Nothing against her personally, and good for her for getting a little something for awhile. I understand she's made some nice money from this, which is great.

But I'm glad this latest bit of pre-scripted "surprise" is over.

She was the biggest working-class-nobody-makes-good surprise on "Britain's Got Talent" since the previous season's working-class-nobody-makes-good surprise -- remember that guy who wowed everyone with an operatic aria?

I'm sorry, I just do not believe that NONE of the judges knew anything of her before she came onstage that first time. Next season there'll be another one just like her.

Wow, you're even more cynical than me! I can believe this is on the level, because I used to be part of a karaoke scene (as a cheerleader, never sang in public!) and there was this one girl who looked like she was probably a secretary at a local shipping office, or something equally middle-brow. But she was a superstar in that circuit because every time she got up and sang the voice that came out of her was Aretha Franklin, no word of a lie.

There are a lot of secret lives out there, including people with explosive talent, that just never bubbled up to the surface due to circumstance.

Heather- I have been pondering these same thoughts, and also how society has become downright fickle. We do unfortunately have the attention span of a goldfish. I was disappointed/sad that the voters didnt see in Susans favor. If you look into her background, it has been a life of immense suffering, lonliness, and lack. So you might see why I hope the accolades keep coming, and she makes it big in spite of the contest.

To me, Boyle is a bit like C.B. Sullenburger, the pilot who famously landed the plane in the Hudson. Sully gently told the media to go into the night, and returned to his private life none the worse for the pawing of the filthy media.

Every once in a long while somebody appears on the international stage and somehow manages to get back off it without being dragged into the degradation of celebrity. There was Sully, who did it with a quiet class I don't know if I've ever seen before, and now there is Susan Boyle, who didn't do it with the same quiet confidence, but did it nonetheless.

There ought to be a Hall of Fame for people who escape the clutches of fame with intact souls, except that such a Hall would be defeating the point.

Anyway, Susan, God speed ye.

I personally would rather saw my own arm off than spend one minute watching Britain's Got Talent, but my wife and daughter are fans. According to them, the reason Susan Boyle didn't win was for the prosaic but journalistically uninteresting reason that she just wasn't good enough.

She has a great voice, but not that great, and that's why she lost.

He was a movie critic of the 1950's, writing before I was born. But in his book Negative Space he had an article that reminded me of this piece. "Blame the Audience." You can, if you wish, read it on Google Books with a simple search.

The aim of his article isn't the same as yours. Farber was complaining about the intellectual critics and audiences reviewing movies who, in his words, preferred "preciously styled, upper-case effects and brittle sophistication" to B movies with heart, soul and an understanding of human life.

You, on the other hand, are complaining about the audience being louts about instant celebrities. This unfortunate business has been going on much longer. That was covered in detail in Richard Schickel's book Intimate Strangers: The Process of Celebrity, which is a chilling and very sad read.

Still, both Farber's article and yours address something that critics rarely do. You are both telling your readers that we are behaving like idiot children. And in a remarkable show of newfound understanding, you're not calling us "sea whores" or "chickens" or any of your old epithets; you're telling us why our treatment of Susan Boyle is so pathetic and tragic.

Thank you, Ms. Havrilesky, To quote Woody Hayes, "There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you."

and sell millions of records. Nobody will even remember the dance troupe.

I never encountered them before, and I couldn't care less. I have no idea if they are accurate or not, and I couldn't care less. I think it's great to see real talent and to be reminded there are all kinds of beauty in the world. I agree with the headline. She lost and still won.

Very good article, agreed with all points. Now I'm going to get off the computer and go read a book.

I felt some of these same misgivings while watching the first You Tube video. Seeing the way the audience snickered, and even sneered as Susan Boyle walked on stage made me wonder: why would anybody want the approval of people like that? And once it's given, how can you accept it and not feel a little queasy?

Fame is gross.

I'm happy for the lady because she reminds me so much of myself. I'm old, way overweight, unemployed (retired), never have achieved much and, before diagnosed as bipolar, had a nasty disposition when things didn't go my way.

I wish her the best.

My oh my, next thing you know people will suddenly admit Beyonce Knowles is a fat assed graceless 3 note range talentless hack.

Oh wait that will never happen.

Spent the past three weeks in England. Couldn't tell you the number of times I saw Ms. Boyle make a general fool of herself, with a mixture of over-confident, "I'm the star," attitude, and a particular kind of clown's inability to perceive herself as others may. A bit of dignity, and bit of stand-offishness, a little bit of balance would have taken her where she deserved to go, given her innate talent.

good essay Heather, restating that ancient truth that we eat our heros. Ken Kesey's novel "Sometimes a Great Notion" summarized the syndrome well, restating 10,000 years of human history. We love our heros, and we hate them. We adore them, and we will turn on them in an instant.

Humans don't like it when anyone gets too high. And our current methods of communication cause the entire process to occur at the speed of light.