Thank Goodness for Susan Boyle!

In case you haven't heard of or heard Susan Boyle, she is a Scottish singer who blew people away on "Britain's Got Talent" recently. I heard about her when I was listening to the Ron Reagan radio show (yes, that Ron Reagan) and he mentioned singer who "sings like an angel."

Later I saw a link to her appearance posted on The Huffington Post, and decided to watch.

While I wouldn't exactly say she sounds like an angel -- my singer's ear detected moments that could benefit from training -- she has a glorious voice, a confidence that gives her the air of a professional/ringer, and the knack for making a song her own when she sings it. (Watch and listen to her appearance here. Really. Watch it.) "I Dreamed a Dream" from "Les Miserables" is not exactly an easy song to sing, but she handled it with the ease of a mature singer.

Did I mention she's 47? Her age has been made much of, almost as if it's impossible for anyone to sing well over the age of 30. Of course, musicians know this is nonsense -- singers whose voices are shot by 40 do so because they abused their voices, or never learned to sing properly and damage the vocal chords. But for most singers, there is still plenty of voice left for years to come.

What has struck me has been the reaction. Not that people are so enamored of her singing, since it is well-deserved, but by how surprised the audience and even the judges were when they looked at a woman who looked like a stand-in for Hyacinth Bucket on "Keeping Up Appearances" and assumed she would be a trainwreck.

Yesterday I read a commentary by a woman who says we women are moved by Susan Boyle's singing because she represents the ability to achieve a dream for women in their 40s and older, as well as for women who are not beauties. She could be right. But maybe we are moved simply because a great song was sung by a gifted singer. Shouldn't that be enough?

So brava to Susan Boyle. For a few moments we are able to relax and appreciate the gloriousness of humanity, without worrying about the economy or education funding or TARP money or teabagging. Let's hope she can parlay this into her dream of becoming a professional singer. If Simon Cowell has any brains at all, he'll do everything he can to help her succeed.