Tuesday 21 April 2009

Susan Boyle breaks past 100 million online views

Scotland's Susan Boyle left many viewers in Britain spellbound by her singing on a television talent show, but industry watchers say it's the Internet that has turned her into an international phenomenon. She has "clicked" with the online public at a record-setting pace, tracking firm Visible Measures said on Monday.

The latest numbers put Boyle at 103 million total video views on more than 20 different Web sites, said Matt Fiorentino, a spokesman for Visible Measures. It was only on April 11 that Boyle gained public attention with her performance on TV show "Britain's Got Talent", and Fiorentino said that Boyle has become the fastest growing Internet sensation his firm has ever seen.

Compare her numbers to another viral video sensation, the December incident of an Iraqi journalist throwing a shoe at former U.S. President George W. Bush, which had 21.4 million online video views in a week, Fiorentino said.

Clips of Boyle's performance on "Britain's Got Talent" have generated 91.6 million views to date, Visible Measures said. The rest of the online views have been for other material, such as Boyle's 1999 rendition of "Cry Me a River", interviews and fan videos.

By comparison, comedian Tina Fey's impersonation of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on NBC sketch comedy show "Saturday Night Live" has generated 34.2 million views. Boyle has yet to reach the Internet success of singer Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body", a video that has been seen 164 million times since it was posted online a little more than a year ago, according to Visible Measures.

Boyle, 47, is an unlikely pop star, with untamed hair and a plain-spoken manner. But none of that has blunted her online appeal. "She's definitely among the heavy hitters in viral video history," Fiorentino said.

(Reuters)



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