Elevation

A few months ago, Roger Ebert wrote about the emotion Elevation - the feeling of having witnessed something good. He cited a Slate article that described President Obama's success in evoking elevation in people who watch his speeches.

The internet has been buzzing about Susan Boyle's performance of "I Dreamed A Dream" on Britain's Got Talent auditions. It does not surprise me in the least that her rendition is soul stirring and uplifting. She goes on stage, and she's not much to look at. Her dress is unflattering and her hair is unkempt. She sasses the judges with a working-woman's accent. It's obvious the audience thinks she's a joke.

Until she sings. And then the joke is on everyone else. Everyone realizes they just saw something remarkable. I think Simon lied, but that's just me. :)

For the record, I doubt a story like this would happen in the United States. I think our entertainment industry is much too shallow.

Susan could not have picked a better song to invoke elevation in her audience. It's a song of a broken dream, and still wanting it even though it will not come to pass. The 10th Anniversary Les Miserables version always makes me feel. . . something. The anguish and frustration in Fantine's voice always invokes so many feelings in me. Yet she still sounds defiant; indomitable.

Susan took this song of a broken dream and made it hers. She made Fantine's anguish her own, and proved to Great Britain that she deserved her spot in Britain's Got Talent more than her competitors.

I could go on and say something about how we only expect conventionally pretty people to be good at stuff, but I think that's for a different post.

Speaking of Les Miserables, the best example of a song from that musical that invokes elevation in me every time is Do You Hear The People Sing? Wow. The encore arrangement is more powerful in terms of impact, but I prefer the original lyrics.