Please stop using her apparent learning disability to try and make people feel guity so they wont criticise her.

She was cringeworthy last night, and her performance was average to say the least.

At last a word of sanity, It can't be about her problems, and she has to put in a great performance and be a nice person as well

The point is not that she should win because of her lack of social skills, but that people should see it for what it is and not villify her for something that she can't do anything about.

In fairness though, Susan hasn't asked for any of this attention, the media latched onto her after her first audition and it has snow balled from there.....

I think the situation would be very difficult to handle for anyone, never mind an individual who has very little in the way of social skills (through no fault of her own)...good for her for making the most of what must be a very unusual situation for her to be in.

Im not bashing Paul Potts at all, but Im sure people may have seen him in a different light (whether justified or not) if he had been given the same amount of exposure so early on in the competition.

Anyone who becomes a star, has to be taken to the people heart, I not sure she do that, I think , as I said her self importance will soon get on people nerves and I recon in the final, it's going to be a whole lot worse if she wins.

Spot on.

I think she is in danger of disappearing up her own backside with the ever increasing publicitiy she is recieving.
Maybe you cant blame her for that as it must be difficult to be thrust in the public eye like that.

Yes she has a great voice and a great story but there are other acts in the semis.
Give them the exposure they deserve and at least make it a level playing field.

The beginning of her song was awful last night and if had been anyone else they would have been laughed off the stage.

I don't see her that way at all. Hopefully others will see what I see, a person who has lived alone for years and had very little social interaction with other people suddenly becoming the centre of media attention. Not big headed, not self important, just a bit bewildered and doing her best to handle the situation.

I am not a fan of Susan Boyle's and I won't be voting for her, but the woman has learning difficulties, and as a result, sometimes behaves slightly inappropriately. It's a little uncomfortable to watch but, come on, cut her some slack, she can't help it. If you want to criticize someone, blame those who put her in this position knowing she might not be able to handle it in the accepted manner.

I sorry but this show should be about talent or the persona to carry it off as a person the public will like, not about her problems, that would be the thin end of the wedge.

All I saw was a very nervous, in fact terrified women. She was shakey at the start of her song because of it. The World was watching. She is not on a level playing field. In deed she seems to have more pressure on her to succeed now as expectations are running out of control. That is not her fault.

Paul Potts may have appeared humble, but he has the personality of a wet fish. I don't know that I have ever seen the man smile. However, I may have him totally wrong. May be he is miserable looking for a reason.

Don't judge this woman so harshly. She did really well last night and deserves her place in the final. The right two acts got through.

I agree it should be about talent. I won't be voting for Susan because I don't particularly like her singing, but I am not criticizing her slightly inappropriate behaviour, because I know what's behind it.

She seems a nice person at heart but socially awkward.

However I didn't like the newspaper story posted on a previous thread where allegedly she refused to sign an autograph for a fan and told him to F off

Agree with your response, Sylvia.

With regards to Susan's behaviour yesterday, I think she still doesn't quite grasp what's happened to her (remember at her audition she walked away before the jugdes' comments. She'd done her bit and was just going back to her life...) and feels a bit like a fish out of the water. + it was the first time she appeared in front of the judges since the audition and had some (nice) points to make, especially to Piers! (even if she made her points in a rather unpolished way!)

Just compare their backgrounds ; Paul Potts went to university and has a degree,was a local councillor on Bristol City Council for 10 years and ended up as the manager of a mobile phone shop.In other words,someone who is very used to dealing with the public and communicating properly.

Susan on the other hand seems to have had a very sheltered background,living in the same village all her life with her mother.She doesn't appear to ever have had a job and never has had a boyfriend,and by all accounts has been a loner in recent years.

It's hardly a surprise that Susan is a bit clueless in the ways of the world and that she is lacking in social skills.

So because someone has a learning disability and there behaviour is outside the social norm that means they are not a nice person. That is just the attitude the bullies she endured at school had. It is same view that people have when I support people with learning disabilities out in a restaurant or shopping. If people do not want to vote for her they do not have to.

Quite - I wonder more at the behaviour of so called 'normal' people who apparently have no understanding of anyone who doesn't behave in a manner that they deem the acceptable norm.

I don't think it's Susan who has the problem with being nice.....

Exactly.
Their lives are completely different. Paul had travelled and simply lacked confidence. Susan in comparison has led a sheltered existence...

myscimitar Are you really so thick!......Without being unkind or derogatory, people are trying to explain to you Susan's lack of like skills etc...You cannot compare her to Paul Pott's, Paul was married and held down a position working in Sales, therefore his communication skills were much more developed.......

Don't be so bloody rude and ignorant against someone who may not have had the easiest time in life until now and maybe doesn't know how to conduct herself in different situations.....

Before you start condemning others, could you start by improving yourself. maybe your grammar and use of it needs some improving.....

What brain injury does she have? 'Learning difficulty' covers a lot of different things.

It seems to be that we know little about this & that a lot of assumptions are being made.

I really don't think Susan Boyle has a clue over the kind of effect and buzz she has created all over the world. She seen her audition as something she wanted to do, so then she could leave straight after and go back to the life she is used too (hence why she tried to leave before the judges commented on her in the audition).

Last night, she just seemed completely bewildered. She was clearly nervous and I don't blame her - she was out of her comfort zone, experiencing something massive in her life that she isn't used too. She also has learning difficulties as others have mentioned and this and her nerves should be taken into account when analysing her behaviour last night.

To sum up, I don't think she is a diva in the slightest as she doesn't know at all how big she has become. She is a sheltered woman, with a beautiful talent.

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I read that she was deprived of oxygen at birth, which damaged her brain, but it's hard to tell to what extent. I have a friend who suffered a similar accident and whose learning difficulties are much more severe (he can't communicate, read or write, but is physically totally able), but he made a great life for himself and is a great source of pride to his mum and his friends.

well said

Why do you automatically assume that if someone doesn't like a mentally handicapped person that it's because of the handicap? People who suffer from brain damage are still the same as the rest of us, they can be really nice and they can be complete jerks.

I have a close relative with brain damage and have spent plenty of time with her and other people with similar disabilities - they're not all nice people, they're not all bad people, they're just people.

Exactly !!!