The story of Susan Boyle—like that of Paul Potts before her—is, except to the most jaded and curmudgeonly among us, completely irresistible.2 Fished, seemingly, from the bottom of the pond by Britain’s Got Talent, these two humble, working-class, physically ill-favored souls were suddenly found to be capable of creating things of astonishing beauty.3 People reacted as if vast quantities of treasure were discovered in the trunk of a broken-down Hyundai abandoned on their street.4 It was always there, but nobody had ever bothered to look. Thanks to that grouchy Simon Cowell (and YouTube), the two amateur singers each became overnight sensations, bringing lumps to the throats and surreptitious wiping of the eyes to millions, including the show’s judges.5
　　Ugly duckling6 stories really do not get any better than this. And Britain’s Got Talent milked them for all they were worth, cutting away to eye rolls and snickering by the audience and judges before the two wow-inducing performances.7 But exactly how untutored and undiscovered were Potts, who went on to win 2007’s competition and released his CD subsequently, and Boyle, who since her performance surfaced in 2009 had become a household name on at least two continents?8
　　Their life stories, as told in countless profiles, are oddly similar. Potts was raised in a scuzzy part of Bristol, England, we’re told, by a bus-driver dad and supermarket-cashier mom.9 Boyle was one of nine children whose father worked in a car factory and mother in a typing pool10. At school they were both bullied11. When he turned up in front of the judges, Potts was a dentally challenged mobile phone salesman, wearing a$50 suit from the supermarket chain Tescos. Boyle, with her gold dress, black hose, white shoes and hedgerow eyebrows,12 was unemployed and, yes, living alone with her cat, Pebbles. Nobody, the show made clear, had any idea they could sing. Well, not quite. Luciano Pavarotti13, for one, had an idea about Potts. While Potts’ hometown, Fishponds, is not an upscale14 neighborhood, he went to St. Mary’s Redcliffe, one of the best nonprivate schools in Bristol. After he graduated with honors from university, he went on a show hosted by Michael Barrymore15 and won enough money to take singing classes in Italy. There he performed for Pavarotti.
　　Upon Potts’ return to England, he worked his way through the amateur opera scene. According to the program for a 2003 Bath Opera production of Aida in which he appeared, he had already sung with that company several times and with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.16 But that same year, he had a nasty bicycle accident. Health difficulties and medical bills took him away from opera and into his job selling phones. 　　Boyle’s story is similar but with fewer light notes17. Her hardscrabble18 town was Blackburn in Scotland. She also auditioned for a Barrymore TV show, but didn’t make the cut.19 Yet she took singing lessons and recorded Cry Me a River for a charity CD in 1999, the same year she made a demo tape20. An observant Catholic,21 she often sang at church and on karaoke nights. So her talent was no surprise to her neighbors. “Everyone here knew she could sing,” Jackie Russell, manager of the local pub said.“We were always saying, ‘You should go in for talent competitions.’“ What held Boyle back was caring for her aging parents. She entered Britain’s Got Talent, after her mother died, because she was approached by talent scouts22 from the show who asked her to enter.
　　Potts and Boyle are not, in short, two undiscovered singers who never got their shot23 at fame. Their stories are less telegenic than the one sold by Britain’s Got Talent,24 but much more common. Thousands of singers take their shot and fail, just as these two had.
　　But in a way, their true tales are more heartening25. Paul Potts and Susan Boyle each wanted to build a career on their talent, even tried to. He got stalled26; she got rejected. But the same things that barred them from entering showbiz — upbringing, luck, family duty and, in this TV-driven world, looks—are what delivered them eventually to fame’s main square.27 They had the exact qualities the reality industry knows how to package. As Cowell said to Boyle, in what may have been the most honest comment in the whole program, “I knew the minute you walked out on that stage we were going to hear something extraordinary.”
　　
　　1. out of nowhere: 從不知名的状态，从默默无闻的状态。
　　2. Susan Boyle: 苏珊·波伊尔，来自苏格兰，相貌平平，在电视选秀节目《英国达人》（Britain’s Got Talent）中，凭借一曲《我曾有梦》一鸣惊人；Paul Potts: 保罗·珀特斯（1971— ），原为一个手机推销员，在《英国达人》中凭《公主彻夜未眠》而一曲成名；jaded: 缺乏热情的，厌倦的；curmudgeonly: 小气的，不和悦的。
　　3. fish: 捕鱼，钓鱼，此处用比喻义；physically ill-favored: 长相不好看的；soul: 人，人物。
　　4. 人们的反应就如同在一辆因抛锚而被丢弃在路上的现代牌汽车上发现了大批宝藏。
　　5. grouchy: 不高兴的，爱抱怨的；Simon Cowell: 西蒙·考威尔（1959—），英国著名音乐人，是《英国达人》的制片人；YouTube: 知名视频娱乐网站；sensation: 造成轰动的人或事；bringing lumps to the throats and surreptitious wiping of the eyes: 使听众喉咙哽咽并偷偷擦眼泪，此处指二人的歌声令听众感动。
　　6. ugly duckling: 丑小鸭。
　　7. milk: 利用……而自肥，榨取；cut away: 切除，砍掉；eye roll: 翻白眼，表示不屑；snickering: 窃笑；wow-inducing: 形容令人大吃一惊的。
　　8. untutored: 未经训练的；surface: 浮出水面，显露；household: 家喻户晓的。
　　9. skuzzy: 令人厌恶的，肮脏的；Bristol: 布里斯托尔（英国西部的港都）；supermarket-cashier: 超市收银员。
　　10. typing pool:（大办公室专门负责打字的）打字小组。
　　11. bully: 欺凌，欺负。
　　12. hose: 长统袜；hedgerow: 矮木树篱，此处用比喻义。
　　13. Luciano Pavarotti: 帕瓦罗蒂（1935—2007），世界著名的意大利男高音歌唱家。
　　14. upscale: 高消费的，高端的。
　　15. Michael Barrymore: 迈克·巴里摩尔，英国娱乐节目支持人。
　　16. Bath Opera: 巴斯歌剧团，一个业余歌剧团；Aida: 《阿依达》，著名歌剧；Royal Philharmonic Orchestra: 英国皇家爱乐乐团。
　　17. fewer light notes: 此处形容Boyle的经历更不轻松。
　　18. hardscrabble: 贫脊的，非常穷困的。
　　19. audition: 试听，试镜；make the cut: 达到标准。
　　20. demo tape: 唱片样本。
　　21. observant: 谨慎遵守的；Catholic: 天主教徒。
　　22. talent scout: 达人星探。
　　23. shot: 机会。
　　24. telegenic: 适于拍电视的（适于上电视镜头的）；sell: 推销。
　　25. heartening: 振奋人心的。
　　26. stall: 拖延，搁置。
　　27. bar: 阻挠；showbiz: 娱乐性行业，娱乐界；upbringing: 教养。