world. Only children can afford to be innocent, but we can't be children forever can we?

Our life in Christ doesn't produce innocence, but purity. Innocence is naive to evil, while purity has known all too well the destructiveness of sin, and has overcome it in the heart by putting off the old self, and putting on the new self which is in the image of the Creator :-)

"Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature...You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived." Colossians 3.

(By the way, Susan Boyle seems rather sturdy to me ;-) )

MC

Oh that we as Christians would be so united in our diversity. This is what I long for but there is a purity of heart required that does not seem to be found on earth. If our hearts were all turned fully unto Him, we also would have perfect timing and placement. If we were all willing, He would make us able.

After I posted my thoughts on Susan Boyle, I felt posters remorse.

I love to see handicapped people succeed because to start with they have a lot going against them. And lets face it: their performance in everyday life is not on par to the average person's. So, when I see one exceeding a normal person's, I will cheer them on. Such was my initial reaction.

However, I then did more checking on the web about this competition and I was aghast with the worldliness of it: the judges and the other performers. I cannot believe the Holy Spirit would have been present in that gathering, do you? If he is not there, why should I be?

These have been my thoughts after checking things out more...

Y'all have a blessed Lord's day!

ginnyrose

posters remorse

I know the feeling well. :roll:

Jesus was innocent, and He wasn't a child forever. However He was perfect we are told to have the mind of Christ. If we truly become dead to self this in itself secures our innocence and produces purity.

When sin is committed it means we have placed self before what God wants.