Susan Boyle's American dream becomes reality

Published Date: 14 September 2009
By MARTYN McLAUGHLIN
SUSAN Boyle, the Scot who became an unlikely international celebrity after her appearance on a reality television show, has arrived in the US to build on her new-found fame.
Five months after her appearance on ITV's Britain's Got Talent, the singer from West Lothian has finally ventured across the Atlantic to meet some of her most devoted fans.

With her debut album due out in two months, the 48-year-old is embarking on the first stages of a promotional tour. If the reception she received at Los Angeles over the weekend is any indication, she looks set for success.

Hundreds of well-wishers and members of media crowded around the singer, nicknamed SuBo, as she arrived at LAX Airport late on Saturday evening.

A pair of bodyguards helped her through the crowd as she blew kisses to her fans, who chanted 'Susan! Susan!'. One young woman managed to break through the security cordon to hug her idol.

Later this week, Boyle, from Blackburn, will perform before a live television audience of millions on the final of America's Got Talent.

Although the church volunteer has given an interview on the Oprah Winfrey Show from her home in Scotland, the America's Got Talent date will mark the first time she has performed live in the US.

The programme regularly attracts about 12 million viewers, and is seen as a crucial way of maintaining Boyle's profile.

Although it is not due to be released until 23 November on Simon Cowell's SyCo label, her album, I Dreamed A Dream, is expected to sell millions of copies. Already, it is the fourth best selling album on Amazon's US website. In the UK, it is 46th.

It is believed that on America's Got Talent, Boyle will sing a cover of Wild Horses by the Rolling Stones. Along with the title track from Les Miserables, and other showtunes, it will be one of the songs on her album.

Boyle shot to fame almost immediately after her first appearance on Britain's Got Talent in April. Her performance became a viral sensation, and has been viewed more than 100 million times on the video sharing website, YouTube.

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Susan Boyle to star on US talent show

Boyle to star on US talent show

Published Date: 12 September 2009
BRITAIN'S Got Talent runner-up Susan Boyle is taking her act to the United States, it has been revealed.
The Scottish sensation will make her US TV debut on the season finale of America's Got Talent, according to a person close to the series.

The source spoke yesterday on condition of anonymity.

Boyle, 48, from Blackburn, West Lothian, surprised viewers of with her soaring rendition of I Dreamed a Dream.

But she was taken aback by her sudden fame, which she has said hit her like a "giant demolition ball".

She was hospitalised for exhaustion after the British show.

The two-part finale of the US talent show airs on 14 and 16 September.

Brown 'raised release of bomber during Obama call'

Brown 'raised release of bomber during Obama call'


Published Date: 12 September 2009
By Craig Woodhouse
GORDON Brown raised the issue of the Lockerbie bomber's release during his phone call with Barack Obama, despite it originally being left out of Downing Street's summary of the leaders' conversation.
Mr Brown and the US president spent 40 minutes on the phone on Thursday. The Prime Minister's spokesman said it was a "really productive call".

Downing Street's original summary focused on discussions about the forthcoming G20 summit in Pittsburgh and the situation in Afghanistan but made no mention of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi's release, while a White House statement said Mr Obama expressed his "disappointment" at the decision to free the bomber.

No 10 later confirmed that the leaders "exchanged views" on Megrahi's release but said the remarks about Lockerbie had not been included in their summary of the phone call because it was not appropriate for them to brief on what Mr Obama had said during the conversation.

Yesterday the Prime Minister's spokesman said it had actually been Mr Brown who had raised the issue, though it was only a "very small part" of the call.

http://news.scotsman.com/uk/Brown-39raised-release-of-bomber.5641247.jp

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Megrahi release: Obama hits out at Brown

Published Date: 11 September 2009
By Tom Peterkin
US PRESIDENT Barack Obama last night expressed his "disappointment" at the decision to release the Lockerbie bomber during a 40-minute phone call with Gordon Brown.
In their first direct discussions on the matter, the two leaders "exchanged views" on the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister said Mr Brown made it clear the decision had been a matter for the Scottish Government.

Following their conversation, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said: "The president expressed his disappointment over the Scottish Executive's decision to release convicted Pan Am 103 bomber al-Megrahi back to Libya."

When Megrahi returned to a hero's welcome in Libya last month, Mr Obama described the decision by the Scottish justice secretary, Kenny MacAskill, acting in his quasi-judicial role, to grant the bomber compassionate release as a "mistake".

But last night was the first time that he has expressed his disapproval to the Prime Minister in person.

Although it was a Scottish decision to free Megrahi, Mr Brown has come under fire for failing to indicate whether or not he supported the move.

The controversy has also been fanned by suggestions that the man, convicted of killing the 270 victims of Pan Am flight 103 when it exploded over Lockerbie, was a pawn in trade negotiations between the UK and Libya.

Mr Obama and Mr Brown spoke by telephone to discuss preparations for a Group of 20 economic summit to be held in Pittsburgh later this month and also discussed the economic situation.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister admitted Lockerbie had been mentioned during the conversation.

The spokesman said: "It did come up, and the Prime Minister made it clear that it was a matter for the Scottish Government."

The spokesman declined to say whether Mr Obama or Mr Brown had raised the matter, but claimed that the call between the two men was "warm and substantive".

The release of Megrahi, who is suffering from terminal cancer, outraged the relatives of American victims of the atrocity, who are convinced that the former Libyan intelligence agent is guilty of the worst mass murder in British legal history.

Mr Obama's displeasure has led to speculation that Britain's handling of the case and its involvement in trade discussions with Libya could harm the "special relationship" between the UK and the United States.

Mr Brown's spokesman denied that was the case.

"The two leaders concluded that the special relationship was as strong as ever and that there continued to be good co-operation across the full global agenda," the No 10 spokesman said.

Earlier yesterday it emerged that the UK Justice Secretary, Jack Straw, will be questioned over the Megrahi's release by the Commons justice committee.

The cross-party group of MPs will question Mr Straw on the decision not to exclude Megrahi from a prisoner transfer agreement between the UK and Libya.

Last night the American relatives said they were "very pleased" that Mr Obama had made his feelings clear to Mr Brown and claimed that the special relationship was now under severe stress.

A backlash against the UK and Scotland has been seen across the US ever since Mr MacAskill took the decision to send Megrahi home.

The sight of Scottish saltires flying as Megrahi landed in Tripoli in front of cheering crowds was especially embarrassing to the UK and Scottish governments.

The Scottish Government has always insisted that the decision to release the bomber was the right one given that medical advice suggested Megrahi had just three months to live.

The American families have always said that his release went against an agreement struck between the US and Britain that said he should serve his entire life sentence in Scotland.

"I think the (US] administration's feeling is one of more than disappointment," said Frank Duggan, the Washington-based lawyer, who is president of Victims of Pan Am 103.

"I think the administration is really angry.

"People have been asking me 'what does this mean for the special relationship?' Well, I think it is in tatters."

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/uk/Megrahi-release-Obama--.5638572.jp#4415509

Scotland's Gem, CAIRNGORM

CAIRNGORM , a yellow or
brown variety of quartz, named from Cairngorm or Cairngorum; one of the peaks of the Grampian Mountains in Banffshire, Scotland . According to Mr E . H . Cunningham-Craig, the mineral occurs in crystals lining cavities in highly-inclined veins of a fine-grained granite running through the coarser granite of the main mass: Shallow pits were formerly dug in the kaolinized granite for sake of the cairngorm andthe mineral was also 'found as pebbles in the bed of the river Avon .



Cairngorm is a favourite ornamental stone in Scotland, being set in the lids of snuff-mulls, in the handles of dirks and in brooches for Highland costume . A rich sherry-yellow colour is much esteemed . Quartz of yellow, and brown colour is often known in trade as " false topaz," or simply " topaz." Such quartz is found at many localities in Brazil, Russia and Spain . Much of the yellow quartz used in jewellery is said to be " burnt amethyst "; that is, it was originally amethystine quartz, the colour of which has been modified by heat (see AMETHYST) . Yellow quartz is sometimes known as citrine;. when the quartz presents a pale brown tint it is called " smoky quartz "; and when the brown is so deep that the stone appears almost black it is termed morion . The brown colour has been referred to. the presence of titanium .



http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Cairngorm

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