Sheet....

There were two occasions when I said "Shite!" last night. The second occasion was when the Porto net bulged from Ronaldo's wonder goal. The first was when Susan Boyle crooned the opening line of "I dreamed a dream".

I've looked at the video a few times since - mainly to listen to her sing - and I've been wondering why it's so compelling. It's not just me who's enthralled. Catriona's beside me 'singing' along (take a bow, Milli Vanilli) and Susan's been installed as the favourite to win Britain's Got Talent 2009 by the British bookies. And she's a viral hit on the internet.

Looking at it objectively, you don't expect 47-year olds to join a talent show and sing their socks off. So there's the age factor. It's not ageism, it's just that you'd expect talent like that to have been discovered sooner.

Then there's her appearance, which is like totally ........ decent. Exactly what you'd expect an aunty to wear to church. So no raised expectations there either.

But looking at the video again, what really lowers expectations is her voice. Listen to her as she's being interviewed by Ant & Dec and Simon Cowell. Her speaking voice is nothing remarkable. Nobody's expecting great things after listening to her speak.

That's why, when she starts to sing, you get the raised eye brows and the dropped jaws. I was going "Where did THAT come from ?" . Her singing voice is completely different from her speaking voice. And even though the history of talent shows is littered with more misses than hits, I feel pretty certain that Susan Boyle will be a success. Even at the age of 47. I know I'd buy her album.