Stars turn out to honour real life heroes at Pride of Britain awards
CELEBRITIES from every sphere attended the Pride of Britain awards, which saw Scots hailed for charity excellence and bravery under fire.
Subo was just one of the famous faces at the awards ceremony.
THE stars turned out last night to celebrate the amazing achievements of the winners at the Pride of Britain awards.
Prince Charles and Prime Minister David Cameron were joined by a host of celebrities including Holly Willoughby, Myleene Klass, Tess Daly, Tulisa Contostavlos, Nicole Scherzinger and singing sensation Susan Boyle to salute the nation’s unsung heroes.
Two Scots were among those receiving prizes at an emotional ceremony in the Grosvenor House in London.
Jack Henderson, seven, was named Lidl Young Fundraiser for raking in more than £33,000 for charity by selling his drawings on the internet.
Jack, from Prestonpans , East Lothian, decided to use his artistic skills to help the Sick Kids Friends Foundation in Edinburgh, after his little brother Noah was treated for severe bronchiolitis.
Glasgow-born Alistair Neil was praised for his outstanding bravery at the awards, which were organised by our sister paper the Daily Mirror.
Alistair, 55, put his life on the line to tackle a killer armed with an automatic rifle on a Royal Navy nuclear submarine.
The Southampton City Council chief executive was visiting HMS Astute last April when the horrific events unfolded.
He and council leader Royston Smith were being shown around by Lieutenant Commander Ian Molyneux when sentry Ryan Donovan, 23, started firing at shipmates with his SA80 rifle.
Donny Osmond reveals he cried when he heard Susan Boyle sing on BGT
Dream team: Susan Boyle and Donny Osmond love working with each, with the pair most recently teaming up on her new album Standing Ovation
Susan Boyle’s stunning audition of I Dreamed A Dream on Britain's Got Talent caused legendary performer Donny Osmond break down in tears because he was so moved by her performance, he has revealed.
The singer, actor and TV personality opened up about how impressed he was when he saw Scottish star Susan on the show in 2009, before she became a worldwide singing sensation.
Speaking in a backstage video from hit US show Dancing With The Stars, Donny told Susan: “I’ll never forget the first time I saw you sing on Britain’s Got Talent and I had the same reaction that Simon [Cowell] and everybody else had.
“I watched you come out on stage and I thought ‘okay, this is going to be a nice little song’. And you opened your mouth and it was the voice of an angel. And I’m not making this up because you’re sitting next to me, but I started crying.
“And I watched it probably 20 times, over and over and over again. And little did I know that a few yeas later we’d be singing together.”
Susan is a massive fan of Donny’s and has been from her early teens, with the Blackburn-based singer opening up about when she first fell in love with his music.
“I first became a fan of Donny Osmond when I was 13 and it was when my brother first bought my first record player, LPs they were at the time not CDs,” Susan revealed.
Check out the interview below.
Now the pair are firm friends and have performed together several times, and most recently teamed up on the song This Is The Moment, which features on Susan’s fourth studio album, Standing Ovation.
After singing the song during a recent performance on DWTS Donny revealed it was his wife Debbie who urged them to perform it together.
“My wife told me, she said “Donny you’ve got to convince Susan to sing This Is The Moment because that would be the one to sing on Dancing With The Stars. And she was right, we just finished the song and the crowd went crazy. It was just the most amazing moment for me too. I got he chills when you [Susan] sang.”
As well as their duet on This Is The Moment, the pair also teamed up the track All I Ask of You on Susan’s latest album Standing Ovation.
The album - Susan’s fourth in three years - features a number of other popular film and stage tracks, including Somewhere Over The Rainbow and Memory and Send In The Clowns is released on Monday November 19.
Talking about the inspiration for her latest musical offering, Susan said; “I have been a fan of musicals since I was a wee girl. I love them and have enjoyed the drama and the range of emotions they inspire in you.
“Creating this album was a joy and came very naturally as I knew the songs and could identify with the characters in the studio. Recording with Donny on two songs was a dream come true. Working with him was awesome and I learned so much from him as a performer and a person. Being in the studio with him was without doubt the best day ever - it wasn’t work!”
It was hats off to Scottish singers Annie Lennox and Susan Boyle as their headwear raised more than £650 for charity.Singers' hats help homeless
They donated some of their trademark headwear to raise money for the homeless in an online auction, which ended last night.
Lennox donated a fedora hat by Chapeau Chateu – which attracted a top bid of £166 on eBay.
Boyle's dazzling silver sequined beret made £500.
The Woolly Hat Day online auction is in aid of the St Mungo's charity, aims to help people sleeping rough.
Boyle's headwear was described as "perfectly stylish and a fabulous addition to any woman's wardrobe". While Lennox's hat was crafted from felted wool and was finished with leopard print
SuBo says X Factor is 'no show' without Simon Cowell as judge
THE Scots singer says the talent show is losing out in the ratings because the pop impresario has walked away.
Susan with Simon
SUSAN BOYLE has blasted The X Factor – saying it is “no show” without Simon Cowell.
The Scot says the ITV talent show, which is being trounced in the ratings by BBC rival Strictly Come Dancing, isn’t working without her boss.
Susan, who is signed to Cowell’s record firm Syco, said: “He’ll be annoyed I’m saying this and I’ll probably be punished but there’s no show really without Simon as the top judge.
“There’s no show without the main man.”
And she admitted she hardly sees the man who turned her into a household name after she came second in Britain’s Got Talent in 2009.
She said: “I’m not really in touch with Simon at all nowadays. I never see him – he’s a very busy man.”
Susan spoke out as it emerged X Factor drew its smallest audience for a live show this series on Saturday night.
The show had an average of 8.4million tuning in – 200,000 down on the previous week and four million down on its peak figures, when Cowell was still on the show.
Strictly had an average of 9.6million viewers, peaking at 10.8million.
Meanwhile, judge Tulisa Contostavlos refused to accept an apology from Gary Barlow after he moaned about her “fag-ash breath” when she criticised his act Christopher Maloney.
A show insider said: “She was deeply unimpressed, especially as it was nothing to do with the singers, just a rather desperate attempt to divert attention away from Christopher’s performance.”
Scottish singerSusan Boyleis in negotiations to turn her life story into a film and she wantsJulie Waltersto take the lead role.
The Britain's Got Talent star's story is already the subject of a stage show titled I Dreamed A Dream and she is currently working on plans for a big screen biopic.
Boyle has now revealed her dream casting for the film, insisting Harry Potter star Walters is the perfect woman for the part.
She tells British newspaper the Sunday Mirror, "My story will make a great film. We are in the middle of negotiations just now for a film about my life.
"There's only one person I'd love to play me - and that's Julie Walters. She would do the job and you just know she would do my story justice."
The Susan Boyle film will follow another biopic of a Britain's Got Talent star - British funnyman James Corden is set to play singer Paul Potts in a new movie called One Chance.
Potts won the first series of the show in 2007, two years before Boyle shot to fame as runner-up on the third season.
LONDON -- She dreamed a dream, and it came true. But what happened next for Susan Boyle?
The middle-aged church volunteer from a small town in Scotland became an instant global celebrity in 2009 with her heart-stopping rendition of the "Les Miserables" number "I Dreamed a Dream" on a TV talent show.
A week is a long time in showbiz -- and in our hyper-speed online age three and a half years is an eternity -- but Boyle is still going strong. She has sold millions of records, received an honorary doctorate, sung for Pope Benedict XVI and performed in Las Vegas. A stage musical about her life has played to enthusiastic crowds across Britain and is headed for Australia, and next month she releases her fourth album, "Standing Ovation."
But the 51-year-old singer who entered the TV talent contest to make her late mother proud is remarkably unchanged.
Smith said Boyle's struggles -- reflected in the bittersweet tone of the stage show -- disappoint some of the singer's fans. "They want the dream to come true and her life to be perfect," she said. But Smith said Boyle's flaws are part of what makes her a star. After all, "you didn't love Judy Garland because she was perfect."
"This is a woman who is conquering the real fears she has."
Subo's new world: Susan Boyle's rise to fame being made into Hollywood movie
And in an exclusive interview Susan, 51, says she would like British legend Julie Walters to play her in the film
The fairytale story of a miner’s daughter from a tiny village in Scotland storming the charts and selling millions of albums is the stuff of Hollywood dreams.
But Susan Boyle’s story doesn’t need a scriptwriter with a vivid imagination... because it writes itself.
Now the Britain’s Got Talent star has revealed her rise to fame is being made into a major biopic.
And in an exclusive interview Susan, 51, says she would like British legend Julie Walters to play her in the movie.
“My story will make a great film,” she says. “We are in the middle of negotiations just now for a film about my life.
“There’s only one person I’d love to play me – and that’s Julie Walters. She would do the job and you just know she would do my story justice.
“The success I’ve had is surreal and unbelievable. I never expected to be able to do a tenth of what I’ve done. But now I’ve done it I just want to do everything and take every opportunity that comes my way.”
Susan is still stunned by the public’s response to her: “When I signed the recording contract originally I had no idea what I was doing, to be honest. I just signed papers and started singing.
“I had no idea how far I would go. I just walked into Sony after the show and said I’d enjoy the process while it lasts. And now there will be a film of my life. It’s truly amazing.”
Dean with Susan and Donny
It’s less than four years since Susan came second to dance troupe Diversity on Britain’s Got Talent and since then she’s sold more than 18 million albums worldwide and is said to be worth £30million.
Her original audition for the reality show – where she said she hoped to one day be as great a singer as Elaine Page – has been watched more than 100 million times.
We are backstage at Dancing With The Stars and Susan has just performed This Is The Moment with Donny Osmond live for the first time. She was physically shaking on stage, yet insisted on wearing three-inch heels.
“I was full of nerves performing with Donny,” she admits over a cup of tea in her trailer at CBS Studios in Los Angeles.
“But it was everything and more. I’ve been a fan of his since I was a teenager and I could never in my wildest dreams have imagined that I would one day be performing with him.”
Despite singing all over the globe in front of millions – and doing a duet with her idol Elaine Paige – Susan still suffers from crippling nerves. And the shoes didn’t help.
“But I love the big heels!” she says. “It’s nice having designers and shops offering me a discount for clothes. I’ve only recently starting to enjoy shopping.
“I’m getting used to the attention these days and being who I am. I’m taking it all in my stride if people recognise me.
“You have to accept it with what I’m doing – it’s part of the job. I’m not dressing up like Michael Jackson in disguise yet. I enjoy meeting people and it’s not a bad thing for me getting out and about.”
Susan sings live with her idol Donny Osmond
FilmMagic
You quickly realise Susan has a wicked sense of humour. Yet rather unnervingly she doesn’t look you in the eye during an interview until she’s comfortable with you.
She’s frightfully honest about everything – including what television shows she loves and what’s wrong with them. And she’s clearly not impressed that her boss Simon Cowell isn’t a part of The X Factor right now.
She says: “He’ll be annoyed I’m saying that and I’ll probably be punished. But there’s no show really without Simon in the chair as the top judge in the UK. There’s no show without the main man.”
But she admits she doesn’t see much of her mentor these days. “I’m not really in touch with Simon at all nowadays,” she says. “I never see him at all – he’s a very busy man at the end of the day.”
Susan is very humble about her success and says she still can’t believe what she’s been able to achieve. And her fans are as loyal as ever, travelling from all over the States to watch her and Donny perform.
The die-hards wear red scarves to show their allegiance.“It’s nice to meet the fans,” she says. “But it’s also nice to come away and be alone by yourself too. You need that balance. Or I do.
“I wouldn’t want to be one of those people dealing with security teams and paparazzi. I don’t think I’d enjoy that somehow. I like getting out there meeting people and being me.
“I’m very low maintenance. My friends and family and neighbours back home have kept me from going mad. There’s a great community spirit and it’s a great thing for me.”
Despite her millions Susan still lives in the former council house she lived in with her late mother Bridget in Blackburn, West Lothian. The only time she snaps slightly during our interview is when I ask her why she stays in the small house instead of buying a spacious pad.
“It’s my mother’s house and I have no intention of ever moving out,” she says firmly. “That’s where I will stay. I’ve had a refit and it’s been renovated a wee bit.
“But I do think I’m going to splash out on a holiday home in Ireland at some point – that would be nice. But I’m not jazzy with things. I’m very simple.”
She’s still very much a Scottish girl who got lucky. She giggles like mad when I ask if she’s on Twitter. “What’s Twitter? Is that a bird sound?” she teases. “I’m on Twitter officially for the fan forums, but I don’t do it myself. I go on the internet from time to time but I’m not a great surfer.”
To finish the interview we have a quick- fire round. She loves this idea.
Do you think you’d want to settle down and have a fairytale wedding?
“I’m not looking and I’m in no hurry,” she says carefully. “That’s all I’ll say.”
The best thing about fame?
She beams: “Being picked up in fancy cars. I don’t ask for anything else. The only thing I really splash out on is going on holiday. I love to be in the sun. I’m off to Tenerife soon with some friends.”
Have you ever tried sushi?
She surprises me: “I have. I like it a lot.”
Does she have a beauty regime?
“I use moisturisers to keep those wrinkles away but I don’t do much else. I like getting my hair and make-up done.”
Will you ever have plastic surgery?
She smiles: “I think I’m growing old gracefully and I want to leave myself as I am. I’m fine with that.”
The final question is what does the future hold for Susan Boyle? “The future for me will be rosy – really rosy,” she says. “But don’t expect me to do Page 3 – I’m too old for all that.”
- SUSAN’S new album Standing Ovation: The Greatest Songs From The Stage is out November 19
Two pictures below were taken in Edinburgh at the Festival Theater on September 28, 2012. This was the first night we saw IDAD. We had great front row center stage balcony.seats
Graysea and Diane
Left below at restaurant in Livingston and on the right in a whiskey store on the Royal Mile.
To the left in Edinburgh Castle To the right
Holyrood
Above Susan arrives at the M&G in Balbairdie on September 30, 2012
Below are M&G pictures taken on September 30, 2012
Diane and Graysea on left and Gladys on the right.
Graysea - flat Susan - Rose of England
The fans with flat Susan
Smoke and Nora
MollBobber
Hugh and Diane with Susan
Susan and Smoke
Below are the pictures taken at the M&G Tea in Glasgow on October 12, 2012
