Susan Boyle: The Musical – Grand Canal Theatre

graysea

Exciting, heartfelt performance from Susan Boyle on AGT. She sings this song with such feelings, it is like you are at a Broadway show. Absolutely fantastic, brilliant and magnificent. Thank you Susan, for bringing us such joy.

graysea · 31st August 2011

Susan's web site is newly designed and it is beautiful. The picture below is what you see when you go there. This marvelous super star deserves this wonderful site.
http://www.susanboylemusic.com/gb/home/

New Look to SusanBoyleMusic.com

31st August 2011

Susan Boyle is poised to release her third studio album, ‘Someone To Watch Over Me’ on the 7th of November 2011 and to mark this tremendous occasion we’ve redesigned SusanBoyleMusic.com.

We’ve listened carefully to many of your comments over the past few months and the new website design reflects some of the suggestions made by you, the users and we really hope you like it as much as we do!

As we move forward we always aim to bring you the very latest Susan Boyle news and the last word on everything official in the world of Susan Boyle.

Thanks,
Susan Boyle HQ

graysea

Amazon has a video containing a snippet of two of Susan's new songs:
"Unchained Melody" and "You Have To Be There"
Go to the Amazon link and then
click on the video in the upper right hand corner. Absolutely beautiful.

http://www.amazon.com/Susan-Boyle/e/B002MFM6EE/ref=ac_dpt_sa_link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYtsrKphFCE&feature=player_embedded

graysea

Susan, looking lovely, arrived in LA yesterday for taping her AGT performance today. Annette, a member of her team and Joanne, Susan's PA Assistant, accompanied Susan. The show airs on Wed. Aug 31, 2011. Seven wonderful fans were there to greet her. JHall116, larcaillet, PJdoodoo, skye, Trish Pierce, way-out , WChisholm

Trish, our California fan, hands Susan the flowers. So thoughtful of her.

Trish, our California fan, brought Susan the flowers.

jayhawk posted the pictures on the SBFF. Thank you

graysea

graysea

Mauro video of the NY M&G Aug 20, 2011. Very nice. Thank you.

graysea

This picture of Andy Stevens and me was taken by sunandroses at the NY M&G on Aug. 20, 2011. Andy and I were talking about the Stock Market. Just tried to get your attention. Mr. Stevens is a very classy guy and a wonderful, attentive manager to Susan Boyle. We were talking about fans and how they love Susan. I also talked to him about this blog. Thanks for posting the picture Sunandroses.
http://i1188.photobucket.com/albums/z403/joyceleo1/CIMG0212.jpg

graysea

graysea

This video was done by Kimmie of Texas. The song was sung by Angel Morey of the SBFF. It is wonderful to watch. Angel's voice fits right into this song. Thank you both. Great to see this.

graysea

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graysea

This was posted by Angel (scmilitarywife) on the SBFF. It is a video of Susan arriving at the St Andrew's restaurant for the NY M&G on Aug 20, 2011. Very good. Thank you for sharing.

graysea

New pictures from Angel Morey. These were taken during the NY M&G at St Andrews on Sat., Aug. 20, 2011
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2253760657113&set=a.2253637814042.2129322.1041199311&type=1&theater

graysea

Kimmie has a long series of videos. I will list them here as they are released.

Susan Boyle ~ Welcome Back to NYC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhfsUjS_AL8

Susan Boyle ~Enjoying her fans and Vice Versa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCQVWUqXokc

Susan Boyle ~The Party Is Underway
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVfPWYj5X34

Susan Boyle ~ Meet New Folk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZceJBCV7ww

Susan Boyle ~ Gets Cheeky
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXFFFfUoWM4

2 Angels Meet ~ Thank You Susan Boyle!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll89EOPEZ2U

graysea

Kimmie, from Texas, did this wonderful video for the New York M&G, which was held on Sat., August 20, 2011, at St Andrews restaurant in New York. Twenty fans were randomly selected to meet Susan Boyle.
Kimmie captured this most amazing event for the fans and for fans all over the world to enjoy. This memorable video of this magnificent event will be remember for years to come. We the fans were invited to go to New York for a fans M&G with Ms. Susan Boyle. We met at St. Andrews restaurant which is a great Scottish place to eat. We waited anxiously for our favorite star and then in she waltzes, with a hi, a sweet note and a hug for everyone there. If you want to feel shivers up and down, this is it. Almost like hearing her sing. We spent about three hours with Susan and it is a time that none of us will ever forget. Susan is an amazing, generous and caring super star. We all enjoyed this joyful time with our favorite star. Susan's team was so attentive to the star and especially to the fans there. It was the most special, wonderful M&G you would ever attend. I loved it. We all love Susan Boyle. Thank you Kimmie for covering this.

graysea

This video was done by a wonderful Susa fan, Kimmie from Texas, who I first met at this meeting. Kimmie is a very sociable lady who captured this most amazing event for the fans there and the world to enjoy. Through her entire time at the M&G, Kimmie gave of herself to get this memorable video of this magnificent event. A time we can re-live for years. How wonderful to do this for everyone. It was beautiful to be there and feel the joy and happiness, which Susan gives to her fans. Every fan at the NY M&G was so excited and had a time they will never forget. They left there flying on cloud nine, including me. Susan is the most kindest, sweetest and giving super star you would ever want to meet. We all love Susan Boyle. Thank you.

s

graysea

More pictures of me and Susan having a wonderful time at our M&G in NY.
What a time we had. So much laughter and such a great super star who loves her fans.

graysea

To all my blogger friends: I would like to let you know that I had the most wonderful afternoon on Saturday, August 20, 2011 in New Your City at St. Andrews Restaurant visiting with the real live "in person" Susan Boyle. I had the honor and privilege of being with Susan at a Meet and Greet put on by her management in her honor. When I received the invitation, I was on Cape Cod and came right back home to get ready. I was delighted and in shock but completely excited, anxious, elated, thrilled, pleased and very honored to be invited. The days couldn't go bye fast enough, as I was sworn to secrecy and couldn't talk about it.
Well finally, just yesterday, it happened. I had the most marvelous time with the most amazing, talented, delightful, caring, playful, super, fantastic singer in the world, Susan. I will explain the pictures below: There were about 20 fans and each one would have a turn to talk to Susan, a one-on-one for less then three minutes. I was number 18 on the list, and boy was it hard waiting for my turn with Susan. Finally, my turn! Oh, I couldn't believe how nervous I was, because I am never at a loss for words. Well, I was. So I planned my "presentation".
My mission was to see if Susan received the box from the New England fans. I wanted to know if she got our NE t-shirt (same as I had on). I had believed she did, because she held up the box I sent while she was standing at her front door, but I wanted to know for sure. So I wore mine and I thought to myself I wonder if she will autograph it for me. Can you believe what you see below (what a hoot and what a great, funny, fantastic person Susan is) She told me that she received it and has it hanging up in her home and say thanks to all the NE fans. Then I asked her if she would sign my shirt, and you can see below what happened. You wouldn't believe the fun, the banter back and forth, the laughing and the warmth from this little, beautiful lady. I adore her. There is no other like her. Susan, a tiny petite lady, was gracious, caring, kind and giving to everyone there and it was very hot and crowded in the two small rooms. She is so amazing.

I would like to share these few pictures with you and hope you will enjoy them, as much as I enjoyed being the recipient of being with wonderful Susan Boyle. There will be others pictures later on and a video. For now, please enjoy.

The picture above is probably where I said " oooouh, that feels so good" and below she replied something like " well what have we got here" which made us laugh so much and she said a few other things too and kept on writing.

This picture must been when I said to her "what, are you writing a book" and she said something which I can't remember, because we were laughing so hard.

This is where I must have said "how low will you go?' and of course some cute remarks and more laughter..

Susan is one classy lady who made me feel as comfortable as she was. Look at her expressions. Priceless!

I JUST LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THIS BEAUTIFUL LADY - THE BEST SINGER IN THE WORLD!

(I would like to thank Kimmie for taking all these pictures with my camera. She made this series possible and Jenna 55 for organizing this great M&G.)

graysea

Last time in New York on the Today Show Nov. 23, 2010

Susan is in New York today August 19, 2011
http://www.facebook.com/susanboyle
I'm very excited to be in New York, it's so good to be back in this wonderful city. I've got a busy few days meeting some wonderful people and you'll be the first to hear my news when I can tell you.

Twitter post reported that she was in a photoshoot on Harrison in TriBeCa.
Also on Twitter it was reported that Susan would be performing on AGT, Il Divo and Jackie.
AGT has just released tickets for this Tuesday and Wednesday tapings.
http://on-camera-audiences.com/shows/Americas_Got_Talent
Picture posted on Twitter. Taken about 2:30 pm Fri., Aug 19, 2011

graysea

Magnificent video. I don't know who produced this, but it is very beautiful. Susan's voice soars as we we float over the deep cold mountains of snow and ice. Nice feeling watching this.

graysea

Haven't seen this in a long time. Susan singing FAME in 1998. The words are so appropriate for her. Just look how she puts feeling as she sings this. Just a natural thing for Susan.

As RIK points out what has happened to Susan since Fame, as shown on his beautiful poster of what he would like to see as a CD cover, and so would I

graysea

This is a good interview to see again. It was done in 2009 at the time of "Wild Horses" on AGT. It is worth looking at again. Fred O'Neil was Susan's first music teacher. Susan took only a few lessons when she was older. Susan was already singing for many years, before she took any lessons. She has a natural, god-giving, beautiful crystal clear voice.

graysea

A beautiful tribute video by Mauro out today on Susan Boyle Fan Forum site. Mauro's video has the words running throughout this beautiful video. Susan sings this song with so much passion. It is stunning. Enjoy!

graysea

A Story about Susan's musical.
By Lauryn Mann

Susan Boyle: The Musical – Grand Canal Theatre

http://insideireland.ie/2011/08/15/susan-boyle-the-musical-%E2%80%93-grand-canal-theatre-29711/

Susan Boyle- The Musical!

graysea

I love hearing this. Susan has finally come into her own. Well deserved. She makes many, many people feel good. She has raised many spirits, so that many now have hope and determination to make their dream come true too. So many are trying to make a go of their life in this unsettling world economy. Susan is a model for everyone out there trying to make it. What a joy she is!

http://tellymix.co.uk/reality-tv/41716-susann-boyle-cheryl-cole-and-will-young-top-reality-tv-rich-list.html

graysea

Just saw this picture. I love the comments on this blog.
http://margo73.xanga.com/753976677/meeting-susan-boyle/

graysea

On the Twitter thread on the SBFF was this picture.
"Nadia_Grande Nadia Bennett
me and the one and only legend, susan boyle"

me and the one and only legend, susan boyle:D<3

graysea

This picture showed up today on The Twitter Thread. Do not know when it was taken, but it is an interesting write up. You wonder why Susan is there. A lady of mystery.
In the top picture is: Marie McCaffrey, Mary Jennings (Royal Theatre Castlebar) Susan Boyle and Frank McCaffreyTi

Frank McCaffrey is from Westport in Co Mayo. He started his musical career at an early age and formed his first band with some friends while still at school. When he left school, he joined a local band, “The Beatminstrels” and then later joined “The Frielmen”.
In 1970 he turned professional and began playing bass guitar in ‘Margo and the Country Folk‚’ (Daniel O’Donnell's sister). Five years later he left to form his own band‚ ‘Band of Gold.’ In 1983 Frank made the decision to become a solo artist and was signed to Ritz records.

He has toured throughout Ireland as well as England, Europe and America. Frank still lives in Westport. He is married to Marie and they have two daughters, Triona and Elaine and a son Mark. Triona has followed her father’s musical footsteps and has written and performed the beautifull track‚ ‘It’s in The Way’ from Frank's latest CD ‚ ‘When I was a Lad‚’

http://www.frankmccaffrey.net/pg5-gallery.html

graysea

The following videos are part of the celebration of Susan that the New England fans had on Cape Cod last year on September 27 2010. It was a blast! Enjoy!

graysea

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graysea

Last year at this time, we New England fans were planning a big time on Cape Cod. This video is the results of our great, fun time on the Cape. Hope you enjoy it.

graysea

New picture and story appeared today. Not sure when this happened. So many surprises.

Recording star Susan Boyle enjoying her copy of On A Wing and a Prayer (by Terry Reilly)

at Ireland West Airport, Knock, with Donal Healy

http://wingandprayermusical.com/

graysea

I just love, love this magnificent performance. Susan's "touch me" really touches me in so many ways. The weeks leading up to the Semi Final were very difficult for Susan. She was hounded by the media where ever she went. Some reporters were nasty. I call them rag reporters. At that time, Susan being a shy, kind gentle lady with no media experience, tried to accommodate them - even when they came to her home, unannounced - and anywhere she went. Over one hundred interviews during that time and she had no media training and had done only one song at Audition at that time. "No pressure" she said! Susan, you are an amazing, brave lady. Keep on going, you're doing great!

graysea

This beautiful video is what started it all. Susan Boyle's audition. Marvelous! Still gives me chills and tears after all these years. Keep going Susan. You are doing great!

graysea

Posted by Redbird on "Amazing Susan Boyle" today. Couldn't let them go by. Thank you.

graysea

graysea

http://yfrog.com/page/addthis?server=738&filename=gr6vnh.jpg&yfrog_url=http://yfrog.com/kigr6vnhj&is_photo=true&screen_name=HayleyStewart

_

Another picture shown 8/16/2011

graysea

Mauro made this beautiful tribute video from his heart and it shows in the wonderful production. I know how you feel Mauro, because I have this caring, loving feeling for Susan, too. She is a very special lassie and has shown very much caring and loving herself. She always gives of herself to her fans. Susan is one classy lady. Mauro, thank you for posting this on the SB FF.

graysea

It is my pleasure to introduce you to one fine gentleman, who is posting on many of the Susan Boyle sites: Tommy USA, is the owner of "The Amazing Susan Boyle" site. Tommy, from the very beginning of SB, April 2009, has shared so many beautiful tribute videos with all of us. He has the most wonderful sites and I believe his site is #1 for 64 weeks. Congratulations Tommy on many very beautiful sites!
Below is Tommy listening to Susan and probably working on another of his fabulous videos. If you want to enjoy good friends, beautiful music and great videos, check out Tommy's site below. You will love it.
http://theamazingsusanboyle.magnify.net/messages/view/WPZ0DC2NW74Q2WQB

iadore

graysea

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1142557859394&set=o.461861265393&type=1&theater

graysea

The video is excellent. Posted by dyno60, today. I like the way portions of interviews are interwoven though out the entire video. Covered so many interviews. Wonderful video!

graysea

Susan and a friend were in Knock recently and were in a taxi vising sites. The driver said his mom was a fan and asked Susan if she would meet his mom. Susan, being so gracious and caring, agreed to go meet his mom in Rookfield. Susan loves Knock and has been going for many years.
Susan Boyle is pictured with Margaret and Michael Jennings on her visit to Knock.

Susan Boyle is pictured with Margaret and Michael Jennings on her visit to Knock.

http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13418:subo-pays-surprise-visit-to-knock-taxi-mans-mum&catid=23:news&Itemid=46

graysea

I just came across this video. It is dated June 22, 2009 and uploaded by PWattis. I would love to hear Susan sing this song. Listen to it. It is so right for Susan. The pictures of Susan here are outstanding and they are matched up to the song words. Susan, please sing this. You would certainly do this song justice. Thank you PWattis.

graysea

This beautiful video came from Mauro on Facebook today. What a wonderful collection of pictures he selected for this video. Mauro thank you for this very nice video showing some of Susan's awards. She certainly deserved them. Thank you.

graysea

I updated my first video, as I did not like the ending. Hope you enjoy this, as much.

graysea

Ewing Stevens brings you the latest new on his favourite singer Susan Boyle. Aired 8th August 2011.

http://www.radiolive.co.nz/Susan-Boyle-news-part-15/tabid/506/articleID/22263/Default.aspx

graysea

A lady named Claire posted a picture of Susan. It seems that Susan was at the Hopetoun House for a boyzone concert in Edinburgh
Here is a write up about the evening:
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/showbiz/music-news/2011/08/08/susan-boyle-revealed-as-a-boyzone-fanatic-as-she-enjoys-vip-treatment-at-boyband-s-gig-86908-23329009/#.Tj_YTrIJTpQ.facebook

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