November 27, 2009
Susan Boyle posts/videos/interviews
Today Show interview & Live: I Dreamed a Dream & Wild Horses & Cry Me a River
Early Show: I Dreamed a Dream (live)
Back home – breakdown /thumb-sucking over
Susan Boyle talks with Matt Lauer on his special NBC’s People of the Year. [Capt Sullenberger, Nadya Suleman,] She says she has become more “ladylike” and is living her dream – surreal as it may be. Matt enjoyed her laughter. Not sure why they always have to bring up the anoxia at birth and her learning problems. Brit Willard Wigan has severe dyslexia – by his own admission cannot read or write – but he makes the most amazing micro-sculptures that fit INSIDE the eye of a needle.
Today Show video promo – and then the web exclusive way at the bottom.
Homemade video of entire interview & Transcript follow
Homemade video of entire interview – Transcript
Matt Lauer: We have just a little surprise for you. Now, the Orpheum, one of the most famous theaters in all of Los Angeles– and we just wanted you to be welcome. So, if you can turn around now– (laughter) you’re headlining at the Orpheum. (laughter) How does– how does it feel to see your name up in lights like that?
Susan Boyle: That’s awesome.
Matt Lauer: You like it? (laughter) Good. We’re off to a good start. (laughter)
MATT LAUER VOICEOVER: Susan Boyle laughs easily, and playfully.
Matt Lauer: Are you giving me that mischievous look?
Susan Boyle: I am. I’m being very mischievous. (laughter)
VOICEOVER: And it’s not just the glamorous make-over. This just isn’t the same shy, awkward woman who was greeted with rude snickers when she walked onto the stage of “Britain’s Got Talent.” (audition video)
Her voice made skeptical jaws drop. And when her breathtaking rendition of “I Dreamed A Dream” hit YouTube, the plain Jane from a tiny village in Scotland became an instant phenomenon.
Simon Cowell: Three yeses!
Matt Lauer: Now, seven months later, you’re one of the most talked about, and one of the most googled, one of the most internet-viewed women on the planet.
Susan Boyle: It feels very surreal. You know, as if it’s not really happening.
Matt Lauer: Was there a moment when you realized it had happened? “My goodness, I’m famous” ?
Susan Boyle: I didn’t give it much thought. All that I know is, there was a lot of attention. “How do you cope with all this?” Wah! (holds her head in her hands) You know?
VOICEOVER: Her precipitous rise to fame was scary — even as fans clamored for more of her magical voice and gutsy courage –there were hurtful headlines, and rumblings about her ability to cope.
Susan Boyle: I did have a period of self-doubt, when I wasn’t good enough. And there are times when, because I’m shy, sometimes I wished it would go away.
Matt Lauer: Because you could make it go away. You could say “You know what, I had my moment.” I’m gonna go back to my small town in Scotland and I’m gonna get my life back.”
Susan Boyle: Well, sometimes you do think that because it’s only human nature.
Matt Lauer: How would you say your confidence level is today, versus when we first saw you on that stage on April 11?
Susan Boyle: I’ve grown up a bit. I’ve become more of a lady, I don’t swing my hips as much (gestures), you know (laughter). I think I’ve matured.
Matt Lauer: You don’t long for a simpler life again?
Susan Boyle: I accept now that my life will never be the same. And I don’t want it to end.
Matt Lauer: And that’s okay with you.
Susan Boyle: It’s okay. It’s just comfortable in my shoulders right now.
VOICEOVER: It isn’t likely to end anytime soon. Her debut album, featuring 11 cover tunes and one original, was so hotly anticipated, it smashed worldwide records — easily becoming amazon.com’s biggest CD pre-order ever.
Matt Lauer: U2, in 2009, you sold more in advance. Bruce Springsteen. The Dixie Chicks. Coldplay. That list and Susan Boyle is on the top of that list.
Susan Boyle: Oh heavens. (Puts her head down.) That’s quite awesome.
Matt Lauer: Do you feel pressure?
Susan Boyle: No, I don’t feel pressure just now. I just feel a sense of humility.
Matt Lauer: The variety is incredible on the album. There are some hymns. You’ve got “Silent Night” on there. There are some ballads. There’s a Madonna song (laughter).
Susan Boyle: I like Madonna anyway, she’s good.
VOICEOVER: Madonna’s song “You’ll See” (video audio) is part of what makes this album so personal for Boyle. She says it’s directed at the teachers who beat her as a child, and the kids who taunted her so cruelly.
Susan Boyle: That was a kind of statement I was trying to make because I was bullied a lot in school.
Matt Lauer: A little bit of ‘you know, you may have done that -
Susan Boyle: You may have done that to me when I was younger -
Matt Lauer: But you can’t bully me anymore’.
Susan Boyle: ‘Cause I’m grown up now.
VOICEOVER: Talking about it for the first time ever, Boyle revealed that her life has always been difficult because of mild brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation at birth.
Susan Boyle: I do have a slight disability. I had difficulty trying to express myself properly, and music was kind of a release for me.
VOICEOVER: It’s a release that allows her to take risks — like tackling the Rolling Stones ballad “Wild Horses” (video audio) which she first performed on “America’s Got Talent.” (video)
Matt Lauer: I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but I never thought Susan Boyle and the Rolling Stones. (laughter) Why did you choose that song?
Susan Boyle: Well the song itself is, a kind of, autobiography. Sort of dedication to my mother.
VOICEOVER: It was Boyle’s mother Bridget, who died in 2007, who always pleaded with her to give singing a shot.
Matt Lauer: Is it bittersweet for you, Susan, that she never got to see what’s happening?
Susan Boyle: She sees what’s happening. She’s still with me. She’s still here.
Matt Lauer: I got a kick out of something I was reading about you the other day. and it talked about the fact that you’ve splurged on a couple of items, said that you went out and you bought a brand new burgundy – and I thought it was gonna say like Maserati or Mercedes. And what it said was a brand new burgundy sectional couch. (Susan covers her face, laughs) Is that the biggest splurge you’ve gone with?
Susan Boyle: Yes. Well, you’ve gotta do your home up, haven’t ya?
Matt Lauer: So you bought some new furniture.
Susan Boyle: Yeah.
Matt Lauer: Is there someone in your life now, is there someone special in your life now?
Susan Boyle: You mean a boyfriend?
Matt Lauer: Yeah.
Susan Boyle: No comment. (winks/ laughter)
Matt Lauer: And a wink, too. Good luck to you, Susan. It’s been a real pleasure.
Susan Boyle: Thank you very much.
Matt Lauer: Thank you.
——————————————————–
Web exclusive – hand transcribed
Matt Lauer: Can you give me a hint of the things you weren’t so proud of?
Susan Boyle: Being a naughty girl when you’re a kid.
Matt Lauer: You don’t seem like the naughty type. I don’t know why. I look at you–
Susan Boyle: Everybody’s mischievous.
Matt Lauer: In the states we call them rascals. Were you a bit of a rascal? You were a devil?
Susan Boyle: No. Only kidding.
Matt Lauer: You seem like you were a pretty tame child.
Susan Boyle: Tame? Well, tameish. I used to go for walks and go and get lost and everybody used to go looking for me. Very psycho.
Matt Lauer: So you were a little bit hard to handle at times.
Susan Boyle: Sometimes, yeah.
