Susan Boyle, 47, of West Lothian, Scotland, became a surprise favorite on the UK television show “Britain’s Got Talent.” Her gorgeous rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream,” from the musical Les Miserables stunned the normally caustic Simon Cowell into openmouthed awe, and brought an applauding studio audience to its feet.

Susan Boyle has been singing since she was 12, she says, and has “always wanted to perform in front of a large audience.” When she announced her dream of being a professional singer, as she introduced herself to the three judges, the show panned to an eye-rolling teenager. Ms. Boyle put a skeptical Simon Cowell in his place when he raised an eyebrow at her age. “that’s just one side of me,” she retorted, vamping a little, to the audience’s startled laughter and scattered applause.

Then Susan Boyle began to sing. The auditorium exploded into cheering. As her voice soared through the ballad, the judges broke into surprised, delighted smiles. Even Simon Cowell, who stared at her dreamily, as her last notes faded away. It was hard to believe that such a vibrant voice could come from the same soft-spoken woman who’d mentioned her cat, Pebbles when she introduced herself backstage.

One by one, the judges acknowledged that they’d been mistakenly cynical, as they praised her performance. Judge Piers Morgan said “Without doubt that was the biggest surprise I’ve had in three years of this show. When you stood there with that cheeky grin everyone was laughing at you. No one is laughing now. That was stunning. I’m reeling from shock.”

From ABC News: “Another judge, Amanda Holden, was almost brought to tears by Boyle’s performance. “I am just thrilled,” she said. “I think we were all guilty of being cynical before. It was a complete privilege to hear you.””

Writing for the UK newspaper, The Herald, Colette Douglas may have put it best:

Susan is a reminder that it’s time we all looked a little deeper. She has lived an obscure but important life. She has been a companionable and caring daughter. It’s people like her who are the unseen glue in society; the ones who day in and day out put themselves last. They make this country civilised and they deserve acknowledgement and respect.

Susan has been forgiven her looks and been given respect because of her talent. She should always have received it because of the calibre of her character.

Video of Ms. Boyle’s performance has turned viral on the Internet, with millions of hits on YouTube, mention on the Wired blog and Huffington Post and fans in Britain and beyond eager to see what the season holds for the singer an entire audience underestimated.