SUSAN BOYLE'S FIRST MOVIE TO TACKLE '[SPOILERS], [SPOILERS] AND CHRISTMAS WISHES'

graysea

From reality show contestant to viral video sensation to... Hollywood movie star?

Vocal powerhouse Susan Boyle is making the jump to movies as she is set to make her feature film debut in John Stephenson's The Christmas Candle.

"Everyone on set is a delight to work with, and it's a fantastic experience to be part of the team," Boyle told THR. "I'm really enjoying getting dressed in the period costumes and stepping back in time, and although it's very cold filming on location, I'm wearing long johns under my bustle." After her Britain's Got Talent audition, Boyle achieved viral video status from her performance of Les Miserables "I Dreamed a Dream."

http://www.hollywood.com/news/movies/55002682/susan-boyle-making-feature-film-debut-the-christmas-candle

graysea

Susan Boyle dreamed a dream and now it's coming true! According to The Hollywood Reporter, the 'Britain's Got Talent' superstar will make her feature film debut in John Stephenson's upcoming drama THE CHRISTMAS CANDLE. The singer joins additional cast members Samantha Barks (Les Miserables), Hans Matheson (Clash of the Titans) and Lesley Manville (Another Year) on the film.

The costume drama is described as "a timeless and inspirational story set in 1890." It is based on Max Lucado's novella of the same name and tells the story of angels, candles and Christmas wishes.

Eric Newman and Candace Lee will write and produce the film which will also feature Sylvester McCoy (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey), John Hannah (The Mummy) and Barbara Flynn (Miss Potter) with James Cosmo (TV's Game of Thrones). Production is currently underway on location in the U.K. and the Isle of Man.

In a statement on her first film-making experience Boyle gushed, "Everyone on set is a delight to work with and it's a fantastic experience to be part of the team," adding that she "can't believe" she is working on the project. "I'm really enjoying getting dressed in the period costumes and stepping back in time and although it's very cold filming on location, I'm wearing long johns under my bustle."

Boyle became known to the world when she competed on the 2009 season of Britain's Got Talent. On that show, she sang "I Dreamed a Dream" from the musical, Les Miserables. The video of her performance went instantly viral and made her an overnight sensation. She has sold more than 14 million albums worldwide and she is the first artist to have two albums reach No. 1 on the UK and American album charts in a one year period.

Read more about Susan Boyle to Make Film Debut in THE CHRISTMAS CANDLE by broadwayworld.com

http://broadwayworld.com/article/Susan-Boyle-to-Make-Film-Debut-in-THE-CHRISTMAS-CANDLE-20130228

graysea

Movie News

Susan Boyle to make film debut

Feb. 28, 2013, 2:55 PM EST

WENN

Singer Susan Boyle will make her film debut alongside "Les Miserables" star Samantha Barks in an upcoming holiday movie.

The Scot, who found fame as a contestant on "Britain's Got Talent" in 2009, is currently shooting "The Christmas Candle," a story set in 1890, about angels and Christmas wishes, with Barks, Hans Matheson and "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" star Sylvester McCoy.

Bing: Susan Boyle postpones tour

Boyle admits she's having a blast on set because she gets to dress in costume. A statement from the 51-year-old reads, "Everyone on set is a delight to work with and it's a fantastic experience to be part of the team. I'm really enjoying getting dressed in the period costumes and stepping back in time."

But Barks, who performed with the cast of "Les Miserables" at the Oscars on Sunday, reveals she's struggling to keep up with the hectic shooting schedule, adding, "Having just landed from the Academy Awards I had an hour to unpack and repack and get to set. I'm very excited to be part of 'The Christmas Candle' and I'm loving every second."

http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=793476

graysea · 2013-02-28T20:09:11Z

ENTERTAINMENT CELEBRITIES

Susan Boyle to make film debut

WENN.COM

Thursday, February 28, 2013 3:09:11 EST PM

Susan Boyle (WENN.COM file photo)

Singer Susan Boyle will make her film debut alongside Les Miserables star Samantha Barks in an upcoming holiday movie.

The Scot, who found fame as a contestant on Britain's Got Talent in 2009, is currently shooting The Christmas Candle, a tender tale set in 1890, about angels and Christmas wishes, with Barks, Hans Matheson and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey star Sylvester McCoy.

Boyle admits she's having a blast on set because she gets to dress in costume.

A statement from the 51 year old reads, "Everyone on set is a delight to work with and it's a fantastic experience to be part of the team. I'm really enjoying getting dressed in the period costumes and stepping back in time."

But Barks, who performed with the cast of Les Miserables at the Oscars on Sunday, reveals she's struggling to keep up with the hectic shooting schedule, adding, "Having just landed from the Academy Awards I had an hour to unpack and repack and get to set. I'm very excited to be part of The Christmas Candle and I'm loving every second."

Poll

Do you think Susan Boyle will transition into a movie star?

Thursday, February 28, 2013

85% 28 votes	Yes
12% 4 votes	No
3% 1 votes	Possibly http://www.lfpress.com/2013/02/28/susan-boyle-to-make-film-debut

graysea

Susan Boyle to Make Feature Film Debut

8:30 AM PST 2/28/2013 by Stuart Kemp

The John Stephenson-directed costume drama "The Christmas Candle" also stars Samantha Barks, Hans Matheson and Lesley Manville.

cobs/NBC

LONDON – Susan Boyle will make her feature film debut in John Stephenson's The Christmas Candle, which also stars Hans Matheson (Clash of the Titans), Samantha Barks (Les Miserables) and Lesley Manville (Another Year).

Billed as a timeless and inspirational story, Candle, set in 1890, is based on the novella by Max Lucado and tells a tale of angels, candles and Christmas wishes.

Written by Eric Newman and Candace Lee, the film also features Sylvester McCoy (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey), John Hannah (The Mummy), Barbara Flynn (Miss Potter) and James Cosmo (HBO’s Game of Thrones).

PHOTOS: 16 Oscar Icons

But Boyle, the global singing sensation and talent show discovery, is the biggest name on the film as she makes her first-ever foray into movies.

"Everyone on set is a delight to work with, and it's a fantastic experience to be part of the team," Boyle said, adding that she "can't believe" she is working on the project. "I'm really enjoying getting dressed in the period costumes and stepping back in time, and although it's very cold filming on location, I'm wearing long johns under my bustle."

(No word on what her role entails.)

The Christmas Candle, an Impact and Big Book Media Production presented by Pinewood Pictures, started shooting this week on location in the U.K. and the Isle of Man.

Tom Newman and Lee produce for Impact. Hannah Leader, former co-owner of U.K. sales and finance banner Capitol Films, produces for Big Book Media. Steve Christian, Ivan Dunleavy, Huw Penallt Jones and Brian Lockhart are executive producers on the picture.

Pinewood Pictures will distribute in the U.K.

Said Barks, who performed "One Day More" at the Oscars on Sunday: "Having just landed from the Academy Awards, I had an hour to unpack and repack and get to set. I'm very excited to be part of The Christmas Candle, and I'm loving every second."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/susan-boyle-make-feature-film-425121

graysea

'I'm wearing long johns under my bustle!' Susan Boyle transforms in period clothing as she films her big screen debut

By BAZ BAMIGBOYE

PUBLISHED: 13:20 EST, 28 February 2013 | UPDATED: 13:38 EST, 28 February 2013

Susan Boyle is having a special song written for her to sing in her film debut.

The Scottish singer has been cast in a movie called The Christmas Candle playing the wife of the church warden involved in a magical Christmas where an angel visits the fictitious village of Gladbury every 25 years.

She and the rest of the ensemble cast started shooting the movie this week.

A vision in maroon: Susan Boyle in her period costume as she films The Christmas Candle in the Cotswolds

Looking the part: Susan was accompanied on location by her manager Andy Stephens

Boyle swept to international fame after appearing on Britain's Got Talent singing I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables.

Her albums I Dreamed A Dream, The Gift and Someone to Watch Over Me became huge hits, despite not winning the ITV talent show.

In the movie, which also stars Les Miserable actress Samantha Barks, Lesley Manville, Hans Matheson, Sylvester McCoy, John Hannah and James Cosmo - who plays her screen husband, Boyle will perform a hymn in the village church.

Feeling the cold: The 51-year-old singer admitted she was finding it cold filming outside in February

Warming up: Susan put on a quilted Nike jacket in between takes

The hymn has the working title of The Christmas Candle Song.

Because it's an original piece the song is eligible to be considered for a best song Osca

If nominated, Oscar producers would jump at the chance to have Boyle perform at the Academy Awards ceremony next year.

Up-do: Susan wear wearing a curly brown wig and hat

Starting small: Susan has a small role in the film and will be singing a solo

Singing her heart out: Susan will perform a hymn in a church scene

She may sing another hymn in the film with Barks, who just returned from performing at the Oscars last Sunday.

The film's tale is whimsical and allows that every 25 years an angel visits the village candle-maker and touches a single candle.

It follows that whoever lights the Christmas candle sees their wish granted on Christmas eve.

And for your next scene: Susan talks to a crewmember as she walks through the graveyard

Having the time of her life: The film also stars Les Miserables actress Samantha Barks

This is thirsty work: Samantha re-hydrates herself with some coconut water on location

But things go awry when the Christmas candle goes missing.

In a general statement, Boyle commented: 'I can't believe I'm making a film! I'm very excited to be part of The Christmas candle.

'Everyone on the set is a delight to work with and it's a fantastic experience to be part of the team.'

Familiar face: The film also stars former Doctor Who Sylvester McCoy

Facial hair: Scottish actor John Hannah also stars

She said she was 'really enjoyed' getting dressed in the 1890 period costumes and 'stepping back in time'.

She added, joking: 'Although it's very cold filming on location, I'm wearing long johns under my bustle.'

Starry: Susan follows Sylvester out of the trailers

Keep your cool: Samantha and the extras chat amongst themselves as the scene is set up

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2286088/Susan-Boyle-transforms-period-clothing-films-big-screen-debut.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2286088/Susan-Boyle-transforms-period-clothing-films-big-screen-debut.html#ixzz2MDzhvy4O
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Cindy Clark, USA TODAY1:01p.m. EST February 28, 2013

Susan Boyle to make feature film debut

Cindy Clark, USA TODAY1:01p.m. EST February 28, 2013

She'll star in John Stephenson's 'The Christmas Candle.'

Susan Boyle dreamed a dream, but it seems her reality is even grander.

The global singing sensation, whose 2009 Britain's Got Talent performance of the Les Miserables songI Dreamed a Dream made her an international household name, will make her feature film debut in John Stephenson's The Christmas Candle, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The film, which also stars Hans Matheson (Clash of the Titans), Samantha Barks (Les Misérables) and Lesley Manville (Another Year), is a story of angels, candles and Christmas wishes set in 1890 and based on the novella of the same name by Max Lucado.

No word on what role Boyle will play, but the singer says she is looking forward to her first foray into movies. "Everyone on set is a delight to work with and it's a fantastic experience to be part of the team," Boyle said in a statement. "I'm really enjoying getting dressed in the period costumes and stepping back in time and although it's very cold filming on location, I'm wearing long johns under my bustle."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2013/02/28/susan-boyle-to-make-feature-film-debut/1953853/

graysea · Thursday 28 Feb 2013

Susan Boyle musical Australian tour postponed

Thursday 28 Feb 2013

Producers behind SUSAN BOYLE's musical have postponed an upcoming tour of Australia.

I Dreamed a Dream, which tells the story of Boyle's rise to fame via a TV talent show, was due to head Down Under this spring (13) following a successful U.K. run, but the plans have been axed due to scheduling problems.

A statement from producers reads, "The producers of I Dreamed a Dream regret to advise that due to an unforeseen scheduling conflict, the upcoming Australian Tour has been postponed. Customers who have purchased tickets for this season will receive a full refund of the ticket price... The producers regret any inconvenience caused."

The U.K. version of I Dreamed a Dream starred Elaine C. Smith in the lead role and also featured a cameo appearance from Boyle herself.

http://www.ok.co.uk/celebrity-news/view/60011/Susan-Boyle-musical-Australian-tour-postponed/

graysea

Aussie Dream is over: SuBo musical pulled Down Under

Dream is over ... Elaine C Smith won't play SuBo in Australia

By JONNY BOYLE

Published: 6 hrs ago

THE Australian tour of the Susan Boyle musical has been pulled by producers of the show.

I Dreamed a Dream was set to begin in Melbourne before moving to Sydney, but the postponement has led to around 10,000 SuBo fans being offered refunds for tickets.

Promoters may have blamed this on 'sheduling issues' but an insider said the Australians had got ‘cold feet’ about the show.

It is still hoped that the musical, which stars Elaine C Smith and charts the life and rise to fame of SuBo, from Blackburn, West Lothian, can be a West End hit.

A statement on the Facebook group of the show’s Australian tour said: “The producers of I Dreamed a Dream regret to advise that due to an unforseen scheduling conflict, the upcoming Australian Tour has been postponed.

“Customers who have purchased tickets for this season will receive a full refund of the ticket price. The ticketing companies will be in touch with customers to provide further details.

“The producers regret any inconvenience caused.”

Hit or miss? ... The SuBo musical could still be a West End hit

News of the show being pulled in Australia surprised some British producers.

A source said: “The Australians took cold feet. They have pulled the plug.”

Rab C Nesbit star Smith was also in the running for prestigious theatre awards over her portrayal of the star.

The 10-week tour was to begin at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Melbourne on 31 May and Transfer to Sydney’s Theatre Royal from 4 July.

Fans of the star were left angry by the message posted by the Paul Dainty Group, the production company promoting the show in Australia.

Pauline O’Brien wrote on the show’s Facebook page: “Bought tix for my Mum for Xmas.. Not happy!!”

Bob Morton, who runs production company RPM Arts and is Smith’s husband, said the news was “disappointing”.

He said: “It is incredibly disappointing, because we were all ready to go. Apparently Susan Boyle fans over there are going bananas about this.

“I don’t think the bubble is burst. The show could still go to the West End in London.

“A decision about the future of the show has still to be reached.

“Remember, we had been playing to massive audiences in the UK.”

Producers and UK actor’s Union Equity had ensured 12 of the tour’s performers would be Australian.

Susan Boyle, 51, has earned an estimated at £22million since shooting to fame in Britain’s Got Talent.

Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/scottishnews/4815503/Australia-pull-plug-on-Susan-Boyle-musical.html#ixzz2M8M7Q1Dk

http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/4815503/Australia-pull-plug-on-Susan-Boyle-musical.html

graysea

Thank you CanadianBill, author of the article below about Susan Boyle's Audition YouTube video:

Today, a marvelous new thread, "Susan Boyle's Enduring Legacy", written by CanadianBill was posted on the Susan Boyle Fan Forum (SBFFII) http://susan-boyle.com/. For almost four years, CanadianBill has created and designed a series of beautiful, delightful, detailed posters dedicated to the career history of Susan Boyle's activities. CanadianBill, one of the most dedicated fans on the forum, has produced many posters and pictures of Susan's many performances, trips, adventures, fan meetings, various events and etc... on the SUSAN BOYLE, CAREER HISTORY thread. CanadianBill's thoughtful and caring blog below to Susan Boyle sums up the highlights of that most incredible time: a most amazing YouTube video, totally inspirational, as well as beautifully sung by an unknown singer, Ms. Susan Boyle. Well written and very much appreciated, Bill.

Susan Boyle's Enduring Legacy

On April 11, 2009, a 47 year old single Scottish woman's audition for Britain's Got Talent aired in the United Kingdom. Within days it had been seen by millions, and within weeks it became the most watched Youtube video of the year. While some will insist the video was manipulative and edited to best effect, there can be no question that Susan Boyle herself was entirely real.

Within nine days of the audition, videos of Boyle—from the show, various interviews and her 1999 rendition of "Cry Me a River"—had been watched over 100 million times. In spite of many being called 'the next Susan Boyle' in the following years, the truth is that none have come anywhere close to matching the speed and volume of Susan Boyle's youtube rise.

Some say 'Youtube made Susan Boyle famous' and to an extent that is certainly true. But what is more true is that Susan Boyle made Susan Boyle famous. Youtube had been around years before Susan; it has been around years since - but no other complete unknown has so captured the public's attention to the same degree.

Her audition video has been viewed on the internet several hundred million times. Almost a year and a half after it first aired, a version was reposted with the title, 'One of the Most Inspirational Videos Ever' and as of this writing that single video has over 100 million views all by itself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSrAJsWvEIc
There are in fact many 'most inspirational video' versions of Susan's audition online - this one is the most viewed.

Not a day goes by on Twitter that there aren't several tweets referring to watching the Susan Boyle audition and how inspiring it is. Some are finding it for the first time - others go back repeatedly to watch it. Even Anne Hathaway, now famous for portraying Fantine in the newest Les Miserables movie, has admitted to watching the Susan Boyle audition when she was feeling down.

And that is Susan Boyle's enduring legacy. She was not famous when she auditioned. She had not yet sold 20 million albums. Many, especially young people, see a pop star and want to emulate them - what they want is the fame and the 'glamour'. This was not the case with Susan.

Susan inspired people. She was 47 years old. She didn't look remotely like a 'star'. Yet there she was - refusing to give up on her dream - believing in herself when no one believed in her.

Teachers use her audition video to teach classes about the importance of believing in yourself, determination and the refusal to give up. There are often tweets from students 'studying the Susan Boyle audition'. Inspirational speakers use her as an example. Bloggers write about how she has inspired them in so many different ways. People have returned to university as mature students because of Susan Boyle. They have taken up painting again. They have begun to write. They have bought their first passport and begun to travel. Some of course, have dared finally to enter singing competitions.

Most will never come close to the fame and wealth Susan has achieved, but that is not the point. They will have dared to dream. To try - to live and having lived, be able to say, 'I did it, I gave it my all'. Most of us do not regret the things we did in life as much as the things we did not dare to do.

A very common tweet:
January 13, 2013
the susan boyle story...still sends shivers down my spine...just watched her first audition again...inspiring

This is Susan Boyle's enduring legacy. Long after videos like Gangham Style have been forgotten, people will be discovering, and re-discovering Susan Boyle. And many will dare to dream because of her. Following are a few examples...

Twenty Inspirational Leaders - Susan Boyle

Lesson Learned from Susan Boyle: Live Your Dreams

Values.com Billboard 'Live Your Dreams' featuring Susan Boyle

'Be All That You Can Be'

Susan Boyle: Why Dreams Matter

What An Inspiration!

A Role Model For Everyone With A Dream

Susan Boyle: Overcoming Disabilities, Inspiring Dreams

Be Inspired By Susan Boyle

Inspirational People - Susan Boyle

The Gifted Inspirational Singer Susan Boyle

graysea

graysea

08. Amazing Grace by Susan Boyle Must hear... wow.

Susan Boyle always dreamed of being a pro. singer, and she became that in her very late years of her life in Britains Got Talent. It was amazing, so please r...

graysea

How Susan Boyle's YouTube Star Turn Is Helping Revive Interest In Les Mis

from the well-check-that-out dept

As the recording industry continues to freak out about videos on YouTube without compensation, the whole media sensation Susan Boyle phenomenon is showing how such videos on YouTube clearly act as promotion for the music. Paul Kedrosky notes that Boyle's now famous rendition of a song from Les Miserables has shot the Les Mis CD up from a rank of 1,000 to 32 on Amazon's sales charts, while Mathew Ingram notes that tickets for the live performance of Les Mis have also skyrocketed. And the recording industry still claims that Google is somehow "exploiting" music while giving it all this promotion? Rob Hyndman chimes in, wondering just how many DMCA notices prevented similar results elsewhere. Indeed.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090420/1741244585.shtml

graysea

Susan Boyle - Britain's Got Talent - signed photo for charity

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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