MAGGIE RODRIGUEZ, CO-ANCHOR: But first, let's get
right to it, Jules. Susan Boyle dreamed a dream, sang a
song and has more than 11 million hits on YouTube.
HARRY SMITH, CO-ANCHOR: Before we meet her, CBS News
correspondent Mark Phillips reports on the biggest
success story that Blackburn, Scotland, has ever
seen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARK PHILLIPS, CBS NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over):
Fame normally comes at the end of the process in these
national TV talent contests.
For Susan Boyle, though, it came at the beginning.
SUSAN BOYLE (singing): I dreamed a dream in time gone
by...
PHILLIPS: All Susan has done is qualify at one of the
regional auditions in Scotland. But from the reaction of
the crowd, and of the judges and from the millions of
Internet hits around the world, you'd think she'd won the
whole thing. In the pub in her hometown, where she sang
karaoke, a crowd had gathered to watch.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, the place just erupted.
PHILLIPS: The TV show, judges and the audience may not
have known what to expect. But the locals here did.
They'd heard Susan sing. But for this 47-year-old woman
who has looked after her mother until she died recently
and who had never married, there was also concern for
Susan.
JACKIE RUSSELL, PUB OWNER: You shouldn't judge a book
by its cover. Everybody else in the village knows what
Susan is and knows what she's like. And she's a wonderful
singer. She's a lovely girl.
PHILLIPS: It turns out Susan Boyle can do more than
sing. She can look out for herself, as well.
Mark Phillips, CBS News, Blackburn, Scotland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RODRIGUEZ: Susan Boyle, the Susan Boyle, joins us now
from her home in Blackburn, Scotland. You look lovely,
Susan. Good morning.
SUSAN BOYLE, SINGING SENSATION: Good morning.
RODRIGUEZ: We just checked. It's now more than 11
million hits on YouTube. How is that for
unbelievable?
BOYLE: Breathtaking. Unbelievable. Awesome. Whatever
word you want to say.
RODRIGUEZ: What has it been like for you walking down
the street since this happened?
BOYLE: Everybody's been so supportive and wished me
really well.
HARRY SMITH, CO-ANCHOR: It's so interesting to have
watched this on YouTube over and over again. And you
captivated not only the judges, but every single person
in the audience. You are -- you have become overnight a
worldwide star. Do you understand that? Do you understand
what a big deal this is?
BOYLE: Hasn't really sunk in yet.
RODRIGUEZ: Susan, when you watched the whole tape, you
really get a sense for the emotion. The fact that they
were ready to write you off before you started to sing.
How did you keep it together, even though everyone was
laughing at you and not really taking it seriously at
first?
BOYLE: Well, you have to take yourself seriously. So,
what I did was, concentrated on the song.
SMITH: People may not know some of the back story. You
have lived with your mother for the longest time -- she
passed away here a year or two ago -- and not really been
singing very much since. How did you muster the courage
to audition for this show and then sing before a huge,
live audience, and then subsequently an audience of
millions of people? Where did the courage come from,
Susan?
BOYLE: I wanted to make this a tribute to my mother. I
knew it was something I had to do. I had to get on with
it. That's where the courage came from, my mother.
RODRIGUEZ: Did you ever have professional traing?
BOYLE: I did in Livingstone (ph).
SMITH: Well it certainly shows. And the performance of
the song was so brilliant. I think the other thing people
don't understand, this is not an easy song to sing.
RODRIGUEZ: Let's see if she can do it early in the
morning. How about it, Susan? Can you give us a little
taste?
BOYLE: Would you like that?
RODRIGUEZ: Yes, please.
SMITH: Oh, love it.
BOYLE: OK, then. Here you go, then.
(singing): I dreamed a dream in time gone by when hope
was high and life worth living. I dreamed that love would
never die. I prayed that God would be forgiving. Then I
was young and unafraid when dreams are made and used and
wasted. There was no ransom to be paid, no song unsung no
wine untasted.
SMITH: So beautiful.
RODRIGUEZ: You have us in tears. Really, it's
unbelievable.
SMITH: Here's my question of the morning, Susan. Now,
you go back on the show again. Do you know what you'll
sing when you go back on the show?
BOYLE: Why don't you watch the show and find out?
SMITH: You do have the show business gene, I think.
This is so lovely.
RODRIGUEZ: Yes, it is.
You know, that song from "Les Miz" was first sung in
1985 by Tony Award winner and Broadway legend Patti
LuPone in London's West End. And Susan, joining us on the
phone right now, we have Patti LuPone. Good morning,
Patti.
PATTI LUPONE, TONY AWARD-WINNING ACTRESS: Good
morning.
RODRIGUEZ: Did you just hear that?
LUPONE: Yes, I'm crying. Susan, you've got pluck,
girl.
BOYLE: Thank you.
SMITH: Patti, explain a little bit. You are the
creator and the originator of this song in terms of the
way that millions of people first heard it. Explain a
little bit. This song goes from the depths to the
heights. This is not an easy song to sing.
LUPONE: No, it's not. It's the ending, actually, that
is the roughest part, as Susan will attest, I'm sure.
It's what you have to hit at the very end of the song
that is difficult. And it's an emotional song. And it
was, I think, the first -- it was the first ballad --
it's the first ballad in the musical, and it comes very
early in the show.
SMITH: How impressed have you been by Susan's
performance?
LUPONE: Well, you know, I saw it on YouTube like
everybody else.
One of my press -- someone that works in my press
agent's office in New York sent it to me, was it
yesterday or the day before? I believe the day before
yesterday. And my husband and I watched it, and I started
to cry. It made me cry.
RODRIGUEZ: Where does her rendition rate?
LUPONE: Yes, from what I could tell on YouTube, it was
pretty great on YouTube, so I can imagine what it was
like live on, you know, British TV there. I mean, it's --
you can't really tell a whole lot on YouTube, but it was
pretty powerful on YouTube.
And then, I mean, I was really -- I started to cry. I
thought, I really, she -- Susan is -- has so much
courage, and such pluck, really.
RODRIGUEZ: How is that for an endorsement, Susan?
BOYLE: That will do.
(LAUGHTER)
RODRIGUEZ: You'll take it, right?
Susan, we know that you have said that you were made
fun of as a child. We know about your struggles with your
mother. Do you feel sort of a sweet vindication now?
BOYLE: Well, the ones who made fun of me are now nice
to me.
SMITH: They're now nice to you.
BOYLE: So, I think I may have won them round.
SMITH: Susan, thank you so much. Good luck as the show
continues.
Patti, thank you for joining us, as well this morning.
What an endorsement.
LUPONE: Good luck, Susan.
BOYLE: Thank you very much.
SMITH: You've got a lot of people around the world
pulling for you.
BOYLE: Thank you.
SMITH: Thanks so much.
World
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