Talent show contestant Susan Boyle has topped the charts with her debut album "I Dreamed A Dream." The 48-year-old Scottish singer famously finished second on "Britain's Got Talent," but she won favor with many and launched a career that has seen her win success on both sides of the Atlantic. According to the Official Charts Company, which tracks music sales in Britain, more than 410,000 copies of "I Dreamed a Dream" have sold since its release on 23rd November, making it the fastest selling album so far this year. The sales figures are also the largest first-week sales for a debut album in UK chart history. Her new CD also sold over 700,000 copies in the United States during its first week, setting a first week sales record for a female debut album and the highest selling debut album since 1993. Boyle did not possess the typical glamorous image of a potential star when she appear on "Britain's Got Talent". Wearing a dowdy dress and with locks of untidy hair it did not appear she would swoon anybody, least of all the judges which included producer Simon Cowell. But as she began to sing the atmosphere changed immediately. Her soaring vocals earned a smile and raised eyebrows from Cowell and a standing ovation from the audience. "In 'Britain's Got Talent' she opened her mouth and the world fell in love with her, which is why her album has been the fastest selling of any woman making her debut," Cowell said. "She's amazing." Since the show, in which she eventually finished second to a dynamic dance troupe called "Diversity", Boyle has become one of the more recognizable faces of British music, both at home and abroad. Since her first appearance on television Boyle has received a glamorous makeover, been photographed by an upmarket fashion magazine, and been profiled for "NBC's People of the Year" special in the United States. In Britain, she's appeared as a special guest on a popular talent show, "The X Factor." "I accept now that my life will never be the same. And I don't want it to end," Boyle told Matt Lauer on the special, according to an NBC transcript. Of her number one album success, Boyle said only, "it's fantastic". Sources: Xinhua
