14 DAY TRIAL // A little over half a year ago, not many knew the name of Susan Boyle, let alone have her as their idol and, in many respects, a role model. Things have changed completely, though, since she first auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent and stunned the judges with her amazing, crystal clear voice. Her debut album, “I Dreamed a Dream,” has officially become the best selling debut material from a female artist, the Daily Mail informs.
And the list of accomplishments doesn’t stop here either, the same publications adds, as the album is number one in the UK, Ireland, and Australia, while heading towards the top positions in many other territories as well, including the US. Music lovers know that, as a rule and for reasons yet not well defined, British artists have somewhat of a hard time breaking on the market in the States, a problem to which Miss Boyle is a complete stranger.
“The album, ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ – named after the Les Miserables tune that Miss Boyle sang at her audition – was last night confirmed as the fastest selling UK debut ever, shifting 411,820 copies in its first week – beating the previous fastest-selling debut of all time, Leona Lewis’s ‘Spirit.’ It is on course to top the charts in America, Canada and New Zealand. In the US, it has projected first-week sales of around one million,” the Mail writes.
Numbers aside, the wonderful reception for the album means something more as well, as Simon Cowell, the BGT judge and Susan’s mentor, also points out for the Mail. By being the unlikeliest international star the music industry has ever seen, and registering such an impressive success with her first album, Miss Boyle proves to the entire world that dreams can still become true no matter what. Her case also serves to show that huge machines that make pop stars, like BGT, do have a purpose in discovering talent that would remain hidden forever otherwise.
“I think Susan Boyle was good for all of us. […] I think Susan is going to help an awful lot of people who didn’t have the confidence to do this and realize that actually if you are determined and talented and people like you, you don’t have to conform to what the music business has previously said. [She is] a fly in the face of every talentless monster who’s become famous for not actually doing anything, but of which there are thousands in the world today – just people who are famous for being useless,” Cowell says. Susan Boyle is signed with Cowell’s label, Syco.