BoyleWatch: Jamie Pugh Outsings Susan on Britain’s Got Talent

He’s a pizza delivery guy, looks like “a real person,” and sings a song from Les Misérables. One could believe Jamie Pugh was simply copycatting Susan Boyle with his performance on this weekend’s Britain’s Got Talent. So why did I actually find this guy much more moving than the aforementioned “Hairy Angel”?

Perhaps I’m becoming more gullible with age, but, when he walked out on stage, I didn’t expect to hear the mousy Mr. Pugh sing with such passion. Keep your eye on judge Amanda Holden‘s face; she watches in utter shock as Pugh, clearly suffering from stage fright, sings “Bring Him Home”. He may not have the big notes of Boyle’s “I Dreamed a Dream” , but his performance is much more genuine and less calculating. His voice actually reminds me a bit of Stuart Staples, lead singer of the wonderful UK band Tindersticks (listen here).

Allow me a moment of cynicism to ask: Maybe he’s a plant by Domino’s? They are the sponsor of Britain’s Got Talent after all, and Pugh is a pizza delivery guy. And they need the good press these days.

Three more weeks of auditions until the live semi-finals on May 24th and May 25th, y’all! Until then, I’ll be bringing you your BoyleWatch as the news keeps comin’ in. And I promise: no pictures of her prancing down a beach in a red bikini.

In other news:

Annie Lennox offers her fellow Scotswoman Susan Boyle some advice: “If people like your music you can’t guarantee they’re going to love you, they’re going to hate you, you just never know. So you go along with the journey. You learn to be philosophical.”(Daily Record)
If she does this, she’s dead to me: Susan Boyle could check into I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here. Cut-rate celebrities like Rod Blagojevich and David Gest do things like this, not real talents.(Daily Mail)
Amy Winehouse was put in the hospital in St. Lucia after fainting due to “dehydration.”(BBC)
Months after Joe Satriani accused Coldplay of plagiarism, Cat Stevens says the mega-selling band stole the melody for “Viva La Vida” from his song, “Foreigner Suite.” By the way, note how The Sun makes sure you don’t miss their pun by making the “Cats” in “Copy Cats” red.
Thirty years ago today, Margaret Thatcher was elected the first female Prime Minister of the UK. For better or for worse.(Guardian)
Also, thirty years ago, Fawlty Towers was in its final season. The Guardian has a clip of John Cleese from an upcoming retrospective on the classic sitcom.
The Guardian‘s blogger Alan McGee will have another platform on which to self-promote – a new sitcom.
In his Guardian interview, legendary bad boy Mark E. Smith takes the piss out of the BBC workers moving from London to Manchester. Quote: “You can spot the BBC employees who move up to Manchester. They walk in the corner shop, these children’s TV presenters in stripey jumpers: ‘Oh, you’re Mark E. Smith, my brother had one of your records, I’ve just moved up here and it’s wonderful!’ They soon learn.”
Twilight pin-up Robert Pattinson talks about his new art film, Little Ashes, in which he plays Salvador Dalí. Nope, I’m not seeing it either.(Guardian)
David Beckham‘s career in pictures.(Telegraph)
Matt Lucas and David Walliams have finished their script for the Little Britain movie.(Chortle)
Sometimes, the victims of bad reviews, including Dame Judi Dench (!), strike back.(Telegraph)
Gillian Anderson, who recently appeared on The Graham Norton Show, talks about growing up in London, where she now lives permanently. “I thought how lucky I was to have had formative years growing up in London. A lot of Americans never set foot outside America. It can be an inward-looking country.”(Telegraph)
Princess Eugenie “was almost mugged” in Cambodia while on vacation. “The Queen’s granddaughter, who is sixth in line to the throne, was saved by two bodyguards when two robbers grabbed her friend’s purse. The two men from Scotland Yard’s elite SO14 protection squad grappled with the robber and rugby-tackled him.”(Daily Mail)
While in a Los Angeles diner last weekend, Sting‘s 18-year-old daughter, Coco, passed out and hit her head on a chair, fracturing her skull. She is recovering after four days in the hospital.(The Sun)
Photo: Michelle Pfeiffer in an on-screen bedroom scene with Keira Knightley‘s boyfriend. Safe for work, unless there’s some exposed nipple here I’m not seeing.(The Sun)