Susan Boyle | Britain's Got Talent Sensation » Susan Boyle

Susan Boyle Auto-Tune Scandal?

dl — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 21:55:10 +0000

Most of the world remembers when Susan Boyle took the stage at Britain’s Got Talent. The sassy Scottish woman was at first mocked, but those mocks turned into cheers as she sang “I Dreamed A Dream.” Could it be that the whole world was fooled by ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ sound people?

According to reports, many are beginning to question if auto-tune was used in Susan Boyle’s debut. If this is true, that means what we heard during Boyle’s debut wasn’t completely real. There has been no denial if the technology was used for Boyle’s debut so far.

The auto-tune scandal began during the premiere of X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent. Some of the singing was so obviously tweaked that fans began to wonder what was the truth. X Factor admitted to auto-tune. It’s been the industry’s dirty secret said an insider at London Evening Standard.

Auto-Tune is a pitch correcting audio processor that can change someone’s voice from being flat to sharp or to a different note entirely. Most pop music use heavy use of this tool.

Poll reveals the careers of celebrities if they lost their fame and fortune

dl — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 21:45:05 +0000

Would you employ a celebrity in your organisation if they were not famous? A study by HR consultancy Reabur revealed of 1,187 respondents 38% think Cheryl Cole would be a beautician, 51% think Chris Moyles would be a pub landlord and 27% say Susan Boyle would work in a pound shop.

When asked the multiple-choice question ‘what do you think Chris Moyles’ job would be if he wasn’t a famous DJ?’ the majority, 51% agreed he would suit the profession of a ‘pub landlord’ while 6% thought he would work as a ‘supermarket baker’.

Two thirds of the respondents, 66%, agreed that actor and comedian Johnny Vegas would be a professional darts player whilst a further 11% cited that he would be ‘unemployed and claiming benefits.’ One in three of the respondents thought that Britain’s Got Talent finalist, Susan Boyle, would work as a dinner lady and 27% believed that she would work in a pound shop.

According to the results, 61% of those polled agreed that Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson would be in politics while 14% thought he would be better suited as a car mechanic. In comparison, 29% think co-presenter Richard Hammond would work as a car salesman.

Almost half (48%) of those asked agree that the recently reformed Kerry Katona would most likely work on the checkouts of a supermarket while 1 in 4, 24%, believed that without fame Kerry Katona would have been a ‘waitress’.

And 19% think that model Kate Moss would work as a stripper if she wasn’t a celebrity and a further 12% believe she would be a ‘stay at home mum’.

Georgina Read, co- managing director of Reabur said: “Being a celebrity is a job in itself, and probably a hard one at that, so we thought it would be really interesting to ask what people think they would do for a living if their talent had never been discovered.

“Some of the answers were very funny indeed; however, some of the responses were quite complimentary. Richard Hammond would make a very successful car salesman as he has the ‘gift of the gab’, however I’m not sure Jeremy Clarkson would make a great politician, but I think it is a great accolade that people think that highly of him.”

Susan Boyle’s Britain’s Got Talent debut was improved by Auto-Tune

dl — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 21:43:00 +0000

Susan Boyle

Britain’s Got Talent star Susan Boyle was dragged into the X Factor Auto-Tune row today when it was revealed that the Scottish singer’s first appearance was digitally tweaked.

The X Factor this week admitted using technology to smooth out faults in contestants’ singing during the audition stages. Today the Standard learned that the same techniques are used on Simon Cowell’s other reality show, Britain’s Got Talent.

A show insider said: “The exact same techniques are used on Britain’s Got Talent as on The X Factor — it’s the same production team. The sounds are cleaned up — it’s an open secret and an industry standard.

“This goes for everyone — even Susan Boyle’s audition was smoothed out in post-production to give it the best possible sound.”

Boyle’s audition was seen by more than 120 million people on YouTube and helped make her a global star. A spokeswoman for Talkback Thames, producer of both shows, said: “In line with standard television practice, sound filtering technology has been used on Britain’s Got Talent on our pre-recorded shows, but this does not unfairly reflect any singer’s performance.

“The performance shown on screen is a fair reflection of performance given in the live theatre. Judges make their decision based on that live performance.”

Was Susan Boyle auto-tuned on Britain’s Got Talent audition?

dl — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 21:32:46 +0000

Susan Boyle has been brought into the X Factor auto-tuning debate after claims about her Britain’s Got Talent audition. Boyle, shocked the world with her audition for the British talent show last year but there are now claims that auto-tuning software could have been used to make her sound even better.

Simon Cowell’s ITV show The X Factor recently started a row when it admitted to using auto-tuning technology to cover up faults in auditionees’ voices on its show. A source said to UK newspaper Evening Standard: The exact same techniques are used on Britain’s Got Talent as on The X Factor – it’s the same production team. The sounds are cleaned up – it’s an open secret and an industry standard.

“This goes for everyone – even Susan Boyle’s audition was smoothed out in post-production to give it the best possible sound.”

A spokeswoman for Talkback Thames, which produces both shows, added: “In line with standard television practice, sound filtering technology has been used on Britain’s Got Talent on our pre-recorded shows, but this does not unfairly reflect any singer’s performance. “The performance shown on screen is a fair reflection of performance given in the live theatre. Judges make their decision based on that live performance.”

Susan Boyle Will Sing for Pope Next Month | Calling It Great Honor

dl — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 21:13:14 +0000

Susan Boyle is tapped to perform in front of Pope Benedict XVI next month, on September 16. The British singing sensation will be singing at least two songs, her claim-fame cover version of “I Dreamed a Dream” from “Les Miserables” and the hymn “How Great Thou Art”.

“To be able to sing for the Pope is a great honor and something I’ve always dreamed of – it’s indescribable,” she told Scotland’s The Daily Record newspaper. “I think the 16th of September will stand out in my memory as something I’ve always wanted to do, I’ve always wanted to sing for his Holiness and I can’t really put into words my happiness, that this wish has come true at last.”

She added, “The Pope’s visit is a very big event for Scottish Catholics. My own faith is the backbone of my life, I pray and say the rosary each day and am very close to my religion. I am humbled and honored by this invitation and I hope I can do my best.”

Of her late mother who is also a Catholic, the former “Britain’s Got Talent” contestant said, “I know she won’t be there physically, but she was at Bellahouston Park in 1982 and I know she will be there again.” When singing at the open-air papal Mass in Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park, Boyle will be accompanied by 800-strong choir.

What would Cheryl Cole, Kate Moss and Susan Boyle be if they weren’t famous?

dl — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:47:14 +0000

Poll says Cheryl Cole would be a beautician, Kate Moss a stripper and Susan Boyle a worker in a pound shop.

Cheryl Cole is one of the most successful women on the planet. But if it the whole singing thing had never happened for the Geordie lass, a new survey suggests Cheryl Cole would have spent her life giving facials and applying fake eyelashes.

Yes 38 per cent of people think Chezza would have been a beautician if she’d never found success with Girls Aloud.

At least Cheryl was given something semi-flattering for her alternative employment. Those polled by HR consultancy firm www.reabur.com thought poor Kate Moss would have been a stripper if she hadn’t cracked it as a supermodel. Meanwhile we clearly don’t think much of Britain’s Got Talent star Susan Boyle, who was either voted as working in a pound store or being a school dinner lady if she hadn’t shot to fame.

A substantial 66 per cent reckoned comedian Johnny Vegas would have been a professional darts player if he’d failed with his career of choice. And DJ Chris Moyles was voted most likely to be a pub landlord if he’d never made it.

Susan Boyle hits back at bullies on train

dl — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:30:20 +0000

Susan Boyle showed she is made of tough stuff when she lashed out at a group of bullies who mocked her on a train.

The Britain’s Got Talent star was taking a 30-minute trip from Edinburgh to her home in West Lothian on Sunday when a group of callous yobs started laughing at her, The Sun reported.

She quickly rounded on them, and shouted, ‘I’m ashamed of you all. Shut up. I don’t normally get angry. It’s not funny. If it was you, you wouldn’t like it.’

An onlooker told the UK newspaper, ‘Something seemed to be upsetting her. There were people laughing. It was not nice. ‘Susan put them in their place and good for her.’

Despite being worth millions, claims that she is forced to live off £300 a week and take public transport have been denied by her management team.

Pope’s UK visit forbids Booze, Pets, Musical Instruments | Susan to perform

dl — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 19:10:50 +0000

Pope Benedict will embark on the first official papal visit to England and Scotland in a few weeks, and organizers have released a list of what is allowed and not allowed at the large-scale gatherings in London and Birmingham. The Guardian, the BBC, the Associated Press and Reuters report the list forbids candles, alcohol, barbecues, pets, musical instruments, including vuvuzelas and bulky hampers, because such items could “pose a threat to others.” Folding chairs, cushions, banners and flags are OK, however.

Catholic News Agency reports that Scottish singing sensation Susan Boyle will perform for the pope during his visit.

With Christopher Hitchens ailing, presumably the atheist-proposed plan to try to arrest the pontiff during the visit, for “international crimes against humanity” related to the Catholic Church’s clergy sex abuse crisis, has been aborted. But Reuters reports that various protests are expected, “including by secularists critical of the trip’s cost, gay rights groups and those angry at the child-abuse scandal which has spread throughout the Roman Catholic church globally.

Susan Boyle! Killing Me Softly..

dl — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 19:00:25 +0000

SuBo recorded two songs ten years ago and distributed them to only a handful of her closest friends in the village of Blackburn, West Lothian, where she lives alone with her cat. The tape, which was unearthed by Telegraph.co.uk, features two songs – an early version of the blues ballad Weep Me a River and Killing Me Softly with His Song, the track immortalised by Roberta Flack in 1973.

Last week the Daily Record newspaper in Scotland learned Miss Boyle’s first CD tape – a version of Weep Me a River recorded for a millenium charity compilation CD at Whitburn Academy. The tape unearthed by Telegraph.co.uk is an earlier demo tape that Ms Boyle had produced to send to record companies, and to local and national TV and radio talent competitions including Michael Barrymore’s My Kind of People, for which she later auditioned but was rejected.

The tape was made at her own expense with Miss Boyle telling friends at the time that she had “spent all her savings” on it. It is the earliest example of Miss Boyle’s attempts to gain recognition of her talents as a singer. By the time the tape was made she had by now built a reputation among the pubs and clubs of West Lothian. A friend of Ms Boyle, who gave the tape to Telegraph.co.uk, said she had forgotten about the tape in anticipation of her friend shot to comprehensive fame.

The Bible and Metallica seeks to win over Susan Boyle fans (but not really)

dl — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 10:41:06 +0000

So I was frying up a pan of bacon when some grease spilled and the stove-top caught fire. I doused it in a bucket of water and ran out the door because I was heading up to my friend’s cabin for a couple days. I return last night and realize, much to my chagrin, that the whole kitchen is now alight. My bucket of water did little more than spread the fire.

Now for the interpretation: the grease is my post “Inspiring thoughts on biblical inspiration and skeptical arguments”; the fire is the comments that piled up in the wake of that post; the water is the subsequent post “The Tentative Apologist digs into his fan mail … and comes up with Dostoyevsky”; and, well, you can guess the rest.

But what does this have to do with the Bible, Metallica, and Susan Boyle? Read on..

Needless to say, the discussion of the nature of biblical inspiration is interesting in its own right. But given that my present project is a review of The Christian Delusion rather than the development of an apologetic for the neighborhood cadre of skeptics, it is something of a rabbit trail.

Here’s the problem. The burden shouldered willingly by the authors of The Christian Delusion is to provide Christians a reason to think Christianity is, well, a “delusion”. I continue to show how they have failed miserably in this regard. In the case of Tobin, he has provided no reason for a Christian to think the Bible is not inspired.

So what did he do? Well it seems he has provided reasons for atheists to think the Bible is not inspired (yes, he got people who already agreed with him to agree with him). Big Deal. Imagine if Metallica promised that their new album would win over Susan Boyle fans. And yet, when it came along it was simply “Death Magnetic part 2″. The Metallica fans would think it great but the Susan Boyle fans, the very ones Metallica was trying to win over, would find nothing of interest.

That’s the problem with The Christian Delusion. They’ve aimed to win over Susan Boyle fans but all they’ve given us is more crunchy guitars, driving drums, and growled vocals. So yes, I admit it, I’m disappointed. (I realize that I’ve unwittingly set myself up as a Susan Boyle fan here. I assure you I’m not really.)

So the atheists and other skeptics are simply asking for something which is just not relevant for my review of The Christian Delusion. As a result, I will have to set aside the demands of atheists that I provide them with some reasons to thing p is true, and get back to the task at hand of demonstrating how The Christian Delusion has failed to provide grounds for those who accept p to think not-p is true.

But before I get back to the task at hand, a quick engagement with the drift of the critical comments which is nicely summarized by Unconvinced:

“We’re asking whether there is anything about it [the Bible] that distinguishes it from a [hypothetical, but identical] work that was not divinely inspired (in any sense at all). In other words, if there are no god(s), would it have been theoretically possible for the exact same book to have been written?”

dwilkinson provides a good response to Unconvinced et al. Let me add one thing. This is a question that is a token of a general type, namely: if x and y are indistinguishable states of affairs, how can I tell that x happened rather than y?

Philosophy is filled with such dilemmas which I have pointed out often. For instance, if idealism and realism are both consistent with all the data of experience, then how can I know that there is an external world of matter? Or, if solipsism and the existence of other minds are both consistent with all the data of experience, then how can I know that other minds exist?

I can spin out examples ad infinitum if you wish. But really it might be good for you in the peanut gallery to think through how you would address this type of problem generally, and then with that knowledge we could consider how to address it in the token example of the Bible.

As you ponder that, I have commitments, among them is to finish my review of The Christian Delusion and then get to Signature in the Cell and The Evolution of God.

It shall be an exciting September, I can just feel it!