Hot off the heels of her highly anticipated CD which has become the most pre-ordered album of all-time, Susan Boyle, the global music sensation who recently captured the hearts of fans around the world, will star in an original one-hour television special exclusively on TV Guide Network. The worldwide premiere of "I Dreamed a Dream: The Susan Boyle Story" airs on Sunday, December 13 at 9:00 p.m. on ITV1 in the UK, followed by the exclusive North American premiere on TV Guide Network at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT. The show will celebrate this extraordinary woman's journey from a small village in rural Scotland to international fame and fan-fare following her inspiring performance on "Britain's Got Talent", the British reality competition series executive produced by Simon Cowell that rocketed Susan Boyle to superstardom.
"Susan Boyle is one of those rare personalities who has captivated millions of fans around the world with her undeniable vocal talent and incredible life story," said Ryan O'Hara, President of TV Guide Network and TVGuide.com. "For the first time ever, fans will have an opportunity to see Susan Boyle shine on stage in her own spotlight, witness amazing musical performances in a concert setting, as well as gain insight into the challenges she overcame as she rose to an international phenomenon."
A co-production between talkbackTHAMES, the UK Production Company owned by FremantleMedia, and Simon Cowell's Syco TV, "I Dreamed a Dream: The Susan Boyle Story" will include exclusive interviews with Susan, friends and celebrity fans such as Simon Cowell, alongside spectacular performances with special guests and other surprises. Susan will premiere songs from her new CD including, "Cry Me a River" and the Rolling Stones classic "Wild Horses" as well as a very special performance of the song that launched her to global superstardom; "I Dreamed A Dream," with the London West End cast of Les Miserables.
Lisa Honig, VP Sales, USA and Canada, for FremantleMedia Enterprises said, "Audiences in North America, and indeed worldwide, have embraced Susan Boyle and this television special will allow them to get to know her and her life story even better. Very rarely does this sort of thing happen, Susan is such a genuine personality and her story is ultimately one of the most compelling."
On January 21, 2009 a shy, devout 47-year old woman stepped onto the stage of the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow to audition for "Britain's Got Talent." In front of the three-strong panel of judges charged with determining which of this year's British hopefuls really did have talent, Susan Boyle's performance became a watershed moment that neither she nor anyone involved in the show could possibly have foreseen. During her three and a half minutes of television airtime, Susan Boyle elicited a moment of pure, molten zeitgeist that became both her and the show's defining moment. Her dazzling performance of the song "I Dreamed a Dream," from the musical Les Miserables, confounded the "Britain's Got Talent" judges and the studio audience. A media wave grew feverishly after the performance, and 300 million YouTube views later, Susan Boyle embodied a new kind of international fame.
?Susan Boyle will make her highly anticipated album debut with ‘I Dreamed A Dream' out on Columbia November 24 and once again, defy preconceptions. Produced by Steve Mac, ‘I Dreamed A Dream' features her signature songs, "I Dreamed A Dream" and "Cry Me A River." The album also includes a haunting rendition of Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses," Madonna's "You'll See," The Monkees' ‘Daydream Believer,' and "Who I Was Born To Be," an original recording written specially for Susan. Susan enthused: "It was my greatest ambition to release an album and I have finally achieved it. There is happiness out there for everyone who dares to dream."
