Susan Boyle as an Advisory Idea

There’s been a lot made about Susan Boyle’s performance on Britain’s national talent show.  If it hasn’t popped up in your area yet, Miss Boyle is from a village in Scotland and sings in the church choir with a little karaoke on the side.  She appeared on Britain’s Got Talent with the hope to launch a singing career.  

Many of the news (NBC, Today, ABC, CBS, Fox) sites focus on her incredible voice and how she made the curmudgeons on the judging panel change their attitude from her pre-performance interview to her after-performance accolades.  You can catch the whole segment from the show on YouTube (tear jerker alert) and its worth the watching not only for the singing, but for the audience reactions that come through.  

Several cuts focus on audience members questioning her talent before she performs.  One of the cuts before she begins to sing is a young lady covering her face in anticipation of impending failure.  Confidently she tells the judges why she’s there, what she plans to sing (which they infer is a little ambitious (see time code 1:40ish)) and then . . . . knocks their socks off.  

Tie that in with this human interest article from The Herald on her background.  Sounds like a set up for an Advisory discussion.  

Comedian Ken Davis poses three questions on his site to think about as one watches the video that would be great discussion generators: 

“1.  Why was the audience so incredibly rude in the beginning?   (0:00 – 1:54) 
 2.  Why were the Judges surprised that this woman could sing?  (1:55 – 4:25) 
 3.  What was YOUR wake up call as you watched?”  (4:26 – 7:07) (Questions and emphasis his, time codes mine.)

Additional pages:  NBC Today, Facebook Fan Page 1, Facebook Fan Page 2, Fan Page 3, Fan Page 4, Blog, Possible Example Ans. to #3, Paul Potts.    

One of the teams in my building used to present each student on the team a “Cracker Jack” award in their team meetings to recognize the hidden prize inside each student.  The presentation could be anything from serious to silly depending on the student and the talent being recognized.  Wouldn’t this be a nice lead-in to such a meeting?