Okay - let the lashings begin...

I went ahead and bought the Susan Boyle debut CD.  Seriously.  I haven't bought an actual CD in years - with the exception of the Vera Lynne CD we bought for Brian's mom for Christmas, everything I have bought musically has been via downloads.

And I'm totally not ashamed.

Granted, Susan is not a trained singer.  She is not Lady Gaga.  She is not Madonna.

But you have to give her props, regardless.

I mean, I have a total jealousy love/hate thing going here.  My father and grandfather were naturally gifted tenors.  Even my indigent, drug-addled, mentally deficient ape-smack of a younger brother seems to have inherited a legitimate voice.

And I did once. I used to have a gorgeous falsetto -  the voices of angels expressed through a spotty adolescent.  I sang with my father in a barbershop chorus.  I used to sing for family - tears were shed over the absolute crystalline gorgeousness of my voice.

Then - puberty hit.

I went from a tenor to a lead to a baritone to a bass - all in the space of about 3 months.

I could belt out an Oak Ridge Boys bass line - but I could no longer achieve those angelic heights of musical bliss that I once could.  I mean, what fun is singing with your lower intestine?

And then I gave up.  If I had one regret in life, it's that I never developed my new voice.

Susan is like a sister to me.  She's an underdog.  She has raw talent - like we all did at one time in our life.

She may not be as technically proficient as today's pop or Broadway/West End stars, but I couldn't imagine being confident enough to stand up against the orchestration of Madonna's "You'll see."

But her rendition of "Who I was born to be" gives you a glimpse of her real talent - strong, heartfelt and real. A natural artist with a gorgeous voice.

Not all the tracks are to my taste, but I'm glad to have dipped my toe in to see what she has.

I predict great things for Ms. Boyle.

If nothing else, she will always have a fan in me.