talent

Update at 6:30 p.m. PDT: Details on the semifinals have been added.

Fans of Scottish singing sensation Susan Boyle have been counting down the days to the semifinals of "Britain's Got Talent."

Of course, most of us (yes, I am one of her fans, big time) don't normally try to watch British TV live. After spending a bit of time scouring the Net to figure out how to watch her performance in the semifinals, I found one of her fan sites that pointed to a Justin.tv channel's stream.

On Saturday's show, … Read more

There are not many stars who have had the good fortune to have their toenails inspected by the media. Yet such an honor was bestowed this week on Susan Boyle.

Yes, she came to the door of her house in her dressing gown and the media had her at hello. With one lens focused on her outgrowing toenails, a story was born.

Yet this was merely the latest in a veritable joyride of coverage that might, perhaps, make Ms. Boyle wish that YouTube had taken its YouBiquity and shoved it.

Cybersquatters have leaped on her digital back in an attempt … Read more

You wept for Susan Boyle.

Now prepare your finest large-mouthed, water-loving reptile tears for those who have so far failed to make money out of her astoundingly popular YouTube video.

It seems that British channel ITV, which is graced by "Britain's Got Talent," failed to reach agreement with YouTube over advertising. So the clip of the sublime Ms. Boyle continues to run with no advertising gracing its hem.

It is touching that while Susan Boyle tries to hang on to her authentic humanity, these two commercial entities are tightening their jaws like large men in a night … Read more

If the Web didn't exist, Susan Boyle would be, at best, a local hero. At least for a substantial amount of time.

However, the Web's insane insatiability, coupled with that of Simon Cowell, means that no sooner has she reached the quite strange figure of 100 million online views (and growing with every minute the world turns) than "Britain's Got Talent" attempts to inject a rival.

So, in the interests of social science, may I present 12-year-old Welsh boy Shaheen Jafargholi? He and his single mom graced the show's auditions last Saturday. (Well, in … Read more

I know there will be very many among you who, inspired and never satiated by the YouTube video of Susan Boyle, wonder whether this is the most popular viral video of all time.

It is my duty to bring you an answer (as well as a Boyle interview with Scottish television that has already enjoyed more than 1 million views).

Visible Measures, a company that clutches the pulse of the online audience and refuses to let go, has identified more than 200 unique videos of Boyle's performance. According to Visible Measures, the combined figures seem to have exceeded the … Read more

It is hard, after the millions of YouTube views and hundreds of thousands of Technically Incorrect hits accorded to the story of Susan Boyle, not to add a snippet or two as the days take us, her, and the world into the muddied waters of fame and fantasy.

So here is the latest little Susan tweet for the weekend.

The Scottish newspaper the Daily Record has unearthed a recording from 1999 of Ms. Boyle singing the Ella Fitzgerald classic "Cry Me a River."

Only 1,000 copies of this recording were ever made.

As you may be able … Read more

If Susan Boyle is overwhelmed, she isn't exactly showing it.

On Thursday morning, the YouTube singing phenomenon (11 million hits and counting) appeared on CBS' "The Early Show," standing in her living room in her best pearls.

In the face of morning show questions, she gave honest and comfortingly short answers. Scots don't gush. Some Scots barely speak at all. (Try watching the original series of the Scottish detective saga, "Taggart.")

How does she feel about stardom? "It hasn't really sunk in yet." How did she deal with the laughter when … Read more

She has the eyebrows of a Roman Emperor. She has the square shoulders of one of his centurions. And she walks like a bouncer who had one too many years in the NFL.

When Susan Boyle stepped onto the stage of "Britain's Got Talent" this past weekend, the audience laughed and the judges could barely stop their cheeks from bulging through a guffaw.

Here was a self-confessed, never-been-kissed, unemployed 47-year-old Scotswoman who, when she saw herself on television, said she was mortified that she "looked like a garage."

She told the judges she wanted to … Read more

Intel has announced the winners of the pre-college Intel Science Talent Search 2009.

The winner, Eric Larson, 17, of Eugene, Ore., was awarded a $100,000 Intel Scholarship. Larson won for his research project "classifying mathematical objects called fusion categories. Eric's work describes these in certain dimensions for the first time," Intel said in a statement.

Larson's background is described on this Siemens Foundation site, which discussed his project and his background last year. The Siemens post states that Larson, in addition to his mathematics prowess, is a piano player and a four-time winner of the … Read more