I'm not a fan of reality TV or talent shows and I find Simon Cowell's persona (and trousers) so unattractive that I don't usually watch his programmes.
But after seeing the phenomenon that is Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent last weekend and online via pretty much every world-wide media outlet this week, I've had to adjust my attitude.
What is it about Susan Boyle that's made her admittedly outstanding vocal performance a world-wide success, with some 10m hits on YouTube alone?
Somehow the combination of her appearance and manner and her astonishing performance has reduced a global audience to tears.
Is it her voice, her straightforward, simple manner, her determination to be heard, her frumpiness, her ordinariness, her total lack of ego?
Or has she attracted adulation as a result of the wider recession, global depression and our shared need to be encouraged and uplifted?
Does her joyous performance inspire us to hope that we similarly ordinary folk no longer in the first flush of youth, can also aspire to success?
Whatever it is - and it may be some of all of the above, Susan Boyle has managed to create what so many of us secretly wish we could generate and somehow take advantage of - unparallelled and entirely positive adulation.
And now the person Susan Boyle most seeks to emulate, musical actress Elaine Paige, has offered to duet with her.
Astonishing. Simply astonishing.* * * * * * * * * * *
I have never before seen the fruit machine behind anyone's eyes come up all cherries! Watch Simon Cowell's eyes as he watches Susan Boyle and see for yourself! * * * * * * * * * * *
Another terrific act from Britain's Got Talent hit the headlines this weekend; check out the performance of Shaheed Jafargholi from Wales. Two incredible performances in two weeks, that's some going, even for Simon Cowell.
I don't know what it is about the People's Plinth and Anthony Gormley's idea that I like so much, but like it I do.
Anthony Gormley is an artist, sculptor, all-round man of the people and best known (I guess) as the designer of Angel of the North, the immense open-armed metal structure, modelled on himself, that towers above the A1 and welcomes travellers to Gateshead and Tyneside.
Now he's been charged with filling the fourth plinth in London's Trafalgar Square for 100 days from 6 July this year.
I'm guessing it was anticipated Gormley himself might sculpt an artistic creation for the purpose. But no.
Used to producing BIG ideas Gormley's come up with something even bigger and more monumental than anything he's come up with before - and after the Angel nobody thought that was possible.
Gormley's idea is truly monumental; he's inviting people from all over the UK to apply for a one hour slot to do whatever they want on the plinth, as long as it's legal.
For a total of 2,400 hours the fourth plinth will be a representation of humanity, time allocated according to areas of population in an effort to make this a genuinely national 'work'.
For artistic work it most assuredly will become, a 100-day living monument in the company of Trafalgar Square's existing male, military figures, allowing us, the viewer, to reflect on the individual in contemporary society. Apparently.
Thankfully there's BIG money behind this idea, funding 4 cameras on the plinth, all streaming live via Sky Arts and recorded as an archive. A BIG project, indeed.
Will the People's Plinth become an artistic 'Big Brother'? Is this a reality-TV experiment that will attract applicants intent on grabbing 60 minutes of fame where 15 seconds are usually more than enough? Are we going to be watching the creative equivalent of paint drying?
With a sky-high risk factor, a height at which Gormley is after all used to operating, this idea is surely the ultimate in public, community, art and without question a potentially thrilling idea.
Anthony Gormley's People's Plinth project is called One & Another. For an hour on the People's Plinth applicants must be over 16 and UK residents. Volunteers will be lifted to the plinth via a lift platform, making it disabled accessible. Applications can be made immediately and those chosen will be notified from April.
Register at www.oneandother.co.uk or send a large envelope and £1.08 in stamps to Artichoke, Toynbee Studios, 28 Commercial Street, London E16AB.
GOOD LUCK and see you at the Plinth!
I'm not a fan of reality TV or talent shows and I find Simon Cowell's persona (and trousers) so unattractive that I don't usually watch his programmes. 
