British reality-show singing sensation Susan Boyle delivered her first stateside performance (sort of—it was via satellite) on CBS News' The Early Show. Clips and the full transcript of her conversation with the hosts and original "I Dreamed a Dream" performer Patti LuPone's reaction are below.
Boyle's performance:
Patti LuPone's reaction:
Full transcript:
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.
