The Sixty-million-views-in-one-week Global Phenomena

Leave it to the medium of music to deliver the global outpouring of endorsement and admiration for the wonderful voice of an amateur singer from a tiny Scottish village named Susan Boyle.
Her April 11, 2009 appearance on “Britain’s Got Talent” has stirred nothing short of a global phenomena and we are all better for it!

Before you read any further, if you have not already, please view this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR_N9iljeMk

I believe that the reason that the video of Susan Boyle singing on has exploded across the planet - 60 million views in one week and counting - is because she exemplifies humanity's longing for a world that rewards people not for what their initial apprearance or age says - the norm in pop music - but rather, what a voice of a true, authentic person who has lived in the trenches of life can express.

To be very candid, her performance represents a victory over a youth culture that often dismisses middle-aged women making Susan Boyle the classic rise-from-the-ashes, rags-to-riches Archetype.

In this day and age where Brittney Spears and Rap dominate the "music" news, this global reaction to Susan's triumphant moment of singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables reflects the world breathing a collective sigh of relief as if to say: Wow! A real voice singing a real song. That's right, a real song, with lyrics that soar and a melody, harmony and rhythm to match.

At age 47, she represents what many in the silent majority can identify with.

To be at mid-life, barely employed and what many say is "unattractive" is a fate that millions of people all around the world can instantly identify with. Furthermore, Susan show us all that good ol’ dedication and perseverance can pay off in the end.

In Susan’s own words quoted from the Washington Post:

“Modern society is too quick to judge people on their appearances. ... There is not much you can do about it; it is the way they think; it is the way they are. But maybe this could teach them a lesson, or set an example.”

To arrive on the world stage rather innocently, with virtually no prior opportunity to express her gifts, Susan Boyle exemplifies the voice and spirit of what so many yearn for.

When Marlon Brando delivered his famous line, "I could'a been a contender" from his 1954 classic, "On the Waterfront", he launched an emotion that has given generation after generation an enduring resonance that so much of humanity mourns: opportunities lost.

In the case of Susan Boyle, opportunity won!

Best of all, humanity knows it, loves it and embraces it for we all have a bit of Susan Boyle within us.

It's that part of us that's fearful, scared or says "I'm not good enough" and in her triumphant performance, we get the sense that it is possible that WE ARE good enough.