News
THE STORY OF “I DREAMED A DREAM” – THE TV SPECIAL.
8th January 2010
The past month has seen the unfolding of the dream for Susan Boyle. Susan has sold over 4 million albums to date and smashed music records worldwide. She has seen chart success in over 20 countries, hitting number one in the UK, USA, Australia, Canada, Switzerland and many more.
After some time off in Scotland at the beginning of December, Susan flew in to London to film her TV special which was aired to record breaking audiences in the UK and around the world.
Filming for ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ started back in August at Susan’s home in Scotland and on the shores of Loch Lomond.
At that time Nigel Hall, the show’s film maker, thought he was simply there to film a short piece to promote Susan’s album.
It soon became apparent to the crew, the producer and the interviewer that what was unfolding was far more special. For the first time, Susan Boyle was speaking frankly, intimately and passionately about her life. Both at her home in Scotland, and at her local Church, she spoke with honesty about the subjects close to her heart; her faith, her childhood and her gratitude and respect for the close-knit community from which she comes.
The following day in an enlightening interview at the Cameron Hotel, Loch Lomond, against a back drop of crackling fires, and bagpipe music, Susan spoke freely about the events which led to her becoming the biggest – and most unwitting - YouTube phenomenon of the decade.
The highlight of the trip for Susan was taking a seaplane ride over the coast of western Scotland and being piped home as she stepped onto Scottish ground. “That was brilliant – fantastic – one of the best experiences of my life!” she commented.
As the final day of shooting drew to a close it became obvious to all involved that they were no longer making a quiet promotional video, they were making a TV special: the story of Susan Boyle’s dream needed to be shared.
Once the idea had been born, and after several months of planning, ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ was scheduled to be filmed December 6th and 7th at The London Studios.
Filmed over two days, the show consisted of that revealing interview material and four magical performances from Susan: ‘Who I was Born To Be’, ‘I Know Him So Well’ - her duet with Elaine Paige, ‘Cry Me a River’ and THAT finale - ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ with the cast of Les Miserables.
After her duet with Elaine, Susan returned to her dressing room where she was overcome by what had just happened: “I can’t believe I have just sung on a stage with Elaine Paige – she is an icon of the stage. I know I don’t have the years behind me that she has had but I sang with her as an equal. That is something I never thought I would do.”
Most stars of Susan’s stature have very specific demands for their back stage riders: Susan’s? Some ham sandwiches, honey, lemon and hot water and a selection of mini chocolate bars!
She did, however, receive an enormous bouquet of white roses from Simon Cowell which took pride of place on her dressing room table..
Susan’s dressing room was mostly very quiet during the recording of the show. However, at one stage during the second evening, the small room was packed with celebrity visitors and well wishers including Piers Morgan and Paul O’ Grady. In typical humble fashion, Susan accepted their good wishes and said afterwards, “Wow! I can’t believe they were all here to see me – that was Paul O’ Grady for goodness sakes! Everyone has been so supportive and so kind!”
At the end of two long days, Susan loaded her suitcase, her flowers and her platinum disc into the boot of a waiting car and then, before speeding off into the night, took time to reflect on the events of the past two days, “This has been a very special time. I always had this dream, today that dream became a reality. I hope it never ends.”
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