Susan Boyle: The Poster Child for Late Bloomers
As I stumble through American Idol withdrawal and recover from the fact that vanilla is still the flavor of choice in the U.S. whether we're talking ice cream or singers, I've been increasingly thankful for Susan Boyle, the angel on Britain's Got Talent. Whether she wins or loses the chance to sing for the Queen, she is the inspirational poster child for late bloomers everywhere.
Besides looking like that crazy spinster aunt in Wal-Mart clothes that your mother always invites to dinner because she lives alone with her cat, Boyle is a creaking forty-eight years old. That's right: she's more than twice the age of Kris Allen, our newly crowned American Idol. Yet, Boyle's age, church lady looks and lousy luck in love didn't deter our feisty lass from climbing up on stage and belting out "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables in a way that made even the only female judge, Botox beauty Amanda Holden, cast cow-eyed looks of awe at this unlikely Scottish songbird.
Why did this performance become such an instant viral plague on YouTube that even my son sent it to me via his college email? It wasn't just for that OK tear-jerker of a song. It was because Susan Boyle gives all late bloomers hope that we still have a chance to realize our own dreams. Want to be a singer? Write the great American novel? Run a marathon? Be a millionaire? Take up painting? Invent a flying car? Sail around the world? Watching Susan Boyle, we know it's not too late! Even if I could wave a magic wand and somehow combine Kris Allen and Adam Lambert into one perfect manchild megastar, they could never do that. They're too beautiful. And way, way too young.
As writer Malcolm Gladwell noted in his wonderful October 20, 2008 New Yorker essay, "Late Bloomers," "Doing something truly creative, we're inclined to think, requires the freshness and exuberance and energy of youth." He points out notable examples of that, from Orson Welles to Mozart. However, Gladwell goes on to note that many geniuses are late bloomers, not prodigies who burst out of the gates at age fifteen, talents and ambitions razor sharp. Late bloomers muddle ahead, experimenting and failing and trudging forward for decades before they're a success, or even noticed at all. Until then, many late bloomers are perceived as failures. They have to rely on mundane jobs (think of Einstein toiling away in his patent office) or kindly patrons as they inch forward toward their dreams.
What's so inspiring about Susan Boyle? She dreamed her dream not for a mere seventeen years, like bluesy, confident American Idol finalist Allison Iraheta, so perfectly at home on stage next to veteran rocker Cyndi Lauper, but for almost half a century. Now that's star power.
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While not denying anything to Susan Boyle, and also trying to be a "late" bloomer to my best of my modest abilities, I take a bit of an issue with your last paragraph. Allison Iraheta HAS true star power too (albeit not a "late" bloomer, but a "precocious" bloomer). Your last paragraph seems to say Allison doesn't deserve to be bestowed "Star Power" status. Allison, as well as Susan Boyle, seemed to be a train-wreck entering her Group 2 elimination - extremely awkward inteview with Seacrest, and even to this day!, not Barbie or Disney cute like most other contestants - but woved us with her first public performance ("Alone" by Heart). If you remember that specific moment of Allison, you'll see many parallels to the extraordinary discovery Susan Boyle, so much that a MTV blogger (Cantiello?) called Allison the original Susan Boyle http://new
Another great post, Holly.
I was saddened by the cruel and hurtful posts all over the blogsphere , where I was trying to blog away too, trying to give my two cents...
Susan, was very lucky to be born with a gifted voice , obviously she had some practice with her church group otherwise she would not be able to pull it off. Then she was lucky again, to get such worldwide exposures, which of course comes with the pitfalls !
I hope Susan have someone close, to shield her , in her fragile state of mind. The next phase, would be her extensive voice training (Simon`s help, hopefully).
If we are lucky, Susan will charm us again. Age is not a factor....
Love, Your initial premise is all wrong. Chocolate (and vanilla with chocolate syrup) is the ice cream flavor of choice in the US, and the non-vanilla singers do just fine, thank you very much.
I find it funny that folks are saying she finally is living her dream, when she's had her songs on records previously. Sure she's been talked about as a sensation, but a sensation in the making, for sure.
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Alas, I must take issue with one point here: We really DO vote vanilla when it comes to ice cream, by 27 percent to a paltry 8 percent of Americans who say chocolate is their flavor of choice. And Boyle's dream is to make a living as a professional singer, which so far she hasn't done, unless I'm missing something here in her background?
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p.s. Here are some statistics on ice cream, if you want to check them out: http://www
It's kind of hilarious to me how much people analyse and fawn of Susan Boyle.
For one, she isn't even a great singer. She's difficult to listen to. I don't think she has even an above-average voice.
This nonsense about her being a "late bloomer" I don't get. Why are you judging her entire life based on this minute detail you know about her? How are we to know if she was happy or not, can she now tick the box of having lived a worth while life?
Perhaps you should talk to a doctor about your hearing loss. She is a fantastic talent, otherwise she would be held in the same critical light that you cast her.
Are you really defending the critical consensus of popular music? Good luck with that.
What makes you an expert ? If you don`t like, don`t listen, simple.
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It is a shame she didn't win -- but I don't think that detracts from what Susan Boyle has provoked in so many of us: an urge to toss aside caution and do what's in our hearts. I'm sure she'll have a fine career from here!
Well yes, Holly, but the woman also has splendid voice, an innate, untapped talent, a calling.
Further, her's is a rare example of true humility coupled with self esteem. Wow.
(The media is working hard to destroy that!)
You're right.
It is a calling, a vocation for people like Ms. Boyle.
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Oh, there's no denying her talent! I was just trying to say that many, many more people could achieve their dreams if they stick with it -- we're too often chastised into thinking that we're too old to have any potential for this or that, so we might as well quit now,when in fact reaching our goals is often a matter of just sticking with things...t
The authenticity has nothing to do with perspiration.
I went back to nursing school at 44 because I needed a new "skill set" after leaving the workforce to raise my son. I was not the oldest student.
I also learned to ski at 46. It was something I had always wanted to do. And I did a sprint triathlon at 48. When I was in high school I was one of the last picked for teams in gym so my physical accomplishments at an "advanced" age were that much sweeter.
I am now 50 and my to do list includes tap dancing, tennis and kyacking. I will probably work on getting my BSN. I also hope to be in a band that plays to the nursing home set when the boomers get there. "Play Stairway to Heaven, man."
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Wow! You are SO right to charge ahead! Good for you! My mom was my biggest inspiration. She took ballet classes and went on point for the first time in her late 40s.
She also represent a ordinary girl with a angels voice.. Not to judge a book by its cover.
Susan Boyle is a one-of. She does not provide hope for anyone except herself. Trust me, I learned yet again today that age discrimination is alive and well in the USA :-( ... Cindy
An old proverb...
Youth thinks itself wise like a drunk man thinks himself sober.
Great post.
I read the article you reference by Malcolm Gladwell, and it was a wonderful article. There are many examples of people finding out who they really are later in life. It's not uncommon, but due to our youth obsessed media, you'd think it only happened once every 2000 years.
Some late bloomers..
Rodney Dangerfield, my favorite comic, started doing standup at 42.
Henry Miller didn't publish Tropic of Cancer until he was 43.
Clint Eastwood directed his film at 41. He's 79 now (or will be soon), and he's still making great films.
Manoel de Oliveira, a Portuguese director, turned 100 (yes, 100, not a typo) last year and is still making films. He didn't really become an "official" filmmaker until he was 76 or so. I actually met him last year, and despite the language barrier (his English is mediocre, and my Portuguese is non-existent), we managed to communicate in a very sincere way.
Anthony Burgess didn't publish his first novel until he was 39.
Etc., etc., etc.. There are a lot more examples.
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You make my heart sing, with all of those terrific examples! You can tell that this topic is close to home for me...I'm publishing my first book long, long after I started my career as a writer (so long that I considered asking my daughter to pose as my body double for the book jacket.) Thanks for adding them into the discussion.
The topic is close to me, too, Holly.
Glad you liked my comment.
Good luck with your book.
I first heard about Susan Boyle when I was whining to a friend that I was too old, dumpy and bushy-eyebrowed to ever do -- I don't know what exactly it was that I wanted to do but the point is, I was whining about being old, dumpy and bushy-eyebrowed. And my friend said, "You've got to see this" and sent me the video. When I watched Susan singing, and those judges and the audience realizing that she really did have talent despite her less-than-perfect appearance, my first thought wasn't, "Go Susan!" it was "At last, someone is making the world safe for women with bushy eyebrows!"
I admit, I'm shallow. Thanks, Holly, for doing such a great job articulating the thoughts that are buried deep, deep behind my bushy eyebrows! (Go Susan! Now she's inspiring me to maybe, finally, make the time for a brow-wax..
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Thanks, Debby. What I really love is that Ann Landers line. Whenever anyone wrote to ask her if they should learn to drive, go back to college, or finally pursue their passion for art or whatever, she'd say, "Ask yourself this: What else would you be doing with your time?" So go get that brow wax.
The current generation seems so affixed to the current trends and being hip, they tend not to see beyond their circle of friends. When I was growing up it wasn't unusual to meet someone who had found their true calling late in life. It all boils down to personal growth.
I myself picked up my first video camera when I was 46 and 5 years later my first mini documentary was being aired on IFC as their short film of the month winner.
It's been a wild ride, lot's of up's and down's but the key is I'm loving it.
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Good for you! It's so true that succeeding at something you love or aspire to is mostly a matter of being committed, passionate and brave enough to have faith in yourself. I wish you the best of luck at school.
I'm turning 40 this year and am already planning on enrolling in grad school for my masters in 2010. Thank you for this column. It further validates that dreams, goals and talent don't have a shelf life. And that 'youth', whatever that means in this day and age, isn't a factor in any aspiration.
And we should always remember, all the great philosophers, throughout history, were older.
One can't be a philosopher at 23!
As Susan Boyle has shown us, our "youth oriented" society has a lot to learn.
Bravo for a terrific blog!
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