Susan Boyle

Why anyone would be surprised that a person who is not conventionally beautiful should have a fine voice and a confident stage presence, is a mystery to me. It should really be no more surprising than the fact that most people who are conventionally good-looking lack both. Those who are devotees of American Idol, among whom I count my dear daughter, should by now be fully convinced of this. The British version of the show, Britain's Got Talent, has come up with an ordinary-looking woman from Glasgow who had the crowd on their feet after the first few bars of her rendition of I Dream a Dream from Les Miserables.

Much as I dislike this program it does serve one good purpose: to reveal the talents of people like Paul Potts and Susan Boyle whose appearance gives no hint of what lies beneath, and who have no access to conventional routes to recognition. So I am more than happy to do my bit to help Susan Boyle go viral.