findingDulcinea and Susan Boyle have something in common: The almost 48 year old’s rendition of “I dreamed a dream” [availabe on YouTube] on Britain’s Got Talent was a dream come true for both of us. findingDulcinea got a record deal with Simon Cowell’s label, and Boyle got thousands of hits on Google news. Or was it the other way around? Anyway.
From the article: Susan Boyle Shows Talent Isn’t Just about Glitz and Glamour by Liz Colville
On the Saturday, April 11 episode of “Britain’s Got Talent,” the reality competition for performance artists, a 47-year-old woman stunned the judges and audience. Walking timidly on stage in a neutral colored dress and little makeup, Boyle, who says she’s never been kissed, was the antithesis of the young, often glossily made-over contestants that usually win such shows.
When she belted out “I Dreamed A Dream” from “Les Miserables,” the long-running hit musical, all stereotypes of what a promising singer should look like appeared to go out the window.
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I found this really inspiring, because personally, I’ve always wanted to be singer, but quickly realized that I didn’t fit the stereotype of what a promising singer should sound like, but who knows? Now I’m starting to think it’s possible to defy the odds.
I also remember that once when I was studying theater in school, some fancy schmancy musical theater director came to direct a show and also offered a one-time information session for students. This guy was awful. (And I’m not saying that just because he laughed at my singing and didn’t cast me.) But I do remember him telling us that as a performer, in order to sell your song, you needed to find the one line that really moved you, or broke your heart.
“Many people think that in ‘I Dreamed A Dream,’ the most heartbreaking line is ‘I had a dream my life would be so different from this Hell I’m living,” he explained. “No! Boring!” (Possibly boring, but I so so so relate! I thought.) He then explained to us that the truly soul-wrenching line in the song is: “I dreamed that God would be forgiving.”
Now, I only bring this up because who better embodies the tyranny and gratuitous cruelty of an unforgiving God than Simon Cowell himself? Yes. He is the ultimate Zeus (Or maybe Ares) for our time. And he loved her! Most emphatic yes ever, he said!
Basically, Susan Boyle proves that when you really sell your song, it is possible to melt the heart of even the most brutal of deities. So take heed, and Dream, Baby, Dream.
Not Technically Tech 