New York loves Susan Boyle as she tells of 'demolition ball' fame

Published on Monday 23 November 2009 21:58

SUSAN Boyle's record-breaking debut album is set to become the fastest- selling album of 2009, after smashing predicted first-day sales targets across the UK yesterday .

• Susan Boyle performs on the NBC Today Show television programme in New York where she discussed the almost suffocating pressures of sudden fame

The unlikely global phenomenon – who is on a triumphant promotional tour of the US – has proved a massive hit north of the Border, with retailer HMV forced to double its Scottish stock in the past few days to meet expected demand.

With 150,000 albums sold yesterday, experts are now predicting that sales will hit 350,000 by the end of the week before going on to claim the coveted Christmas No1 spot.

Speaking on America's premiere breakfast TV programme – The Today Show – the singer described yesterday how the pressure of sudden fame had brought her close to a breakdown.

Boyle said: "From no pressure to having all this pressure, I found it a bit suffocating."

The reclusive singer, who performed to a packed crowd in New York's Rockefeller Centre, also spoke about how fame had had a "demolition ball" effect on her wellbeing.

The 48-year-old from Blackburn, West Lothian, shot to fame in April after finishing as runner-up on ITV's Britain's Got Talent.

Following fears over her health and her ability to cope with new-found celebrity, she has maintained a low profile for the past six months.

Black Watch veteran James Semple was one Boyle fan in a steady trickle of buyers at the Princes Street branch of HMV in Edinburgh yesterday.

He said: "I usually only listen to Classic FM, but after hearing her sing I thought to myself, 'when this comes out , I must get one'." But while some predict a Christmas No1, staff at the store thought the album would become more of a "slow burner". One store worker said: "It's hard to gauge with so much hype if it will sell as well over time."

Shoppers in Princes Street yesterday also expressed their desire to support a fellow Scot.

Margaret Alexander, 52, from Edinburgh said that she would normally never venture into a high street music store. "But you've got to back your own, haven't you?" she said.

This was a sentiment echoed by Sheila Tate, 70, also from Edinburgh.

She said: "I'm buying my copy for a friend, it's great to see a Scot doing so well."

Yesterday's launch of Boyle's album comes on the back of a successful tour of America, where she also performed on the US reality TV show America's Got Talent.

While I Dreamed a Dream officially hit the shops yesterday, it had already broken pre-sales records at online retailer Amazon.

OFCOM RULING

BRITAIN'S Got Talent has been cleared of breaching broadcasting rules after hundreds of viewers complained about contestants, including Susan Boyle and Hollie Steele, appearing upset during the live final stages of this year's series.

Ofcom received more than 400 complaints from viewers about the final stages of the show, which aired in May.

Incidents included ten-year-old Steele breaking down after forgetting the words to Edelweiss and Boyle appearing shaken when she lost out to Diversity in the finals.

Ofcom found the show did not breach broadcasting rules.