Come back Susan, we miss you already

graysea

Fans M&G in Nottingham on March 31, 2014, to celebrate Susan's birthday.

Susan came with her Team and joined right in.

Susan is always so generous with her time with her fans.

Moll Bobber presented Susan with the card and gift from SB fan site.

Listen carefully and you will hear Susan's sense of humor:

Natural comedian and very quick with the comeback comments.

Fans loved being with her at the great party celebration.

Thank you, Jean Kirkland, for sharing the lovely video.

graysea

Thank you, Tommy. Wonderful collection of pictures.

graysea

Happy Easter!

God BlessYou!

graysea

Susan BoyleFans‎SUSAN BOYLE IN CONCERT

17 hrs ·

PHOTO OF FANS jclar

Susan Boyle Fans, thank you for sharing.

graysea

Susan's UK Concert Montage

Making this tribute video of Susan in concert, 2014 created a variety of conundrums.

The first being, to find a way to combine fans that applaud Susan and, Susan herself. I believe, that has been achieved.

A major conundrum was that the only professional videos available are from the 2013 Scotland tour. I wanted to impart the emotional experience for the fans into a visual tribute to Susan. To achieve this, I have used those videos as we are redistricted on this forum to show amateur video. (Look closely for one short amateur video of Susan at the piano). Consequently, using the 2013 videos, the subtle changes in costume, backing artists, the comedy skits and, choir are lost in the 2014 performances.

I felt it was important to acknowledge how far Susan has come since her audition. In the eye of the public, Susan has overcome many battles both personal and professional. I selected a song by Shirley Bassey, which, IMO describes Susan. Consequently, most of the video clips with Susan singing have been muted to allow the viewer to hear the lyrics in the “theme” song selected.

It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the professional videos and photos used in the video. A special thank you to my dear friend, JHall who, without hesitation agreed to the use of her photo of Susan posted on the Bournemouth thread.

Enjoy!

Thank you, Circlette00 from Australia for this lovely tribute video to Susan.

graysea

Open letter to Susan Boyle:

Words can't express how I am feeling about you, today. Such an adventure for me following everything about you. I don't know if you know the effect you have on me, and others, but it is something I can't explain. It's just that I love to follow everything you do and listen to everything you sing. I think that you are one of the most amazing singers I have ever heard and one fantastic entertainer, too.

From the very beginning, and that is April, 2009, I have watched your performances starting with the BGT audition though the UK Concert Tour. Your performances and events have always been a must see for me: always exciting and outstanding, something to look forward to. I have never been disappointed in anything you did these past years. Loved every moment.

How thrilled I was to go see you twice in New York on the Today Show and be part of the meeting with fans in New York in August of 2011. How exciting and thrilling it was to go to Scotland to see where you live and to watch you in the I Dreamed A Dream musical, where you sang I Am Who I Was Born To Be and your signature song with such gusto and sparkle. I loved it.

Then along came your biggest challenge: a full concert tour of seven dates right in your own home country of Scotland. Oh no, could she do it? So many nonbelievers said it wouldn't happen, but it did. Not only did you do it, but you did the seven tour dates in such a professional way that every audience gave many standing ovations during every show. People all over couldn't get enough of your stunning voice and your fun shows. Fans reported that you are a natural entertainer, you had the audience dancing in the aisles. How great is that! And from all pictures and reports your Team cried with happiness and loved everything about the tour. The fans couldn't stop talking about how wonderful and happy you were and what a professional job you did. From all reports, your first tour was an outstanding, brilliant success, in every way. You nailed it!

And not long after that successful Scotland series, you set out again and blasted out another 19 performances to sold out audiences all over the UK. Fantastic reviews every one of them: standing ovations, cheering and dancing to your music, love all around you, fans so excited to be there to see you and hear you sing - reports claimed you got better and better with every performance. Everything seemed to fall into place: The way it was meant to be. How wonderful!

Your UK tour was the most outstanding, super success imaginable. You put your stamp out there, "Susan Boyle, Professional Singer". You truly are the professional singer you always wanted to be. A glowing star shot heaven ward for all the world to see. But you didn't need to convince me or fans like me, we knew from the very first time you sang your song, that you had it all. You didn't need to prove anything. Your magnificent voice, so wonderful and crystal clear told the story from the very first note. It's like a magnet; it pulls you to that thrilling amazing sound

Today, I miss not hearing about your evening performance and not seeing your beautiful pictures, although I did hear you were relaxing at a spa. That's a good thing! Now we fans know we can't expect you to work every day, can we? You deserves to be pampered and treated just like royalty after that wonderful series you just completed. So enjoy yourself, relax and try not to think of #6, the TV show, the family, your home, your team and oh did I mention, your world concert tour. No, I really mean to relax!

God Bless you dear Susan. You have made a lot of people happy. You have made the world a little brighter with your sweet smile. You have opened the doors for a lot of people who were cast aside and now are inspired by what you have accomplished. You are not only a fantastic singer, but a sweet, caring loving, talented lady, who is loved world wide. Thank you, Susan!

Happy Easter, Susan!

Hugs, from graysea

graysea

graysea

Susan Boyle

Liked · 35 mins

We can't quite believe it's the last show of Susan’s UK Tour in Northampton tonight! Susan has dazzled at all of her shows and we know the finale will be no exception! Thank you to all of you that have attended and supported Susan!

graysea

Bill Canada added 2 new photos.

1 hr ·

Well, tonight is THE night - the last concert of Susan's 19 city UK Tour - my thanks to every fan who was able to be at a concert and shared their experience with us all.

Thank you Canadian Bill for all the wonderful posters announcing each of the 19 concerts. And many thanks to the fans who shared their stories, videos and pictures for fans worldwide who could not attend or get to the concerts for various reasons. Greatly appreciated!

On behalf of the fans, a big hug and thank you to Susan's entire gracious team, who were always there to help and direct. Your considerate and caring manner towards the fans at each concert has been remarkable.

Last, but not least, a special giant thank you with a great big hug to the amazing Susan Boyle who made this fantastic concert happen. With a lot of hard work and dedication, this "professional singer" brought a tremendous concert series to the people - made the audiences rock. You are an inspiration! WELL DONE, MS. SUSAN BOYLE!

graysea

Tomorrow is the last date of Susan's magnificent UK Concert Tour. It's number #19 and I am so sad; but then again, I'm happy that it has been a tremendous, wonderful success for Susan, and that's for every single concert performance. So many wonderful happenings during each concert: standing ovations throughout the shows were reported by many fans - large groups waiting outside theaters at the stage door to get her autograph - Susan playing the piano for the first time for fans and singing while playing - fans wearing red scarfs at the performances - people dancing in the aisles to River Deep, Mountain High and much, much more fun and excitement just being there listening to Susan's amazing voice. Everything about Susan's concert tour has been top notch - very classy indeed.

The fan forum will be sending flowers tomorrow and I hope the flowers that will be sent are the biggest bunch they can find in Northampton with a great big red ribbon around it, telling Susan:

"Congratulations, Ms. Susan Boyle, on a job well done. You have become the "professional singer"

you have always wanted to be".

But then again, with a voice like hers, we fans knew from the very first day we heard her sing that she was as good as any professional singer could be and she also had the voice of an angel to go with it. Most amazing voice, like no other! Well done, Susan! More!! ... More!!!!... More!!!!!

graysea

Thank you for finding tweet with pictures.

Susan BoyleFans‎SUSAN BOYLE IN CONCERT

2 hrs ·

TWITTER : Grace Sullivan @MsGraceSullivan 2 h

http://twitpic.com/e1bas2 - Taken at the Nottingham or Leicester concert

http://twitpic.com/e1bas2

graysea

Susan Boyle, Pavilion Theatre, Bournemouth

9:07am Wednesday 16th April 2014 in ReviewsBy Victoria Davies

Susan Boyle at the Bournemouth Pavilion theatre - Images courtesy of Rockstarimages.co.uk

NOW working on her sixth album and having wowed the world during her Britain's Got Talent audition back in 2009 it is hard to believe that this is Susan Boyle's first UK Tour.

It may have been seven years since her show stealing performance on prime time TV, but the crowds that queued outside The Pavilion proved her popularity is far from waning.

The eager audience were warmed up by the smooth vocal talents of Lance Ellington before Susan's first audition was played as her silhouette appeared on stage and she was greeted by an enthusiastic audience already on their feet for her as she opened the show with the beautiful Out Here On My Own and followed with her rendition of Over the Rainbow.

Unfortunately at times the volume of the band drowned out Susan's extraordinary voice. However, the evening was still incredible with many songs moving me to tears, including emotionally fuelled performances of Memories and the hauntingly heart-wrenching You Raise Me Up.

The most poignant performance of the evening was that of Liverpool FC anthem You'll Never Walk Alone; whether intentional or not, marking the 25th Anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy.

No Susan Boyle show would be complete without her signature I Dreamed a Dream and she brought the house down with her most famous song.

The standing ovation and cheering that concluded the evening proved there are no signs of things slowing down for the wonderful Susan Boyle who continues to defy all who believed she 'would never amount to anything'

Copy link to see article:
http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/leisure/reviews/11151468.Susan_Boyle_____Pavilion/?ref=twtrec
.

graysea

SusanBoyle Fansinternationalinc shared Love Soul Choir'sphoto.

Last night, we had a great time singing as Susan Boyle's choir at the BIC Pavilion Theatre in Bournemouth!

SBFII, thank you for sharing.

graysea

18. CAMBRIDGE Corn Exchange - Cambridge University Show Choir

This photo of Cambridge Corn Exchange is courtesy of TripAdvisor

graysea

Beautiful pictures from JHall at Bournemouth Pavilion Theater - April 15, 2014.

Thank you for sharing these lovely photos.

graysea

Thank you for posting the video, even for a little while for the folks who can't get to see their beloved star in person. Congratulation on a grand performance, Susan.

We love you, Susan!

graysea

‏@MrSuboFan

@SusanBoyleHQ Taken by a Canadian friend who flew to UK for the Concert - the exciting beginning: pic.twitter.com/3DVvhxuQlx

From Twitter. Thank you, John.

graysea

THUMBS UP: Susan Boyle

Comments (0)

SATURDAY evening, I had the great pleasure of going to see Susan Boyle at the Pavilions.

What a performer, the beautiful voice never faltered and the number of songs she sang was exceptional. I have been to many shows and the performers have only sung a handful of songs, leaving the remainder of the show to the supporting acts. Lance Ellington, Susan's supporting act, was superb and they dueted perfectly.

The only thing that blighted an otherwise brilliant evening, was the price of the programmes.

Come back again soon Susan, we loved you.

JANET EASTER

Plymouth

Read more: http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Come-Susan-miss/story-20958651-detail/story.html#ixzz2yxfKKXT3
http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Come-Susan-miss/story-20958651-detail/story.html

graysea

Bill Canada added 2 new photos.

1 hr ·

Tonight begins the 'final push' as Susan Boyle does her last three Concerts of the UK Tour - in Sold Out Bournemouth...
#17 BOURNEMOUTH Love Soul Choir

Poster by Canadian Bill. Thank you.

graysea

Hot Rocks Restaurant - Bournemouth

Like This Page · 5 hrs

Look who casually popped in to see us at Hot Rocks today... The fabulous Susan Boyle herself!!! What a pleasure this lovely and talented lady was, and so generous to pose for a picture with our team. If your going to see her at the Pavilion, why don't you do what the good lady herself did and pop in for a bite to eat first!

SusanBoyle Fansinternationalinc

26 mins

"Met Susan Boyle today in a bar on the beach front at Bournemouth today!She was bang onit!She was doin the nite aswel!"

Tweeted today!

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