ISCREENEDADREAM
Simon Cowell asked how old she was, she said: “I’m 47” then began gyrating her hips “and that’s just one side of me”. You could see the audience and judges had already dismissed her. And then she sang. Susan had the last laugh. But looking at the audition – viewed 300million times and counting – she is as critical as the audience were back them. “I watched it again and thought, ‘What the hell where you playing at,’” she admitted. “I was so amateurish. I’m a bit more professional now. More grown-up and more confident now.” By her own admission, the decade has been a rollercoaster. Instant fame was very difficult. She had meltdowns. In 2012, she was diagnosed with autism – a developmental disability that affects how a person communicates and makes sense of the world. She has become a role model for autistic people which, perhaps, is one of the things that drives her to such big success. Unemployed, single and living alone in 2009, she is now a multi-millionaire who is beaten only by Calvin Harris as the most successful Scot in the music business. Susan said: “People with autism have to prove themselves. They have problems with communication. I’d like to think I’m an example to them. If I can do it so can they. There are no barriers.” The huge demands put on her after BGT led to a public meltdown at Heathrow airport in 2016 just before the release of her seventh album A Wonderful World. She took a step back.
The break has done her good and she’s raring to go. She kicks off the TEN Tour at Dundee’s Caird Hall on March 3 next year, going to Glasgow’s Armadillo the next night before dates in the rest of the UK. She returns to Scotland for her final show at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall on March 25.
This year has seen the success of another West Lothian native, Lewis Capaldi – and the younger sensation will be in the UK in March next year. He’ll have a day off on Susan’s Glasgow date – 24 hours before his own gig at the Hydro in the city.
She said: “My favourite? Of course he could come along and join me on stage. No problem.”
A duet on her next album would also be a possibility. She added: “He’s a lovely guy. It’s something to think about for later on.”
Susan is clearly enthused about next year’s tour and being back with TEN which reached No5 in the UK in May and No2 in the Scottish charts.
She said: “It’s lovely to be back. It doesn’t seem like 10 years. It’s flown by so quickly. I took a bit of time because I wasn’t well but it didn’t take me long to get back into the swing of things again.
“I’m ready for anything. Just show me the way and I’ll do it.” ●For tour info and tickets go to www. susanboylemusic.com