The sudden stardom of Susan Boyle has been astonishing, and rooted in a number of emotional touch points.
This is the ultimate anti-Barbie, the older, overlooked, overweight, unemployed, never-been-kissed underdog everyone can love.
After surfacing on “Britain’s Got Talent” last week, the YouTube reaction has been immense – and continues to grow. According to one estimate from Visible Measures, Boyle’s performance of “I Dreamed a Dream” has been viewed more than 50 million times – more than the clips of Bush’s shoe-thrower, or Tina Fey’s spot-on impersonation of Sarah Palin.
Others peg the action at closer to 100 million, though the YouTube all-time list gives Boyle a total of 33 million. That figure could be low, especially given the large number of versions currently sprinkled about. Either way, this game has plenty of rounds left – both online and off. Incidentally, the all-time, most-viewed video on YouTube is still Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend,” which has clocked 118 million views.
Report by analyst Alexandra Osorio