In the spring of 2009, people all over the world became transfixed by a video clip of a woman singing. In just three weeks, the video of the womans performance was downloaded more than 180 million times [source: Cutler]. It wasnt a starlet singing her latest Top 40 hit, though, but a 48-year-old unknown amateur belting out a 29-year-old song from a Broadway musical. No one expected much of Susan Boyle when she stepped onto the stage of the reality television program Britains Got Talent, and thats partly why her performance of I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables is so compelling. Subconsciously or not, we expect success from young and beautiful people. We delight in child prodigies and can rattle off youthful accomplishments, such as Mozart composing at 5 and Bobby Fischer winning chess championships at the age of 13. And when someone has success, were apt to say that this is something he or she was born to do; after all, Tiger Woods picked up his first golf club when he was 2. Thats why stories like Susan Boyles catch us by surprise. All too often, we pass certain birthdays and become resigned to the fact that the window for pop superstar success or for writing the Great American Novel has closed.
Posted on: Sun, 27 Jul 2014 06:40:40 +0000