You Should Never Judge a Book by Its Cover

In case you all have been under a rock with your fingers in your ears...or not studying on the European continent....I thought it appropriate to blog about the singing sensation, Susan Boyle, who has currently taken this region of the world by storm. Last Saturday night, Ms. Boyle surprised every audience member and judge of the hit show, Britain's Got Talent (hybrid American Idol talent show also judged by Simon Cowell), and sang the most beautiful rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables (p.s. Roberto and Margarita, why oh why did you never take Rachael and I to see this show??? We were able to see Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat about 5 times....that's just bad parenting).

The European media (and surely the American media now) are salivating over the fact that Ms. Boyle is a 47-year-old, self-proclaimed never been kissed, spinster if you will, sparking what is sure to be the newest addition to the argument over stereotypes created by the mass media. For Ms. Boyle, her age, looks, and personality are all against her. This is of course all off set by her marvelous talent.

Read this article from the New York Times. Make sure to click on the YouTube link in the second paragraph to watch her sing. Also if you have time, scroll down to the ninth paragraph and watch last years sensation, Paul Potts, who has now gone on to sell millions of opera records. He is also quite disarming.

New York Times article

I am fascinated! More on my weekend in Siena and Florence later.

Best, Lauren