Living the dream: Susan Boyle wows the crowds at the Rockefeller Center in New York

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdNTh7fBC4gendofvid

[starttext]

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

The world's her oyster: Susan Boyle gave a belting performance live from the Rockerfeller Center in New York on the Today Show this morning


Boyle mania hit New York this morning.

The Scottish songstress sang live at the Rockefeller Center, performing songs from her new album The Gift.

The crowds thronged and clearly enjoyed every minute of Boyle's mini-concert, waving cardboard cut-outs of her face.


The 48-year-old was backed by a choir of children and seemed to be in great spirits, laughing and joking with the audience and waving her festive red scarf in between songs.

Boyle's performance included a bracing version of the Holiday classic Holy Night and a stirring rendition of Perfect Day.

In addition, Susan sang a duet with the winner of Susan’s Search, a worldwide competition that awarded the winner the opportunity to sing a duet on Boyle’s new album.

The winner was Amber Stassi, and their duet of Do You Hear What I Hear? was the perfect unity of two powerful voices.

When asked why she chose Amber over the thousands of other entries, Boyle replied that the mother of three, from Brewerton, New York has: 'a lovely, very beautiful voice.'

It's been an emotional roller coaster for Boyle since she shot to fame on the hit show Britain's Got Talent in April 2009.

Boyle,who has never been married and lives in a small town in Scotland with her cat, Pebbles, has done her fair share of crying as well as celebrating as her career has sky rocketed.


Boyle mania: The throngs of crowds queued for hours to get a glimpse of Boyle and many waved cardboard cut outs of the singer's face


At one point, after a number of public emotional melt-downs, the pressures of instant fame became to much for the delicately balanced singer and she had to check herself into a psychiatric facility for rest.

Boyle was born into a large family - she is the youngest of nine siblings.
She suffered mild brain damage and developmental problems growing up after she was deprived of oxygen at birth.

Boyle, who lived with her elderly parents in a small rented cottage in a remote area of Scotland, spent most of her adult life caring for them and nursing them until their deaths.

The singer 's father died in 1999 and just eight years later her mother, Bridget passed away.


Fine form: Boyle, who has suffered from emotional and depression problems in the past appeared to be in great spirits


Boyle sank into a deep depression and didn’t even have the energy to go to the karaoke nights at the local pub that had given her an outlet for her singing and a source of joy.

But she finally managed to pull herself out of her funk long enough to audition for Britain's Got Talent, something her mother had always encouraged, and the rest is history.

She appears to have become much stronger emotionally and this morning Boyle appeared balanced, up-beat and looked better than ever.

And it's gearing up to be a very happy Christmas indeed for Miss Boyle as she stays atop the Billboard charts for the second week in a row.

Music insiders are estimating sales of the Gift will reach 325,000 for just the past two weeks, with total sales so far topping 650,000.


Back-up: Boyle performed a total of three songs in front of a children's choir


She is also the only artist in more than 40 years to have two number one albums in both the U.S. and the UK in the same year.

The last group to achieve this rare milestone was The Beatles.
Next up for Boyle is a special Thanksgiving day performance on Matt Lauer's People Of The Year.

Boyle appeared on the show last year as well.

In addition to Boyle's performance, Matt Lauer is set to interview some of the most talked about people of 2010 for his primetime special.

LeBron James, Kim Kardashian, Justin Timberlake, Chilean miner rescuer Brandon Fisher, 'Hero Dad' James Jones and the New York Mosque developer all sit down with Lauer and speak candidly about themselves and their really big year.

People Of The Year will air Thursday 25 at 9PM on NBC.



Riding the wave: Boyle is set to perform on Matt Lauer's People of the Year special on Thanksgiving


source: dailymail [endtext]