Elaine Paige's comments on Susan Boyle were too bad to be true, and she has now apologized.

She stated "I wasn’t referring to Susan herself; I was referring to the speed of her fame spreading as fast as a worldwide viral marketing campaign. I am a huge supporter of Susan Boyle and admire what she has achieved. 

“I have always said it’s very hard for someone to be fast-tracked to stardom without any prior experience – I know this as it happened to me when ‘Evita’ opened and I found it extremely difficult in the beginning.

“Today, of course, it’s much harder with the phenomenon of the internet – Facebook, YouTube, etc. - it seems it only takes minutes for fame to spread around the world - and that’s why I used the word ‘virus.'"

Why do I not believe her?

Because I think Paige, like many other major stars, has just not been able to accept the Susan Boyle story for what it is – a global phenomenon, built on the internet and whizzed around the world faster than the speed of sound. Paige probably genuinely believes that Boyle does not deserve the trappings of fame and fortune and believes they came to early and too soon for her.

But nothing could be further from the truth.

Susan Boyle struggled every day of her life – and continues to do, in a world that was often hostile to her.

Her early days were a battle against bullyings and beatings. Her later life was consumed with long-term care of her mother and trying to find a role for herself after she passed on.

Susan Boyle has had nothing handed to her, far from it – she has spent enough time at the table waiting for her aces to show up. When they did, she proved she could play with the best of them – including Ms. Paige.

I think Elaine and all those other performers who have voiced their criticism of Boyle should accept her for what she is – the first superstar of the new decade, an unlikely story where Cinderella became the princess. Maybe then they would calm down.