Susan Boyle posts/videos/interviews
Aired June 2, 2009
Can’t find an embeddable video.
Britain’s Got Talent judge, Amanda Holden is on a US media blitz after the non-Susan Boyle BGT Champiosn were crowned: Diversity, a dance group. But rather than leading off with the winners, she and Larry King discuss Ms Boyle’s emergency hospitalization in a psychiatric facility, clinic, hospital – whatever the Brits want soften it as,
It’s wrong. It never should have happened.
And it was completely avoidable had they thought and put her first – which meant allowing her, at the very least, to travel with her support system, Pebbles the cat. The only one on this planet that doesn’t care how she acts, what she says, how she looks and probably adores any type of singing. And it is the only means by which Ms Boyle finds physical comfort
============================
LARRY KING: You probably know by now that Susan Boyle, the singing sensation and runner-up on “Britain’s Got Talent,” may have cracked under pressure of being on the show and all the surrounding publicity. She’s in the hospital being treated for nervous exhaustion.
Joins us now is Amanda Holden, one of the show’s judges, to tell us what she knows and if the show might have contributed to Susan’s fragile state. She’s in New York. Thanks for being with us, Amanda.
AMANDA HOLDEN, JUDGE, “BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT”: You bet you.
KING: What do we know right now?
HOLDEN: Basically, we’ve spoken to Susan’s brother. She — he, in fact, spoke on the CBS early morning show this morning and — which is breakfast television — to say that his sister was very keen to come home as soon as she possibly could and that she was resting up in a clinic in London and that she was very much looking forward to coming out and seeing what was available to her when she — when she felt better.
KING: Is the show, Amanda, paying for the hospital bills and are they taking care of her?
HOLDEN: The show — I have no idea if they’re paying the hospital bills. I would imagine that they are, to be absolutely honest. We’re — you know, we’re a very loyal show. We love Susan very much. And, in fact, all the contestants that appear on our show are extraordinarily well looked after. So she is getting the best support she could possibly be getting at this time, yes.
[If how they treated Ms Boyle is "extraordinary" then they're in real trouble. And she is getting the best possible care frm strangers who are concerned with her personal well-being only. Not hospital ratings or skirt hem notoriety.]
KING: Your fellow judge, Piers Morgan, has said that there was talk of taking her off the show because of all the pressures on her. Were you involved? Were there any discussions like that?
HOLDEN: I wasn’t involved in any discussions like that. And I think Pierce has a slightly closer relationship with her because — well, the only thing I’m worried about with Susan Boyle is that she seems to have a crush on Piers Morgan. That’s the only thing I’m worried about.
(LAUGHTER)
KING: Huh.
HOLDEN: And she…
(LAUGHTER)
HOLDEN: She spoken with Piers. And I think that Piers has kind of reassured her, in the last week, during the final, that, you know, that she was doing well and that she mustn’t pay any kind of attention to the press and all the other stuff that was going other life. So I think Piers is probably more qualified to answer that question than me.
[Telling someone something is meaningless when they have no skills to handle it. They need to be physically guided and accompanied at all times. How was Ms Boyle going to be able to spot a scumbag paparazzo from a not so scummy reporter?]
KING: Yes, I guess.
HOLDEN: I had no real contact with her during that time.
KING: Despite all the tumult, there’s no disputing that Susan sang her heart out during the finale of the competition. Let’s watch.
(MUSIC: Ms Boyle singing the ending of “I Dreamed a Dream”)
KING: I know the dance troupe was terrific and they’ll be on with us later. But, frankly, why didn’t she win?
HOLDEN: Honestly, I can’t criticize the decision because it was the British public that voted in the end. I have no real idea, to be honest. I wonder whether it could be that — well, Diversity, I have to say — and you’ve probably seen it yourself and the rest of America will see it shortly — that Diversity were utterly fantastic on the show that night. They decimated the show. They really, really were amazing. And I just wonder whether maybe younger people voted and were quicker on the texts than — than the kind of people that were voting for Susan.
But as I keep saying, if Susan is a loser, then surely she is the biggest and best loser that we have in the world. And coming second is no bad thing.
KING: No, I know. She came in, though, with a small town amateur singer, learning disabilities due to suffering oxygen deprivation at birth. Some say the program exploited her and her vulnerabilities. Do you agree?
HOLDEN: I couldn’t disagree more. You know, she — she’s a grown woman who applied to come on a talent show. She enjoyed every second of every moment that I met her or saw her behind the — you know, behind-the-scenes. She was very excited. She was very proud to be taking part in the show.
And as you all could see through interviews that America was giving her and Britain was giving her in the kind of six weeks that she — we’ve all got to know her, she was very excited about everything that was happening to her. And to be honest, it was really just in the last week that she — I think the downturn in press in our country, I think, maybe stressed her out a little bit. And — and I think she was just quite upset about all the exaggerated stories and the kind of falsehoods that were being written about her.
And I think that, you know, everybody gets upset about bad press when you’re in this business. And she’s somebody that’s gone from anonymity to absolute worldwide, you know, phenomenon.
KING: Yes.
HOLDEN: So how — how is she expected to handle that? Nobody can handle that with the best will in the world. I’ve been in the business 15 years and I’m still not media savvy.
[Precisely. So why was Ms Boyle, an unsophisticated woman from a tiny little village in Scotland, someone who doesn't know what You Tube or the absolute phenomenon she is get thrown to the wolves? Why didn't she have a bodyguard, a media savvy assistant and a regular friend/family member with her at all times? And Pebbles. Who thought she could go a week - even a low key one - without her physical affection companion? And how is she to ask for help when she has no idea what is going on? When she thinks all the media people will be as kind and well-wishing as the ones who made it up to Blackburn? How is she to know that some people will say they are fans just so they can provoke her and capture it on video to put on YouTube? Physically she is a grown woman, yes, but emotionally she is more like a naive teenage girl - clearly evident from her crush on Piers - who seemed to be doing nothing to dissuade her.]
KING: Well, no question she was the favorite to win this weekend. She didn’t. Let’s take a look at the dramatic announcement.
====VIDEO CLIP FROM “BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT,” COURTESY FREMANTLE MEDIA=======
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The winner of “Britain’s Got Talent” 2009 is Diversity.
============END OF CNN VIDEO==============
KING: Diversity is going to be with us in a little while. Dr. Drew Pinsky has written the book on celebrity psychology. He’s got a reality show of his own. We’ll have insight into all of this. Does she have a future in show business? Next
======COMMERCIAL BREAK=====
====VIDEO CLIP FROM “BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT,” COURTESY FREMANTLE MEDIA========
Simon: You had the guts to come back here tonight, face your critics.
Amanda: I have never heard such powerful, confident vocals.
Piers: You should win this competition. I loved it.
=====END VIDEO CLIP======
KING: Speaking of entertainment, I know you’ve heard about my book, but this may shock you. I am going to be in Las Vegas — appearing in Las Vegas at Steve Wynn’s Encore Hotel on the night of Friday, June 19th. My wife Shawn will precede me with her songs and delightful patter. And I’m going to do an hour of comedy. Yes, the other side of Larry King. If you’d like to make reservations, we’re going to give the proceeds to the Larry King Cardiac Foundation. Just go to encorelasvegas.com — encorelasvegas.com. Hope to see you there.
Amanda Holden remains with us. She’s in New York.
Joining us here in Los Angeles, Dr. Drew Pinsky, the host of VH1’s “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew” and author of a terrific book, “The Mirror Effect How Celebrity Narcissism is Seducing America.”
What do you make of this Susan Boyle thing?
DR. DREW PINSKY, AUTHOR, “THE MIRROR EFFECT
CELEBRITY NARCISSISM: Well, first of all, the first thing that jumped out at me is how the press reports these things. The idea of nervous exhaustion? That’s not a term that exists in medicine. That’s not a diagnostic category.
KING: There’s no such a thing?
PINSKY: The problem here is that here’s a woman that’s suddenly under the scrutiny of the spotlight who, as you said when you went out to break, maybe has some — some developmental issues, who is under tremendous stress and now has had a psychiatric decompensation and is in a psychiatric hospital. The question is, did the show harm her?
KING: Did it?
PINSKY: It’s hard to say. You know, how did — this is the first time these kind of experiences have really been undertaken by people. People that come out of nowhere all of a sudden are international superstars.
KING: But we’ve always had talent shows. Radio had “Major Bowes,” “Horace Heidt.” Frank Sinatra was on “Major Bowes.” He was discovered there. I mean that’s always existed.
PINSKY: Well, it’s interesting. And yet I would imagine people that developed international fame through that kind of programming developed — had — had very distinct talent and had careers as a result. It wasn’t people who flash and then are expected to just go back to their normal lives.
KING: Should we be, Amanda, concerned about that?
HOLDEN: First of all, I just want to say that — that Susan’s brother said on British television this morning that, yes, Susan has experienced learning difficulties. But in actual fact, when she was at school, she did as well as any of her other siblings. But throughout her childhood, always before an exam or anything else, she was of kind of a nervous disposition and always got quite anxious about kind of big exams.
And so I think that with a show like this, she’s a performer. I actually spoke to her the night — the day before — hours, in fact — sorry — before she went on stage for the final and ex — you know, I said to her that nerves, I believe, as a performer myself, are actually a good thing; that Barbra Streisand, in fact, always throws up, I think, before she goes on stage every night.
And Susan, you know, she was feeling nervous. But she went out there and she nailed it. You know, she did the best performance that we’ve seen. And let’s not forget, this is actually only the second or third time we’ve heard her sing. And she’s, you know…
[Ms Boyle personified the Show Must Go On. Not long afer her performance she was on her way to a psychiatric facility. This is just so wrong. I hope someone gets her an excellent lawyer. BGT has to pay her some of the blood money they made off of her.]
KING: Yes.
PINSKY: But she’s (INAUDIBLE)…
HOLDEN: I think that she will have a…
PINSKY: …hospital.
KING: Yes.
HOLDEN: She is in — she is in a place where celebrities go when they are burnt out. Now, I am obviously not a doctor. I’m not you. I have no factual information to give to you. I can only say to you what her brother, who, obviously, has been spending time with her and who has the best information, because he’s recently seen her, has said, which is that he believes that she wants to come home within a matter of days, rather than weeks…
[She was taken to the hospital under the Mental Health Act - same thing Britney was under. Ms Boyle has to stay until her doctors release her.]
KING: All right.
PINSKY: That’s excellent.
HOLDEN: And that she is excited about the prospect of seeing what’s out there. And, of course, you know, our show…
KING: She should be.
PINSKY: Yes.
HOLDEN: Yes. But she is under no pressure to do anything.
[NOW she isn't. BGT's done with her. All she's doing now is bringing BGT well-deserved scrutiny. The Doctor in chief where Ms Boyle is admitted is on her side and thinks there should be some sort of an investigation.]
KING: Let me get a — let me show something here. She was a guest on this show shortly after her amazing audition video was posted on the Internet. Here’s a little bit of that interview.
=====VIDEO CLIP=======
KING: How did you feel, by the way, Susan, when you came onstage?
SUSAN BOYLE: I felt — it felt very daunting at first. But I gradually picked up enough courage. I was very — I was very confident with the title.
KING: Now, people laughed, though, when you walked out. Some even rolled their eyes. They made faces — who is this lady? Didn’t that hurt you a little?
BOYLE: It didn’t bother me because I knew I had to get on with my act.
[Same as the finals]
KING: So you had no question about your singing?
BOYLE: Well, I wasn’t sure how it would be received. So I just thought I’d give it a whirl.
======END VIDEO CLIP =======
KING: Would you guess, Dr. Drew, that she still has a career in front of her? Wouldn’t you bet she does?
PINSKY: Oh, I bet she does, absolutely. And she will learn to become accustomed to this kind of stress, I am sure. But let’s make sure she has the care she needs. Let’s call this what it is. And let’s be sure that — I mean it’s really — it throws open an interesting question — should we be making sure that everybody that goes on shows like this has access to things that help them deal with the stress of these kinds of environments?
KING: Interesting point.
We’ve got the winners of “Britain’s Got Talent” next — the dance troupe Diversity, in 60 seconds.
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