I so love to hear Susan sing that I tune in to You Tube several times a week and listen to her Britain’s Got Talent segment and to an audio unearthed after her fame exploded in which she sings “Cry Me A River”. Let me tell you that rendition is so sexy it will curl your toes. She may be a virgin, but her emotional understanding and technique blow me away.

Responses to her are also posted and one of them is “don’t change”. Well, she has a new hair-do, her eyebrows have been shaped, etc., and she says it’s no more than what any female would do.

Susan grew up in a large family and from what I have read, she was the only one taking care of most of their needs. She was discouraged from dating (it interfered with her service to the family) although she admits to having some crushes. She was the dutiful daughter and the result was that she neglected herself.

Of all these people who say to her “don’t change”, how many would agree to never again go to a beauty shop, use night cream, eyeliner, and the rest?

Now that she has a chance to look better, why should she not? Particularly if that is what she wants. When people say “be yourself”, they are assuming she doesn't have a wish list because she hasn't indulged it before now. They are ignoring the part of her that may want to shine and focusing only on what they see as her "natural" self and that may not be how she sees herself at all. If Susan wants to look better, she should go for it. After a lifetime of being dissed because she has no style, she may even have bought into that and believed there was no point in trying. Now she has a chance to fix that.

In my own life I have had visual ups and downs. I can say that without a doubt life was better when I looked better. Not only was my own affect better, but the world gave me more of a chance. Maybe it oughtn’t to be that way, but that’s the way it is. It is just more convenient and fun to be visible as in getting waited on, getting attention in the market, having people notice you at parties and, as happened to me recently, have a bunch of teenagers hoop and whistle at me as they drove by during my morning walk. Trust me, foxier is more fun.

So Susan’s “be yourself” admirers should get real. If Susan wants now to be glamorous, that is also being herself, and she should get her dream. She is old enough anyway, and has formed her character as a caring and giving person and is more likely to be immune to some of the traps of “too much, too soon” that plagues some of our young phenoms. I don’t think Susan is going to do drugs or start screwing everyone in sight, or turn into a shallow, self-serving, media-driven personality just because she starts to look more fashionable.

There was also a New York Times feature that suggested that part of the phenomenon was precisely the contrast between her appearance and her talent as if there wouldn't have been such a fuss if she were conventionally beautiful. This writer is missing the point. Her voice and quality are sensational. I don't care what she looks like as long as I can listen to her. The reaction was more dramatic but it doesn't change anything. She is fabulous.

There is also a tsimis about succeeding programs of Britain's Got Talent featuring some apparently fantastic young acts that have been very impressive and will Susan be able to win in the face of such competition. The decision takes place at the end of May.

If Susan doesn't win, she still has a career because Sony is after her as well as whatshisface from the panel who also has a recording label, and I read today that Lloyd Weber is thinking of putting her in a musical (wow).

But I think she should win because she has waited a long time and should be honored. The kids have the next twenty years to make their mark.

As for me, I can’t wait for her recording career to start. I am going to buy all her CDs.

xx, Teal