Susan Boyle Is Not a Sideshow

Susan Boyle’s performance last night on America’s Got Talent “was exactly what Boyle's mentor, Simon Cowell, could have hoped for—lovely, inspirational, free of surprises,” writes Ann Powers in the Los Angeles Times. “No matter that it was canned” or that she was nervous. Boyle's time has come, and “we should stop being startled by her performances and respect her for the qualities she's cultivated: scrupulousness and dependability.”

“Boyle has become one of the world's most celebrated regular people,” and her dream of succeeding in a field “that mostly rewards the young and the beautiful” inspires many.  “Perhaps because her voice is so pure while her chin is so wobbly, Boyle seems truly exceptional,” Powers writes. “We root for Boyle for reasons that have nothing to do with the way she sings. But to be surprised by her singing is, frankly, an unfair response.” (More Susan Boyle stories.)