Sideshow: Britain's 11 million-hit singing star

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, April, 2009 | by Tirdad Derakhshani Inquirer Staff Writer

YouTube really can make you into a star.

Just ask  Susan Boyle , 47, a Scottish lass who has risen to become an international singing sensation.

Susan, whose YouTube performance has generated more than 11 million hits, made her U.S. debut yesterday on CBS's  The Early Show . She wowed hosts  Maggie Rodriguez  and  Harry Smith  with her rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" from  Les Miserables . So  wow!  was she that Broadway legend  Patti LuPone , who first sang the tune in '85, told her live over the phone, "You've got pluck, girl."

The warbler's breakout performance came on  Britain's Got Talent . Her dowdy look inspired jeers from a rude audience, but they soon shut up. Even  Simon "Darth Vader" Cowell  was impressed, dubbing her turn...