Susan Boyle's rise to fame tempered by reality_美文

Susan Boyle's rise to fame tempered by reality

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She dreamed a dream, and it came true. But what happened next for Susan Boyle?

The middle-aged church volunteer from a small town in Scotland became an instant global celebrity in 2009 with her heart-stopping rendition of the Les Miserables number I Dreamed a Dream on a TV talent show.

A week is a long time in showbiz - and in our hyper-speed online age three and a half years is an eternity - but Boyle is still going strong. She has sold millions of records, received an honorary doctorate and performed in Las Vegas. A stage musical about her life has played to enthusiastic crowds across Britain and is headed for Australia, and next month she releases her fourth album, Standing Ovation.

But the 51-year-old singer who entered the TV talent contest to make her late mother proud is remarkably unchanged. She's still a bit frumpy, though she's acquired a new hairdo, more expensive clothes and a makeover. She still lives in her home town, has outbursts of anger, and struggles to overcome her nerves before live performances.

It's a fairy tale, yes, but with dark shadows lurking in the corners.

"People can't accept that you can dream a dream, but part of the dream is also a nightmare," said Elaine C. Smith, a Scottish actress who knows Boyle and plays her in the biographical stage show I Dreamed a Dream.