LEAVE SUSAN BOYLE ALONE!

The thing that irks us the most about the whole Boyle phenomenon is how the show's producers (including evil genius Simon Cowell) have exploited her eccentricity and, let's face it, her homeliness, for their own gains. Sure, barring some sort of spectacular flameout in the finals, her worldwide name recognition will pretty much allow her to make millions (of which Simon and crew will undoubtedly get a substantial cut) and to do whatever she pleases for the next couple of years. Still, the cynic inside of us can't help but feel like she's been positioned as a reality-show version of a circus freak — hey, look at the dowdy frump with the mildly appealing voice!

SHOOT: If you were being exploited it would piss you off wouldn't it? Question is, can she turn it to her advantage? Can anyone?

clipped from nymag.com After a shaky performance in the BGT semifinals, in which the show's producers attempted to position the Hairy Angel as a Christlike figure, Boyle apparently had a bit of a meltdown, in which she shouted profanities at both television screens and policemen (bobbies?). As you might expect, the British tabloids jumped all over the story: "SuBo Goes Loco!" shouted the Sun. "Boyling Point!" screamed the Mirror. After being assaulted by the press for days on end, frankly we're shocked that Chris Crocker hasn't come out of retirement to post a "Leave Susan Boyle alone!" rant on YouTube. We'll be honest with you here. Frankly, we don't care if Susan Boyle wins or loses the competition; if you were to press us for an answer, we'd kinda like to see that Shaheen Jafargholi kid take home the prize. Still, that doesn't mean that we're rooting against Susan Boyle, not in the slightest.