You’ve probably seen her.  If you haven’t, go to YouTube now, type, “Susan Boyle” in the search field, and watch her appearance on “Britain’s Got Talent” (the inspiration for “American Idol.”  Go ahead, we’ll wait…

Now, wasn’t that amazing?  OK, for those of you who haven’t seen the video and are in a situation where you can’t watch it right now (like at work), we’ll recap: Susan Boyle is a 47-year old virgin spinster from a small village in Scotland, and she’s not what you would call a superficially attractive woman.  She’s stocky, beetle-browed, has a hairstyle right out of the 1950s TV series “Hazel,” walks strangely, and has a cocky, cheeky attitude that just begs to be made fun of.  In other words, in our beauty-driven culture she’s good for only parody, sympathy or outright scorn.  That’s how shallow we have become; if you’re not gorgeous, you can’t possibly be talented or worth paying any attention to.

That’s what made her appearance on “Britain’s Got Talent” so amazing.  She walked out on that stage and you could feel the stereotyping going on in the minds of everyone from the judges to the folks in the back row: “She’s frumpy and ridiculous, and she has no idea.  This is going to be excruciating.”  And don’t even get us started on the double standard for men versus women on these talent shows; were Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard dreamboats?  Hardly.  But that’s a post for another day.

Clearly, the judges were humoring her, assuming that a woman who looked like Susan and carried herself with such oblivious self-assuredness had no business being in their spotlight.  They were going to grit their teeth, let this self-deluding little woman shatter her dreams all over national television and move on.

Then Susan Boyle opened her mouth and started to sing.  And she changed.  She became beautiful as an incredible voice soared out of that squat, pudgy body.  The best part wasn’t watching her sing, but watching the judges’ jaws hit the floor.  We were both delighted beyond words as we watched them realize that they had pre-judged this woman’s talent based solely on her looks—that because she wasn’t pleasing to look at, she also couldn’t be stunning to listen to.  And they were so, so wrong.  She brought down the house with a voice that belonged on Broadway.  And it wasn’t a coincidence; search “Susan Boyle Cry Me a River” and you’ll find a recording she did of the torch song standard for a fundraiser in her town.  This woman can sing: sultry, plaintive, and gorgeous.

Instantly, the crowd was on her side.  No more making fun, no more snickering.  Susan Boyle had become beautiful through the power of her voice.  The video of her appearance is the most popular clip in the history of YouTube and she’s become an overnight celebrity. Why?  Because she shamed us and reminded us.  She shamed us because we, too, assumed that this dowdy “cat lady” would croak out a song in a warbly soprano and make a fool of herself, and we assumed that because we equated appearance with virtue and ability, as we’re prone to.  But she also reminded us that within every single woman and man, no matter how plain or beautiful, dwells something of incredible beauty: talent, compassion, charisma, something that has the potential to knock people off their feet with admiration.  That’s what we call attractiveness. When she strutted off that stage, Susan pulled TV networks and print reporters into her orbit like she was Jupiter, when before they wouldn’t have given her the time of day except to laugh at her.

Susan Boyle’s mind-blowing performance reminded us all that everyone has the power to be attractive and magnetic and earn a standing ovation because of who we are and what we do, not how we look.  But it also serves as a marvelous, stirring, tears-in-the-eyes reminder never to underestimate anyone because of their looks.  We’re hard-wired to respond to beauty, but we can choose to overcome that wiring and honor the potential of the person within.  That’s Inner Beauty…something Susan Boyle clearly has in spades.

Stay beautiful,

Debi & Eva