GR SUBO: June 2011

graysea

Magic and Joy - Susan Boyle

Mauro did it again. I wonderful happy tribute video of Susan's smiling face. You will just love this. It was posted on the Susan Boyle Forum. Thank you Mauro.

graysea

This is a wonderful poster done by Mauro. Look at what three great poses of Susan he captured in this picture. He posted it on Susan Boyle Fans Forum site today. Great job on all of his posters. Thank you Mauro.
http://forum.susan-boyle-fans.com/index.php/topic,411.435.html

graysea

I know you will enjoy this, as much as I do. Susan is lovely.

graysea

graysea

I am posting my avatar. See below. It is a picture of me (in glasses) shaking Susan's hand as she was coming out of The Rock Cafe brunch Nov 23, 2009. My daughter clicked the one and only picture (battery went dead). We were standing in the walk way in the restaurant. One fan had just pick up IDAD CD copy and was holding it up just across from us. That was the first time I saw the IDAD CD. We never did get into the brunch while Susan was receiving the quilt. Susan was going to the wall outside for pictures with the fans. Sad and happy time for me. I would say that Susan is about 5" 2". Susan had a beautiful serene smile on her very pretty face. I was thrilled and didn't know what to say. What a day that was!

Graysea

graysea

Just had to post this beautiful picture of Ms. Susan Boyle. Most wonderful singer.

graysea

Canadian Bill has made posters of all fan meetings from around the world. They are shown in the link below, which is on the forum susan-boyle fansite. The Fan Meeting posters and Susan's Year 1, 2 and 3, are the most impressive links on the site. Thank you CBill.

http://forum.susan-boyle.com/threads/9117-Susan-Boyle-FAN-MEETINGS-(Posters)

graysea

Stars talk about Susan being on Broadway. I don't think some of them know what they are talking about,especially the two English ladies at the end of the clip. Dolly and Liza know what it is all about.

http://www.accesshollywood.com/549/stars-react-to-susan-boyles-possible-broadway-future_video_1120972

graysea

RIK posted this on the Amazing Susan Boyle site. She will sing in July 2011

RIK SUSAN BOYLE SHANGHAI MEDIA GROUP "INTERVIEW" VIDEO CAPTURE JUNE 21, 2011

Susan Speaks To China In Announcing She's "Coming Soon There" She Also Greets In Mandarin Chinese

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

graysea

Look at these lovely pictures posted today.

graysea

This tribute video is from Tommy's SB Amazing site. Wonderful pictures of Susan.

Susan Boyle ~ Who I Was Born To Be from TommyUSA on Vimeo.

graysea

Very good to see this again. Susan is really singing. Singing in a duet with Peter Kay. It is wonderful to hear her voice. This is done with such magic, it is a pleasure to watch. Mauro posted this on Susan Boyle Fan site today. Thank you. I Know Him So Well with Susan Boyle and Peter Kay. They did this video for Comic Relief to raise money for charity. It is wonderful!

SUSAN BOYLE AND GERALDINE MCQUEEN from mauretto1977 on Vimeo.

graysea

I hope this is a go. We hear so many things and we wonder if it is true. Fingers are crossed.

Susan Boyle and Elaine C Smith

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13793016?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/151890-New-Musical-I-Dreamed-A-Dream-to-Tell-Susan-Boyles-Life-Story#.Tfq_J8IoezM;twitter

http://www.whatsonstage.com/news/theatre/london/E8831308241290/Susan+Boyle%27s+Life+Becomes+Dream+Musical+in+2012.html

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43438036/ns/today-entertainment/?ocid=twitter

graysea

Tommy, creator of "The Amazing Susan Boyle" fansite, has had to recreate his wonderful videos that were lost. I always enjoy Tommy's videos and I thought you would too.
Tommy said:
Here is something I put together from some of my videos I had created earlier .... they were posted on youtube and lost when they took down my youtube channel.
Anyway, I have sync'd them together into one video that I think you will enjoy.....
NO HYPE, NO HOPPED UP MUSIC....JUST THE "MAGICAL VOICE" OF SUSAN MAGDALANE BOYLE... :)
You must watch this one to the end....I am so proud of Susan !!
Hope you enjoy.....

The Amazing Susan Boyle from TommyUSA on Vimeo.

graysea

The Memory performance is one of my favorites. I am amazed how Susan sang this song under so much pressure. That was the time everyone was after her, looking for interviews, getting pictures, talking all about her, just about anything people do chasing stars. The video didn't show, so here is the link.

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

graysea

Susan in front of her council house this past week. She looks so happy to be there. Newspapers are saying she is moving back into her old home. She had it completely renovated. She has a security system there and now feels safe. Great she feels good about it. Love you Susan.

graysea

This is an early interview (April 21, 2009) done in Susan's home. Susan sings "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" into a hairbrush in front of her mirror. Lovely Susan. Please click on link to see it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0NN8I_jdk4
Thumbnail

graysea

The story about a Susan' movie was not accurate. Elaine will be doing a special project with Susan,
however, it is not a movie.

Photobucket

http://entertainment.stv.tv/showbiz/257013-elaine-c-smith-confirms-she-is-working-on-susan-boyle-project/

Elaine C Smith confirms she is working on Susan Boyle “project”

graysea

A report on Google today: Elaine C Smith lands role to play Susan Boyle in movie to be made in 2012. The links below brings you to the article write-up about it.

http://news.google.com/news/story?ncl=http://entertainment.stv.tv/home/256954-elaine-c-smith-lands-role-to-play-susan-boyle-in-movie/&hl=en&geo=us

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/3633808/Mary-Doll-lands-Susan-Boyle-movie-role.html

http://entertainment.stv.tv/film/256954-elaine-c-smith-lands-role-to-play-susan-boyle-in-movi

e/
Elaine C Smith lands role to play Susan Boyle in movie

graysea

Susan receives an award at Blackburn's Gala Day and it is posted on Youtube.
It will not post here, so I will post the link. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5NtyVo-hVg&feature=youtu.be

graysea

Today, from Mauro, comes this beautiful video showing a fun-loving

Susan, who is loved by millions. What a smile! Great lady!

Thank you, Mauro.

graysea

Joyce Young designed the outfit Susan has on. It is beautiful!
Susan looks lovely in it. Susan sang three songs that night.
She received an award "Scot of the Year"
I believe they were absolutely right giving Susan this award.
She certainly deserved this award and it was long over due.
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graysea

Look at the lovely smile on Susan's face. Like she is saying "Look what I got". Love that she is doing well.

graysea

Video from Mauro today. This is done in a very clever way. Mauro synchronized all the videos to the music. Wonderful work Mauro. Thank you.

graysea

You may have seen this video before, but it is well worth it to see it again. Listen to Susan's crystal clear voice. Very beautiful.

graysea

graysea

This post is from Tommy's The Amazing Susan Boyle" site. Such wonderful words written about Susan by David who also wrote "The Birth Of Hope" (posted below), I brought this written tribute here for you to enjoy too.

Posted by Davclas (David) on June 03, 2011
@@Posted by Singer621 on June 02, 2011 Good Morning all...David you have a very unique perspective of the human emotions...maybe because of your life experiences...I certainly do agree that this place of garden of Eden for all of us in one way or another...and It is all because of the example of one wee little Lady from Scotlande...our Lady Susan...

Singer, I did not get a chance to answer this post from yesterday and to clarify where I got my thoughts from. So I have copied the main portion of them below and then will explain where I got those thoughts from.

"...When Susan Boyle stepped out onto a small stage that night in 2009 and just stood there for a minute and let them all get a good look at her and then laugh or joke or sneer at the sight of her, she was just letting everyone go ahead and get what was in their heart out of their system. She was about to give a 'Wake Up Call' of a magnitude not ever seen before on the planet. We know that she knew what she was about to do because she told it beforehand. "I'm going to make 'that' audience rock"! What she didn't realize was the her audience was not the one inside the four walls that night but as we now know it was an audience of hundreds of millions around the world that have yet to get over what they saw her do.

"...I was one of those worldwide viewers who went from laughing, joking and sneering at the start along with the judges and that audience to jawdropping, kneebending, heartpounding, tearshedding pile of emotional mush within 30 seconds of Susan Boyle opening her mouth. She proceeded to drag us all right through the middle of our own preconceptions of what we were expecting to see her do and just mopped the floor with our emotions as a lesson and when finished, turned to 'exit stage right' having just accomplished what she set out to do in the first place. Of course, as we know, she was called back by the astonished judges and has, for these last two years, continued to be symbolically called back over and over again by an adoring public as evidenced by the worldwide recordbreaking sales of her albums as soon as they appear." --Davclas June 2, 2011

............Susan Boyle - The Woman I Was Born To Be..........

"I could hear a few titters in the audience. I was aware that I was being laughed at, but I've been ridiculed a lot in my life so I've learned how to be resilient. Instead of being hurt and saying, 'Right, I'm coming off,' I thought I'd show them what I could do.

"Simon asked me what my song was, so I told him it was 'I Dreamed a Dream' from Les Miserables. I'd chosen that song because at the time I could identify with a lot of the emotions in it. I had recently lost my mother and I was still getting over the shock of being alone, because she'd been with me all my life. So I was lonely and depressed because I didn't think my life would change. It's a powerful song.

"Simon said, 'Are you prepared to do another song?' They cut this out of the video that appeared on television. That threw me. My second song was 'The Power of Love', but I didn't think I sang it as well as 'I Dreamed a Dream'. I didn't want to miss my chance, but 'I Dreamed a Dream' was the song I wanted to sing. So I looked Simon in the eye and said, 'Well, I'm prepared to sing another song if required, but what's in the machine is 'I Dreamed a Dream' from Les Mis.' To my relief, he heaved a weary sigh and told me to go ahead. I gave Ant the thumbs up.

"As I listened to the pretty opening notes of the introduction, I became aware for the first time of the size of the audience in front of me. There were thousands of people, row upon row banked up behind the judges, and they were all watching me in anticipation. I knew what they were thinking. 'Just look at her! She's got a bum like a garage, a head like a mop, I'm not too sure if her teeth are her own, and she's claiming to be a singer! She cannot sing. She cannot! Well come on, let's hear you then...'

"So I opened my mouth and showed them what I could do..."

From the Prologue, pages 8 and 9.

This is where I based my post from. My 'very unique perspective of human emotions', as you called it, came from Susan Boyle, herself. This is why I have said before that those of us with similarly negative 'life experiences' are instantly drawn to Susan Boyle when we hear her sing because we can feel her emotions through her singing and they match our own. It's like every note is telling us 'I know! I know!' and indeed she does know our long held and deeply hidden hurts because she has lived them herself.

What we saw from her that night was the release of 47 years of emotional discouragements and hurts that had accumulated relentlessly decade after decade in her life. This lonely little woman who had now lost her only remaining companion in life (her mother) had fought her way through discouraging remarks by her family members, the BGT judges, that audience and even her own self doubts in order to tell them all 'I! HAVE! HOPE!' in one of the most astonishing performances ever recorded. Those of us who would like to do the same with our lives drop to our knees at the sight of this 'Epic Story' being played out before us and say 'Thank God, Thank God, Thank God Almighty, For Susan Boyle'. Her 'Hope' is fast becoming the 'Hope' of millions who standing up now because she stood up then.

The 'TIGER' has arrived and she has chewed up the skeptics one by one ever since. She opened her mouth and showed them what she could do.... Amen!

God Bless You All, and God Bless this AMAZING PLACE! 5:15am,NC,USA
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graysea

You just have to see this interview again. It was done in Scotland
by an Australian interviewer for 60 Minutes. Susan is so beautiful and
relaxed as she tells a little bit about her life and her dreams.
During this interview they show a clip of Susan on the semi-final
show singing the part "touch me" from Memory, Cats. You will really
enjoy seeing this interview again.

This was posted today by Mauro on the Susan-Boyle forum. Thank you. It is wonderful to see this again.

graysea

Received this video this morning from Mauro. Thank you. I don't remember

seeing this interview. I guess it was done before the finals. Susan is so

sweet and sincere about her thoughts. I think Susan gets nervous

about performances, because she wants to do her best and does not

want to let her fans down. IMO she is always the best and never

lets her fans down. Such a wonderful star and so generous to her fans.

Susan you have many fans who love you and that sure includes me.

graysea

Another beautiful video from Mauro. See the smiling face of Susan.

Thank you.

graysea

I would like to thank Mauro for sending me this beautiful video.

Mauro has captured some very expressive pictures of Susan.

A very special one is a silhouette of Susan in prayer. It is stunning.

All of Mauro videos are made from the heart.

graysea

Susan Boyle was in Rome, Italy. Photo of her and a fan Jay Jarrod who posted the picture on Twitter

Susan Boyle: Singer and Now Businesswoman

By Marie Sheahan Brown

Who can forget the YouTube masterpiece? She strode and sashayed onto the stage with golden stature and confidence. She sparred wittily with the three famous judges, wearied by their long day of auditions in Glasgow, Scotland. She didn’t look the part of a “professional singer,” although one might perceive that being “currently unemployed” at forty-seven left little extra for beauty-shop pampering. Was she, rather, a comedienne? Susan Boyle audition

Then she sang. The formerly skeptical audience stood enraptured, tears welling as she belted out “I Dreamed A Dream” from Les Misérables with stunning clarity and passion.

More than five years after the seven-minute audition video aired on Britain’s Got Talent on April 11, 2009, and promptly hit worldwide news feeds, multitudes in America and beyond remember Susan Boyle. Since she first broke Amazon pre-sale records in September 2009, millions have bought her albums. Each year, a new carefully crafted album has been released in time for Christmas. Since 2009, five albums have garnered sixty-three gold and ninety-four platinum sales levels in forty-two countries. Her sixth album, Hope, will be released on October 21 in the United States.

Scottish and United Kingdom audiences thrilled to Miss Boyle’s first full-length concert tours in 2013 and 2014. Now she’s coming to America—home of an immediate and strong support base—starting in San Diego on October 8, and singing her way across the southern half of the United States at venues in twenty cities. A sweep through the northern states could likely follow in the future.

See http://www.susanboylemusic.com/us/events

Many have written about Susan Boyle’s difficult and graced life. Her 2010 autobiography, The Woman I Was Born to Be, is a good source. Now fifty-three, she carefully revealed late in 2013 that, after decades of mistaken assumptions, she had finally been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. The relief of self-knowledge strengthens and encourages her after a lifetime of dealing with debilitating anxiety and panic attacks, and some difficulty in handling emotions and relating comfortably to people.

“This is a point: People may have problems,” she states in a documentary, “but they’ve got other things as well. And they’ve got a lot more to offer.” (Gammon, Lottie, produced, filmed, and directed. “There’s Something About Susan.” Firecracker Films Ltd. for ITV, 45:37 minutes. 2013)

Fewer analyses have considered her role as a small businesswoman and philanthropist whose personal success has enhanced the lives and small businesses of countless others not only in her native Scotland but also in, for example, America.

Miss Boyle, easily mistaken for a stately five feet ten in the famous video, is, in fact, barely over five feet tall with soft, dainty hands and feet—a huggable China doll. So she does qualify as a smallbusinesswoman despite her multimillions in sales, which also benefit business giants like Sony Music Entertainment UK Limited; SYCOmusic (Simon Cowell); Simon & Schuster, Inc.; Amazon; and, more recently, concert tour bus companies. In significant other ways, she retains her focus on the little ones.

The woman who had “never been married, never been kissed” and remains a virgin has, since 2009, given birth with astonishing fecundity. Lewis Hyde well describes her kind of gift and fertility in his 1983 classic, The Gift: Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property: “I have hoped . . . to speak of the inner gift that we accept as the object of our labor, and the outer gift that has become a vehicle of culture. I am not concerned with gifts given in spite or fear, nor those gifts we accept out of servility or obligation; my concern is the gift we long for, the gift that, when it comes, speaks commandingly to the soul and irresistibly moves us.”

Mr. Hyde first explores traditional “gift economies,” in which citizens are considered wealthy not according to how much they acquire but how much they give. In fictional form, Jean M. Auel’s well-researched Earth’s Children series (The Clan of the Cave Bear and five sequels) describes the creativity and ingenuity that led people to survive, to form communities, and to work cooperatively for mutual benefit. Goods, services, storytelling and musical talents, art, and many other gifts were appreciated in deeper ways than they might be in a typical “market economy.”

According to reviewer JoAnn Schwartz, “Above all, Hyde is interested in examining the effect our current immersion in the market economy and the myth of the free market has both on our view of gifts and on our ability to give and receive them. The market economy is deliberately impersonal, but the whole purpose of the ‘gift economy’ is to establish and strengthen the relationships between us, to connect us one to the other. It is this element of relationship which leads Hyde to speak of gift exchange as ‘erotic’ commerce, opposing eros (the principle of attraction, union, involvement which binds together) to logos (reason and logic in general, the principle of differentiation in particular). A market economy is an emanation of logos.

“In a market economy,” Ms. Schwartz continues, “one can hoard one’s goods without losing wealth. Indeed, wealth is increased by hoarding—although we generally call it ‘saving.’ In contrast, in a gift economy, wealth is decreased by hoarding, for it is the circulation of the gift(s) within the community that leads to increase—increase in connections, increase in relationship strength. Through this book, Hyde helps us focus on the importance of gifts, their flow and movement, and the impact that the modern market place has had on the circulation of gifts.” (http://southerncrossreview.org/4/schwartz.html)

Susan Boyle does appreciate the financial security that she had never known, especially in the fearsome years after her mother died in 2007, when Miss Boyle kept her house cold so that she could afford the heating bill. Yet more important, Susan Boyle has said all along, “I sing to make people happy.” When she was a girl, the gift spoke “commandingly to the soul”—her soul. She honed, honed, honed the gift to perfection over decades of world obscurity. She sees with gratitude and humility the effects of this gift on people worldwide. When this gift is pointed out to her in personal conversation, she bows her head and lowers her eyes shyly. “Thank you.”

Miss Boyle’s fame and financial success have boosted tourism modestly in West Lothian, Scotland, with its pastoral more than spectacular scenery, a region that has suffered from bouts of economic depression and unemployment over the past few centuries. In February 2013, for example, following a centuries-old pattern, the main employer in the area—Halls of Broxburn meat processing plant—was closed by foreign owners, leaving 1,700 unemployed.

Lorraine Campbell co-owns and manages The Balbairdie—a nicely refurbished old hotel and pub in Bathgate, West Lothian. When the economy suffers, The Balbairdie feels it. Asked how she copes, Ms. Campbell replied, “You just keep going.” Happily, the local economy has improved some since 2013, according to Ms. Campbell in April 2014.

Miss Boyle has engaged experts like Andy Stephens, manager; Nicola Phillips, publicist; and Andrew Panton, creative and vocal director, to name a few. She has provided jobs for local personal assistants who handle correspondence, scheduling, wardrobe consultation, and myriad other details; gardeners; carpenters to renovate the council house she grew up and still lives in (her first big post-Britain’s Got Talent purchase); a housekeeper; women who fix her hair, do her nails, and apply her makeup for special public appearances and photo sessions; and others who tend to basic needs of a now-busy celebrity who still prefers to live in her home village, stop in at her favorite small shops and establishments, and take the bus.

Miss Boyle has also given seed money and sponsorship for creative business and charitable ventures in her local community and beyond. One start-up, Boyle’s Boutique, is an extended-family cottage industry that sells, among others, products featuring the new Boyle Tartan created for the family. Products may be ordered online.

Susan Boyle’s very capable personal assistant Sadie Boyle (no relation) says Miss Boyle gets about four hundred emails weekly, many requesting her generosity. This kind of response to another’s fame and fortune is not uncommon.

More unusual, and a clearer example of the fruits of the “gift economy,” is the generation of a worldwide community of Susan Boyle supporter-fans who have formed friendships, discovered or rekindled their own creative gifts, invested thousands of volunteer hours, spread financial generosity, and—to a small extent—started creative cottage enterprises for profit or merely to cover expenses.

Several unofficial Susan Boyle fansites live on the Internet. The first and largest, still flourishing, is www.susan-boyle.com. On April 11, 2009, Paul Wood, a London construction worker, watched Miss Boyle’s audition on TV and immediately put up a website. Starting within hours after the audition aired, people from many continents to whom Susan Boyle’s gift spoke “commandingly to the soul” were “irresistibly move[d]” to find out anything they could about her on the Internet. They frequently stumbled across Mr. Wood’s hastily launched site with its prolific discussion threads generating hundreds of written comments every day in the first two months of Miss Boyle’s fame.

To bring some order to the conversational chaos, Mr. Wood launched a companion Forum in June 2009 with more sophisticated software, accessed through the main website. Anyone could (and still can) join for free. The main rules are that one not be an Internet troll (a term and experience many had never heard of), that one behave reasonably civilly as outlined in posted guidelines, and that one not use the Forum itself for commercial purposes (more on that later).

Volunteer moderators and techies keep the discussions and online experience on an even keel. Online advertisements generated by Google AdSense and Amazon sales linked to the website (“SuBo Store”) help pay for the normal operational expenses.

In early 2010, Mr. Wood announced that he was going to auction off the website (some fifty thousand registered members) and its Forum (a few thousand registered members at the time). The worldwide member community could not bear the prospect of being taken over by some unknown commercial entity with other goals. So they decided to bid on the fansite themselves. A few members—by no means wealthy—each voluntarily loaned trusted fellow members a few thousand dollars to buy the fansite during the auction. The effort succeeded in July 2010.

Navigating through some tensions and hurt feelings (typical in any community anywhere), the worldwide Susan Boyle Fans International, Inc. (SBFII) community established itself as a non-profit corporation registered in Delaware, USA. SBFII elects a multinational volunteer board of directors; keeps meticulous financial records and files annual tax returns; maintains bylaws; and holds online annual meetings and elections engaging active members. Technically not a charity, SBFII uses AdSense and SuBo Store income to cover modest expenses and keep a healthy bank balance. Funds left over from voluntary collections (often for tasteful gifts for Miss Boyle for special occasions) are donated to a charity of Susan Boyle’s choice, frequently benefitting children in Scotland. By December 2011, SBFII repaid all interest-free loans given by members to buy the website; it remains debt free. No member gets paid for services to SBFII or personally benefits financially.

From the beginning, even silver-haired grandmothers proficient only with email learned to navigate the fansites in order to participate in a community of people who have experienced an inexplicable response to Susan Boyle—both her singing and her unique way of being—unlike their response to other favorite singers. Within months, members began gathering in person around the globe (often in restaurants, boosting local economies). They attended (and surreptitiously filmed and posted to the fansites for the enjoyment of those who could not attend) Miss Boyle’s performances in various cities (Britain’s Got Talent tour venues in the UK; Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Tokyo, and more). Supporter-fans flocked to these events even though—until only 2013, when she first tried her own full-length concerts in Scotland—Miss Boyle was slated to sing just one, two, maybe three songs. These gatherings supported local hotels, B+Bs, restaurants, cab drivers, shops, and other travel-related businesses.

Miss Boyle and her team soon experienced that supporter-fans who came to these early events were older or at least more mature than stereotypical rowdies at, for example, Justin Bieber concerts. They saw that typical Susan Boyle supporter-fans are responsible, respectful, fun loving, generative. They include retired or active professionals—teachers, nurses, techies, writers, musicians, artists, farmers, truckers, businesspeople, social workers, radio hosts, professors, lawyers, homemakers, construction workers, postmasters, foresters.

To most gatherings (usually at restaurants) supporter-fans bring homemade memorabilia to share, including commemorative buttons and red scarves to identify themselves in various venues. The popularity of such items led SBFII to add another linked site, “Fan Creations,” linked in turn to the creators’ individual websites. Products include non-Susan-Boyle-related fan creations. Currently, three members offer SuBotique Hand Painted Apparel; Creative Images by tweek (Buttons, Mugs, etc.); and Susan Boyle Professional Singer chronicles gathered from news and other sources.

SBFII members often post creative ideas and images to discuss in writing with one another. Memorably, in 2009, a member from Texas, one from Iowa, and other volunteers, coordinated an international quilting bee. Supporter-fans from every continent, including Antarctica, created and mailed squares for a handmade quilt presented to Miss Boyle at a brunch following her debut solo appearance on the Todayshow on November 23—the day her first album, I Dreamed A Dream, was released in the United States and quickly broke world records in several categories.

Members can upload Susan-related videos that they have created; share poems that they’ve written; upload posters that they’ve designed digitally to document Miss Boyle’s career and accomplishments; upload news reports of supporter-fan activities, complete with photographs; post fine pencil drawings or paintings displaying talent the artists had only recently discovered; and offer a place where members can contribute their own essays. These essays, sometimes written in French or other non-English languages, often try to explain how the wee singer with the big voice; the shy woman who communicates profoundly—cor ad cor loquitur—through music others have written; the multimillionaire who stays in her small lifelong home and still takes the bus—the essentially inexplicable Susan Boyle—“irresistibly moves” them.

SBFII and other volunteers take responsibility to daily and positively post or re-post Susan Boyle news, photos, and encounters on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media. Their Internet involvement began immediately when Miss Boyle became famous—and once again experienced the bullying known since childhood, only this time inflicted by some members of the media and anonymous commentators. She writes in her autobiography, “What I didn’t know then, because I didn’t have a computer at the time, was that every time there was a mean comment about me in the press, a dozen messages of support would appear in response. On the Internet there was a growing community of fans. I had no idea how many people out there in the world felt moved to stick up for me, and I want to thank everybody for that.” (The Woman I Was Born to Be, pages 188–189)

Miss Boyle’s professional team also encourages creativity from fans. Starting with the first documentary of her life, Susan Boyle: I Dreamed A Dream, produced in 2009 by Talkback Thames, fans were invited via the official www.susanboylemusic.com site (picked up and promoted by volunteer sites) to send short videos of themselves saying “Hello, Susan!” with backdrops representing their locations. Several clips from around the world were chosen for the documentary. As a lead-up to Miss Boyle’s second album, The Gift, she held a worldwide “Susan’s Search” competition, inviting any amateur singer to upload a brief selfie singing “Silent Night.” The winner, Amber Stassi, a thirty-three-year-old paramedic from Brewerton, New York, sang “Do You Hear What I Hear?” with Miss Boyle on the album and at the 2010 outdoor Today show appearance in New York City.

In the 2013 and 2014 concert tours in Scotland and the United Kingdom, Miss Boyle and her team selected local choirs to serve as back-up choruses in every city, receiving standard financial compensation. Already individual choir members in the United States are tweeting: “Aaliyah Buchanan ‏@Itsuko_Sora I’m to pumped, i get to sing for Susan Boyle!!!!” and “Drew Mikuska ‏@DrewMikuska Hahahahaha I’m singing backup for Susan Boyle.”

Already in the twenty cities spanning the southern United States, supporter-fans from as far away as Australia and Scotland are buying tickets. They are organizing pre-concert dinner-camaraderie gatherings for supporter-fans, some of whom they have never met in person but know through their written posts on fansites. Restaurants, hotels, theaters, airlines, public transportation providers, cab drivers, and many small businesses will benefit. Susan Boyle, her team, and numerous music-related vendors will profit.

Yet in Susan Boyle’s “gift economy,” which she neither forecasted nor manipulated, money can facilitate but cannot possibly buy the greatest benefits to the community in which she finds herself to be the generator and principal member. In this higher economy, she is both blessed herself and a blessing to countless others.

As recently reported on her official website, Susan says about her upcoming United States concert tour: “This is a brilliant moment for me. The past five years have been incredible, and it just keeps getting better. I have spoken so often about wanting to tour America and be able to visit different cities for the first time—I’m so excited. This really will be fantastic, and I can’t wait for October. The US embraced and supported me from the beginning, and it really feels like a second home. So I can’t wait to get on the road and perform there.”

Source:Small Business Exchange Northeast