Susan Boyle case study - Popularity and Success

Susan Boyle case study - Popularity and Success

The Susan Boyle story

On April 11th 2009 an episode of BGT aired that had a contestant called Susan Boyle. The 47 year-old  looked a little strange and some might say had questionable fashion tastes and appeared to be in very basic language "a bit weird". Her behaviour was unusual and the audience wondered why this slightly overweight Scottish spinster was proclaiming she could sing and wanted to be famous. And then she sang- and has since gone on to become the very definition of an overnight superstar and attracted millions of fans worldwide. Her first album went straight to number 1 and she is now a global superstar and sensation. Not bad for a 3 minute audition on TV. There is something about this story that has obviously reached out and transcended beyond the talent show genre and catapulted this into one of the most impressive success stories in recent years and a champion of the "internet age". I think there are various factors to this that added to the rise and popularity of this story and most of it stems from the story arc that the producers of the show was obviously aware of and helped construct.

The internet age and social media

One of the defining factors of the actual staggering rise of popularity comes from the fact that we are currently living in a society and "internet age" where  a video of your mum singing badly to Cher can be posted on Facebook and go viral to millions of people. Had this Susan Boyle story 10 years ago it probably would have aired on TV and been fascinating viewing, but nowhere near reached the popularity it has now. Shortly after the episode aired on April 11th- a video (of which there are now loads) of the audition was posted on YouTube and quickly got over 2.3 million views within the first 72 hours. As of writing, the highest video count for Susan Boyle's audition has reached over 82 million. There is no doubt that YouTube was an integral part of the success of this story- but social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook were also key in people spreading and sharing the YouTube clip.

Diana.C.Mutz writes about this in her research journal titled "The Influence of Perceptions of Media Influence : Third Person Effects and the Public Expressions of Opinion" (1989)

Here she describes a "Third Person Effect"

"The third person effect hypothesis predicts that people exposed to a potentially persuasive communication will expect the message to have a greater effect

on others than on themselves"

 (Diana.C.Mutz, 1989)

In relation to social media and this story- I believe that the natural story arc to the Susan Boyle story was constructed on the basis of it being a "Feel-good" story that featured universal themes that would be perceived as something that would make others happy. This "feel good" factor to the story made it something that people upon viewing it would be interested in sharing to other people knowing it would have the same if not greater effect on them. It could also be argued that the sentimental message of "Don't judge a book by it;s cover" was a driving force and idea behind the success that also influenced many people to share the story and maybe vote in the show.

"The effect that the communication achieves is not due to any direct persuasive

influence of the message itself, but rather to the behaviour of those persons who

anticipate, or think they perceive, some reaction on the part of others, and

behave differently as a result"

(Diana.C.Mutz, 1989)

I think this relates because I think there is a certain "guilt factor" present in the audition clip and the way it was constructed for the audience to perceive it. It's constructed in a way that would almost assume that we as a TV audience have already judged Susan Boyle by her looks, and that her sudden success and talent was a surprise to us. As a result- we feel guilty for judging her and may feel the need to share and spread the story almost out of guilt. I distinctly remember at the time of the audition clips success that there were several "Susan Boyle reaction videos" on YouTube featuring people commenting and showing genuine surprise and reacting to the audition clip at their computers- some even ended up crying. This suggests that the message behind it was one that people felt the need to spread to others and even share their own (sometimes rude and arguably genuine) reactions to , as an expression of the human nature of judging people.

As judge Amanda Holden says in the clip regarding the studio audience and herself "I'm thrilled because I know that everybody was against you. I honestly believe that we were all being very cynical and I think that's the biggest wakeup call ever"

[Britains Got Talent 2009]

Image is everything, and the rise of the "everyday"

As I have discussed in a previous post- the music industry and television media in general has often worked on the notion that you have to look attractive to sell albums and be in Hollywood films. I think that part of the success of this story was the notion that this clip was very much an uplifting message that people could relate too and a message that people could get behind almost as a wider-movement. Much has been said of the appearance of Susan Boyle - with British tabloids latching on and calling her the "hairy angel" and nicknaming her "SuBo". Television chat-shows and stand-up comedians use her appearance as an almost textbook definition of "ugly" to seemingly ridicule her for the way she presented herself. In a lot of ways - that is a reflection of television and the perception of image in the media, and arguably a reflection of society. The fact is that producers at BGT were obviously aware that her appearance didn't match the usual criteria of near-anorexic young attractive teenage girls and were likewise surprised by her talent at singing that she held. It's a slightly odd notion to assume that you can pre-judge somebodies natural singing voice, tone, vocal range and techniques purely based on what kind of dress they are wearing and whether they brushed their hair that day. Perhaps it is a reflection of peoples expectations brought on by the heavy image-centric music industry and entertainment industry. The popularity of this story relies upon the fact that millions of people did not agree with this idea of image and that Susan Boyle comes across as very much the "everyday" and unassuming, something that the everyday person who feels they may have a talent in life and missed out -could relate to. Entertainment Weekly described the story as "a victory for talent and artistry in a culture obsessed with physical attractiveness and presentation." This message of being pre-judged and overcoming the expectations of the studio audience and judges, coupled with a moving performance of a relevant song "I dreamed a dream" - was I think the defining factor of the success. It's a message that can translate to any country and to any language which would explain the worldwide success it gained. It is a modern take on the ugly duckling story. In terms of narrative it fits very neatly into one described by Christopher Booker , author of "the 7 basic plots" as the "rags to riches" story. Susan Boyle was undiscovered in a tiny Scottish village and now he's a rich global superstar who overcame all the odds.

The one of being judged on image has been described as a possible feminist movement by some. Letti Cottin Pogrebin of the Huffington Post wrote " although people may "weep for the years of wasted talent", Boyle's performance was a triumph for "women of a certain age" over a youth culture that often dismisses middle-aged women" Tanya Gold also wrote in The Guardian saying "the difference between Boyle's hostile reception and the more neutral response to Paull Potts in his first audition reflected society's expectation that women be both good-looking and talented, with no such expectation existing for men." 

This is a very interesting point to raise and is referring to a previous year's winner - Paul Potts. Middle-aged, overweight, and with a poor set of teeth- He never received any hostile reactions from the audience or judges when he claimed he was going to sing opera. Why was there not a similar reaction? perhaps it is true that in today's medium and television there is much more emphasis on women looking like models then perhaps there is of men. It is also interesting to note that shortly after Susan Boyle became famous from her YouTube clip and got the worlds attention - she had a Hollywood makeover. Which some seemed to argue that she was fine the way she was and it was part of her "everyday" appeal to people.