britains got talent

Simon Cowell predicted it and he was right (and he has a hand in all this, you know). Susan Boyle is going to appear on the season finale of America's Got Talent, giving all of us a chance to see her as she is now. As this beautiful photo shows, celebrity has already transformed Susan. The shock to her system after the sudden fame has apparently waned, and she is now ready to bring her act to America. Britain's Got Talent nearly overwhelmed her, but that was then and this is now.

The appearance on America's Got Talent will be included in the NBC show's two-part finale airing September 14 and 16. And, they're calling this her "official" U.S. TV debut, but I think that's referring to singing only, because she's been on talk shows.

According to the UK Telegraph (and I always have trouble believing anything from the British media, but bear with me), none other than Robin Williams has offered himself up to play Susan Boyle in any planned movie of her life. Apparently, he's been doing impressions of the breakout singer for celebrity friends.

This could very well lead to Robin's second Oscar (his first for a non-supporting role). If he pulls this off, he could be as impressive as Meryl Streep playing Julia Child. Of course, if he can't pull it off, it would look like a sad attempt at repeating Mrs. Doubtfire.

However, unless they start work on the movie tomorrow, this will likely be chalked up as an interesting and amusing rumor. While her story is interesting, Susan Boyle's star has been dimming somewhat and it wouldn't surprise me if she was relegated to Celebrity Big Brother in the near future.

How powerful? NBC originally refused to run President Obama's prime time press conference about his health care plan tomorrow night at 9PM because it would interfere with the highly-rated America's Got Talent and the show's interview with Britain singing sensation Susan Boyle. So what did the White House do?

They moved Obama's speech.

The overnight popularity of singing sensation Susan Boyle following her appearance on Britain's Got Talent all but guaranteed it'd only be a matter of time before the U.S. version of the show tried to manufacture the same energy.

Here are the necessary ingredients:

• One national talent show where Joe Six Pack and Suzy Temp can reach for the polished brass ring of stardom.
• One cynical mob eager to tear down anyone who dares to stand up out of the crowd without meeting nebulous performance standards.
• One defective rube (either chubby, ugly, stupid or -- worst of all -- rural) who seems oblivious to the mob's hostility.
• Three judges who are in on the bit while acting incredulous.

Of course, the rube needs to have genuine talent -- as in the case of Boyle and singer Kevin Skinner from Kentucky from this week's auditions on America's Got Talent.

If Simon Cowell decides to stay in his judge's chair on American Idol, he'll have to squeak along on a salary of more than $100 million.

The U.K. and U.S. tabloid press reports that Cowell is negotiating for more than $140 million to return to Idol. That's just a slight raise over the reported $36 million he made for sitting on his backside and ridiculing warbling wannabes last year.

Who knew being aggressively obnoxious and judgmental could pay off so well? (In fairness, his very successful work as a record executive might have played a little part in his success, too.)

Scottish singing sensation Susan Boyle could jump from her runner-up appearance on Britain's Got Talent to perform on the colonial remake, America's Got Talent.

According to producers, they'd love Boyle to sing in front of millions of U.S. viewers. There's no word if they'd consider changing the name of the show to America's Got Talented, Frumpy 48 Year Old Scottish Women Who Had a Nervous Breakdown after Almost Winning the Overseas Show We're Ripping Off.

The self-confessed virgin had rarely stepped foot outside her village in Scotland before taking a shot at fame on ITV. But, her breakout performance made her an online sensation.

In the never-ending soap opera bubbling around Susan Boyle, there are now multiple reports that an incorrect phone number issued on fan-produced YouTube promotional videos might have helped do in the Scottish singer on Britain's Got Talent.

Producers denied the whole mess Thursday, but reports say YouTube clips made by Boyle's suddenly erupting fan base showed the voting phone numbers for her rivals. If Boyle fans called those numbers, she didn't receive the votes -- creating the possibility that she fell into second place behind the dance group Diversity by user error.

So, those fans are screaming McFoul and calling for everything from an investigation to a new vote. None of the above will happen, as producers already indicated the final result will stand.

It's fair to say plans to transform Susan Boyle's overnight celebrity into a performing and recording career are on hold now that the singer is reportedly hospitalized for exhaustion following her runner-up finish on Britain's Got Talent.

According to multiple British news reports, Boyle suffered a severe anxiety attack after her internationally viewed defeat on the show. Police were called to Boyle's hotel this weekend and assessed the 48-year-old Scottish contestant under the U.K.'s Mental Health Act. She was taken to an area clinic for treatment.

At first glance, this looks like a simple instance of "too much, too soon" for an individual thrust into the spotlight before she was really ready for the attention. But, the case is getting serious now that British authorities are planning to investigate Britain's Got Talent's producers for allowing Boyle to perform in the show's finale when they allegedly knew she wasn't coping well.

She dreamed a dream, but Susan Boyle's rags to riches attempt to win the top prize on Britain's Got Talent came up just short this weekend.

Diversity, a dance troupe, edged out the Scot on the season's climactic episode. Her seemingly tragic and unjust end seems almost poetically concocted as Boyle sang "I Dream a Dream" for her final number on the show (the same song that stunned audiences the night she appeared on the scene).

But, Boyle was gracious in defeat, offering a nod to the young performers who beat her out: "They're very entertaining. Lads, I wish you all the best."

Her defeat comes after a week of controversy as Boyle allegedly laid into multiple reported victims with expletive laced tirades. Her behavior offered the British tabloid press the perfect opportunity to claim she was cracking under the pressure and was out of her depth as a performer. No one will ever know for sure if that bad press cost her the crown.

Despite blowing the judges away with her pitch-perfect audition -- and subsequently being viewed hundreds of millions of times on YouTube -- Susan Boyle lost 'Britain's Got Talent' on Saturday night.

SuBo, as she's been affectionately nicknamed, became an overnight sensation after taking the stage and unexpectedly knocking Simon Cowell's socks off a few weeks ago. Her frumpy appearance, humble attitude and angelic voice won over fans and instantly made her a household name.

But all the media attention wasn't enough to nab the Scottish singer the top prize on the U.K. equivalent of 'America's Got Talent.' She walked away the runner-up, losing to a dance troupe named Diversity, who won a $159,000 cash prize and a chance to perform in front of the Queen.

-- Suffering from 'American Idol' and 'Dancing With the Stars' withdrawal? Here's how to get through it [NY Daily News]

-- The Paley Center and NBC recently counted down the 50 funniest TV phrases, which included quotes from shows like 'The Simpsons,' 'Friends' and yada, yada, yada ... [Seacost Online]

-- With all the Susan Boyle hoopla happening right now, are you actually following 'Britain's Got Talent'? [Buzz Sugar]

-- Ever wonder what TV shows former President Bill Clinton watches? Now's your chance to find out [NY Times]

Experts say one of every three adults experiences depression periodically in a lifetime. If a recent interview in the U.K.'s Daily Mail is on the level, it looks like Simon Cowell could use a prescription or two.

According to the interview, Cowell confesses he's "quite odd" and subject to "dark moods" that come on for no reason.

That could just be a celebrity waxing philosophical, but if you look up the basic symptoms of clinical depression, it sounds like Cowell is ticking off a checklist. He admits that he avoids social contact for days on end and avoids pleasurable activities. It's almost as if he's calling for an intervention.

This is either worldwide Britain's Got Talent singing sensation Susan Boyle or Three Stooges star Larry Fine in a dress. Not sure which. An American woman is selling these homemade doll replicas of Boyle. I wonder if she's going to start selling a post-makeover version?

Bill Maher recently brought up the tour-de-frump that is the Susan Boyle phenomenon on his HBO Real Time show, along with an interesting observation on her runaway success.

Now I'm not a regular watcher of these flashy Gong Show remakes like American Idol, America's Got Talent or America's Got Nothing Better To Do Than Watch This Crap, so maybe my opinion doesn't count in the court of reality show watchers. It seems to me that every few years or so, a phenomenon will bust out of one of these shows for reasons other than their ability to do whatever it is they do on these shows. These shows feed on humiliation like great white schadenfreude sharks.

Enter Mrs. Boyle, the "lovely Scottish troll with the voice of an angel," as Maher put it. But Maher feels her success is due to the unconscious guilt everyone secretly feels from watching these bottom-feeding talent shows.

Last week on his show, Jay Leno said he thought that he might be related to singing sensation Susan Boyle because his mom is from Scotland. He then showed this. Half of me wants to say ha-ha (though it's not really funny), the other half of me wants to punch Leno for dressing up like Boyle because he thinks they might look alike. (I also continue to be irritated that people are "amazed" that Boyle can sing - what, she's not Hollywood beautiful so the judges and audience didn't think she had talent?)

Also, that guy backstage...is that Kirk Cameron?