All posts tagged: Boyle

Simon Cowell’s ‘wakeup call’ after ‘disgusting’ treatment of Susan Boyle

Simon Cowell’s ‘wakeup call’ after ‘disgusting’ treatment of Susan Boyle

Former Britain’s Got Talent judge Simon Cowell reflected on his treatment of contestants while sitting behind the desk on the ITV talent show and revealed he regretted how he behaved towards budding singer Susan Boyle.  The 66-year-old music mogul first met Susan, 65, in April 2009, when she arrived at the Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow to audition for the third series of the programme with a rendition of ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ from the musical Les Misérables. Her surprising performance resulted in a standing ovation and a jaw-dropping reaction from the sceptical panel, which consisted of Simon and his co-stars at the time, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan. The celebrity critics misjudged the West Lothian native based on her appearance when she stepped onto the stage, and almost two decades later, Simon seemed to regret his behaviour on that fateful day.  Susan went on to win second place at the series’s finale, losing out to dance troop Diversity, and earned herself an illustrious career as a professional singer that is still flourishing today.  During an interview on …

Simon Cowell admits he was ‘horrible’ to Susan Boyle on Britain’s Got Talent: ‘It was a wakeup call’

Simon Cowell admits he was ‘horrible’ to Susan Boyle on Britain’s Got Talent: ‘It was a wakeup call’

Susan Boyle’s jaw-dropping audition on Britain’s Got Talent is one of the talent show’s most memorable moments – however, creator and judge Simon Cowell has admitted that it was a “wakeup call” for him on how he treated contestants. Scottish church volunteer Boyle, now 65, auditioned on the ITV show back in 2009, initially being sniggered at by judges Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan after telling them that she hoped to be as successful as Elaine Paige. However, she immediately blew them away with her stunning rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” from musical Les Misérables. Speaking about the audition 17 years on, Cowell said that his reaction to Boyle walking on stage was “awful”. Susan Boyle in her first audition for Britain’s Got Talent in 2009 (ITV) “But actually, I remember saying, I don’t think we look bad enough. I think we were even worse than that,” he told the podcast, Tales from the Celebrity Trenches on Wednesday (6 May). “I said, ‘we’re going to just tell it as it is.’ And they …

KSI is the best thing to happen to Britain’s Got Talent since Susan Boyle

KSI is the best thing to happen to Britain’s Got Talent since Susan Boyle

Britain’s Got Talent sinks to a surreal new low on its return: a parkour dog receiving rapturous applause from the studio audience and three of its four judges. Simon Cowell is thrilled – he can’t believe his luck. His eyes light up as if he’s discovered the next Ashleigh and Pudsey, the Britain’s Got Talent-winning dog-and-owner duo who bizarrely went on to have their own film that absolutely no one asked for. Thankfully, there’s a new face on the judging panel to give Simon, Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon a much-needed reality check: KSI. Despite the deafening cheers from the crowd, KSI isn’t exactly impressed, and he’s right! I’ve long believed nothing gives me “the ick” more than parkour – until I saw it performed by a dog… badly. I was fully prepared to loathe KSI on Britain’s Got Talent; I can’t say I’ve followed his career with much interest. I know he was one of the first household names to emerge from YouTube and that he used his fortune to launch a rap career …

Danny Boyle sends 127 Hours superfan ‘mindblowing’ gift for watching film more than 1,000 times

Danny Boyle sends 127 Hours superfan ‘mindblowing’ gift for watching film more than 1,000 times

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter A superfan of Danny Boyle’s critically acclaimed thriller 127 Hours received quite the surprise in the mail after she went viral for revealing that she’s seen the movie more than 1,000 times. Jess, who goes by the username 127hoursgirl on Reddit and Letterboxd, has been sharing her love for the James Franco-led movie online for two years. “I’m autistic and 127 Hours has been my special interest for nearly 15 years,” she revealed on Reddit last year. “I’ve watched it 1K times, at least. I love it more than anything in the world and it brings me so much joy.” In a recent Reddit post, she shared that she had participated in an Ask Me Anything with Danny, during which she told the Oscar-winning British director how special the movie is to her. Boyle responded, promising to send her a card. …

A guide to Boyle Heights, Los Angeles: What to do, see and eat

A guide to Boyle Heights, Los Angeles: What to do, see and eat

Every neighborhood in Los Angeles brings its own unique culture to the city, but perhaps none as proudly as Boyle Heights. Ask any local to define it and they’ll say it’s the real Eastside — and that it has an identity that’s separate from neighboring East L.A. Get to know Los Angeles through the places that bring it to life. From restaurants to shops to outdoor spaces, here’s what to discover now. A stone’s throw from downtown, Boyle Heights was the gateway for many different ethnic and religious groups to Los Angeles before World War II. With its lack of racially restrictive housing covenants, the neighborhood was considered the Ellis Island of the West Coast, and has been home to Mexicans, Jews, Japanese, Russians, African Americans and more. For the record: 2:04 p.m. Dec. 27, 2023Un Solo Sol’s menu is mostly organic, not entirely as stated in a previous version of this story. And it does use oil but does not deep fry its food. The remnants of this unique melting pot can still be …