“選秀”風(fēng)云：誰(shuí)是下一個(gè)平民巨星？

前段時(shí)間，“蘇珊大媽”紅遍網(wǎng)絡(luò)，大紅大紫之勢(shì)連美國(guó)總統(tǒng)都自嘆不如。這位其貌不揚(yáng)的大媽級(jí)人物擁有夜鶯般的天籟歌聲。自從在“Britain's Got Talent”(《英國(guó)達(dá)人》)節(jié)目上一鳴驚人之后，她的粉絲數(shù)量火速增加，上至總統(tǒng)夫人、好萊塢明星，下至平民百姓，全為了她一曲高歌而歡呼雀躍，感動(dòng)流淚。

其實(shí)，“蘇珊大媽”只是全球“選秀”活動(dòng)的一個(gè)成功縮影。美國(guó)的“American Idol”(《美國(guó)偶像》)、中國(guó)的《超級(jí)女聲》，還有全球各地轟轟烈烈舉行的各種選秀比賽，捧出了不少明星。他們擁有不容置疑的才華，這是他們成功的根本。假若我們用更理性的角度來(lái)評(píng)斷“蘇珊大媽”的爆紅現(xiàn)象，是否可以說(shuō)，正是一對(duì)本應(yīng)是無(wú)限對(duì)立的矛盾—平凡到有些抱歉的外形條件 vs. 精彩到近乎純粹的才藝展示，它們之間的巨大對(duì)比才成就了“蘇珊大媽”?

親愛(ài)的讀者朋友，你對(duì)這個(gè)話(huà)題又有什么看法呢?歡迎來(lái)信、來(lái)郵，或是登錄《瘋狂英語(yǔ)口語(yǔ)版》官方博客(http://csblogs.blog.163.com/)與我們討論!

Clip 1

With a projected 15 million watching on live TV， this would be the performance of a lifetime.

Host of “Britain’s Got Talent”: This is the one we’ve all been waiting for.

For the retiring 48-year old Scottish woman， Susan Boyle， and nine other finalists in the “Britain’s Got Talent” show， who would win the $160，000 first prize and the promise of a 1)lucrative musical career?

Host of “Britain’s Got Talent”: DIVERSITY!

In the end， Boyle was runner-up to a dance 2)troupe called “Diversity”， whom she congratulated graciously.

Boyle: The best people won.

She’s still likely to make millions of dollars in CD deals and 3)endorsements.

(Boyle singing)

Boyle， the 4)front-runner， exploded on the scene 7 weeks ago， her golden voice 5)belying her looks…(Boyle singing) making her an instant Internet superstar. The audition， downloaded more than 200 million times，

6)propelled her into the semi-finals.

(Boyle singing)

There， a slightly made-over if 7)jittery Susan Boyle stunned fans when she missed the opening notes of “Memories”， the theme from the musical “Cats”， before recovering to rousing applause.

But that was enough for some critics to question her talent. And then disturbing reports that Boyle shouted

8)obscenities at reporters in a hotel; she was said to be feeling the strain.

Piers Morgan (“Britain’s Got Talent” Judge): Someone who’s come from 9)anonymity to global stardom almost overnight， and we feel responsible for her and for her well-being.

Boyle was advised to stay in a safe-house to better cope with her new fame. Tonight she responded with her best effort yet.

(Boyle singing)

Simon Cowell (“Britain’s Got Talent” Executive Producer): You have the 10)guts to come back here tonight， face your critics， and you beat them.

Reporter: She may have lost tonight， but win or lose， Susan Boyle has become a successful trademark at home and abroad.

Susan Boyle’s dream almost came true. Back in Scotland her friends reacted to her loss with disbelief. But the shy woman， who lives alone with her cat， had won something too—a new life.

擁有一千五百萬(wàn)電視直播觀眾的關(guān)注，這可謂是一場(chǎng)一生中絕無(wú)僅有的表演。

《英國(guó)達(dá)人》主持人:這是一場(chǎng)我們期盼已久的比賽。

是這位(將近)48歲、失業(yè)的蘇格蘭女子蘇珊·博伊爾，還是其他9位進(jìn)入《英國(guó)達(dá)人》決賽的參賽選手，究竟，誰(shuí)將贏得16萬(wàn)美元(約等于10萬(wàn)英鎊)的冠軍獎(jiǎng)金和一份前途無(wú)限的音樂(lè)道路發(fā)展承諾?

《英國(guó)達(dá)人》主持人:萬(wàn)象!

最終，博伊爾敗給街舞組合“萬(wàn)象”，獲得亞軍。但她誠(chéng)懇優(yōu)雅地對(duì)冠軍表達(dá)了祝賀。

博伊爾:最好的選手獲得了冠軍。

不過(guò)她仍很有可能從CD唱片交易和合約中賺到數(shù)百萬(wàn)。

(博伊爾比賽歌唱中)

博伊爾，這個(gè)冠軍候選的大熱門(mén)，7個(gè)星期前亮相便一鳴驚人。與她普通的外表不符的甜美歌聲……(博伊爾歌唱中)讓她馬上成為網(wǎng)絡(luò)紅人。她的參賽視頻在網(wǎng)絡(luò)上被下載次數(shù)超過(guò)兩億次，也幫助她獲得進(jìn)入半決賽的資格。

(博伊爾歌唱中)

就是這里，如果說(shuō)一開(kāi)始緊張的蘇珊·博伊爾在演唱音樂(lè)劇《貓》的主題曲《回憶》開(kāi)頭部分就出現(xiàn)幾個(gè)音調(diào)走音，讓她的粉絲們緊張不已的話(huà)，她余下的發(fā)揮精彩到足以引起滿(mǎn)堂喝彩。

但那已經(jīng)留下足夠的證據(jù)讓一些評(píng)論家對(duì)她的才能品頭論足一番了。隨后就有報(bào)道說(shuō)，博伊爾在旅館對(duì)著記者大罵臟話(huà)，她開(kāi)始感受到成名的巨大壓力。

皮爾斯·摩根(《英國(guó)達(dá)人》評(píng)委):她就是那種一夜之間從默默無(wú)聞變成全球明星的人，我們覺(jué)得應(yīng)該對(duì)她和她的生活安寧負(fù)責(zé)任。

博伊爾被建議呆在一個(gè)不受侵?jǐn)_的地方，以求更快更好地適應(yīng)這些突如其來(lái)的光環(huán)與名聲。今晚，她用她最好的表現(xiàn)來(lái)回應(yīng)一切。

(博伊爾歌唱中)

西蒙·考威爾(《英國(guó)達(dá)人》執(zhí)行制作人):你今晚有勇氣回來(lái)，站在這個(gè)舞臺(tái)上，直面那些評(píng)論家，并最終打敗了

他們。

記者:她今晚可能輸了，但無(wú)論輸贏，蘇珊·博伊爾都已經(jīng)成為全國(guó)甚至全世界家喻戶(hù)曉的人物。

蘇珊·博伊爾的夢(mèng)想幾乎要成真了。在她的老家蘇格蘭，她的朋友對(duì)她失利都表示難以置信。但這個(gè)只與她的貓共渡人生的靦腆女人，也贏得了另一些東西——一種嶄新的生活。

Clip 2

(這段聲音資料中，蘇珊·博伊爾的蘇格蘭英語(yǔ)口語(yǔ)頗為濃重。建議讀者進(jìn)行泛聽(tīng)即可，當(dāng)然，想領(lǐng)略蘇格蘭鄉(xiāng)下口音的讀者朋友也完全可以從“蘇珊大媽”的訪(fǎng)談中感受一二。嘻嘻～)

Boyle: That’s not the response I expected， no.

Yeah， it’s understandable that 47-year old 11)amateur singer Susan Boyle didn’t expect her performance on “Britain’s Got Talent” to turn her into an overnight global phenomenon. But that’s exactly what it’s done. The unemployed church-goer has now proved more popular than Barack Obama on YouTube， and she has her own fans camped outside her home in Blackburne.

Boyle: I do feel rather overwhelmed and 12)humbled. I’m very humbled and very grateful.

Her new 13)mentor， Simon Cowell， is delighted for her. In a recent interview the talent 14)guru 15)marveled at how amazing it is that just a week or so ago no one had heard of Susan， and now there’s millions of people all over the world talking about her.

This isn’t Miss Boyle’s first taste of fame. She started singing when she was a child and has appeared on TV before.

Boyle: …singing from age 12， and I was in a lot of productions at school and a lot of productions in the…well， you know， in the choirs at school; stuff like that. And…there was a time when there was a bit of a gap and then went to acting school…did singing there， and then was taught privately singing， and another gap because of circumstances at home， and I decided then to turn professional， and…I did Michael Barrymore’s “My Kind of People (talent show)” after that， and then after that I did “Britain’s Got Talent”.

And the rest， as they say， is history. Like any pro star she won’t talk about her private life.

Boyle: Aah， No comment. No comment.

And she also reckons， like most of today’s 16)celebs do， that fame hasn’t and won’t change her.

Boyle: (It) hasn’t changed me one little bit. I keep me feet very firmly on the ground.

博伊爾:那不是我料想的反應(yīng)。完全不是。

是的，這位47歲的業(yè)余歌手蘇珊·博伊爾未曾料想過(guò)她在《英國(guó)達(dá)人》上的表演竟能一夜之間成為全球熱門(mén)話(huà)題，這件事是完全可以理解的。但這件事的確發(fā)生了。這個(gè)沒(méi)有固定工作的基督教徒如今在YouTube上的受歡迎程度比巴拉克·奧巴馬還高。在她位于布萊克本的家外面，也經(jīng)常聚集了她的歌迷。

博伊爾:我的確感到很有壓力，有點(diǎn)受寵若驚。我很受驚，同時(shí)也很感激。

她的新導(dǎo)師，西蒙·考威爾，也為她感到很高興。在一次最近的采訪(fǎng)中，這位選秀專(zhuān)家也驚嘆于一兩個(gè)星期前還默默無(wú)聞的蘇珊，現(xiàn)在竟成為世界上數(shù)百萬(wàn)人談?wù)摰慕裹c(diǎn)。

但這不是博伊爾小姐的首次亮相。她從小開(kāi)始唱歌，也曾經(jīng)在電視上出現(xiàn)過(guò)。

博伊爾:……我從12歲開(kāi)始唱歌，我參加了學(xué)校的許多活動(dòng)，還有……你知道，學(xué)校合唱隊(duì)的許多活動(dòng)，類(lèi)似這樣的。然后……有一段時(shí)間我中止了唱歌，又去了表演學(xué)校，在那兒唱歌;然后又接受了個(gè)人演唱培訓(xùn)，后來(lái)因?yàn)榧依锏那闆r又中斷了一段時(shí)間，最后我決定要成為職業(yè)歌手，于是，在那之后我參加了邁克爾·巴里摩爾主持的《我這樣的人》才藝表演節(jié)目，最終，我參加了《英國(guó)達(dá)人》。

就像其他人說(shuō)的，以前已經(jīng)成為歷史。跟別的職業(yè)明星一樣，她也避免談及她的私生活。

博伊爾:啊，我不作評(píng)論，不作評(píng)論。

另外，她也跟當(dāng)今的許多名人一樣，認(rèn)為名聲沒(méi)有，也不會(huì)改變她。

博伊爾:(名氣)一點(diǎn)兒也沒(méi)改變我。我現(xiàn)在仍然腳踏實(shí)地。

“選秀”比賽真能選出天才嗎?

Opinion 1

Susan Boyle is totally overrated. She’s definitely not all she’s cracked up to be.

Tips 1: “蘇珊大媽”現(xiàn)在無(wú)人不曉，但這位說(shuō)話(huà)者卻覺(jué)得大家對(duì)她的評(píng)價(jià)太言過(guò)其實(shí)(be overrated)，她可遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)沒(méi)有大家說(shuō)的那么好。“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”可謂一句錦囊妙句，表示某事、某物或某人遠(yuǎn)沒(méi)有大家說(shuō)的那么好。

Opinion 2

Of course they find talent! Look at stars like Jane Zhang， Kelly Clarkson and Leona Lewis. They all came from talent shows. The evidence speaks for itself.

Tips 2: 選秀選秀，選出來(lái)的當(dāng)然是優(yōu)秀的人才。從“選秀”比賽出道的不少明星現(xiàn)在都如日中天，比如《超級(jí)女聲》出來(lái)的張靚穎、首屆“American Idol”(《美國(guó)偶像》)冠軍Kelly Clarkson，還有英國(guó)選秀節(jié)目“The X Factor”總冠軍、曾在北京奧運(yùn)會(huì)閉幕式上為倫敦奧運(yùn)會(huì)高歌而為人熟知的Leona Lewis。看著這些人，還用懷疑“選秀”比賽的意義嗎?事實(shí)已經(jīng)說(shuō)明了一切。“sth. speak(s) for itself”表示某事物已經(jīng)證明了一切。

Opinion 3

Susan Boyle is a breath of fresh air. She brought the whole world together. What an inspiration!

Tips 3: “a breath of fresh air”，顧名思義，一縷清風(fēng)。把蘇珊·博伊爾稱(chēng)作“一縷清風(fēng)”，這位說(shuō)話(huà)者必是“蘇珊大媽”的支持者無(wú)疑了。他說(shuō)蘇珊把整個(gè)世界都連在一起，這是一件多么振奮人心的事情!(What an inspiration!)

Opinion 4

They don’t produce anything groundbreaking. They are just for people searching for their 15 minutes of fame.

Tips 4: 這位說(shuō)話(huà)者顯然對(duì)“選秀”比賽有更理性的看法，他認(rèn)為，歸根到底，“選秀”比賽都還是中規(guī)中矩，并沒(méi)做出什么大膽的、顛覆底線(xiàn)(groundbreaking)的表演。它們迎合了某些人想出名的心情。“15 minutes of fame”這個(gè)短語(yǔ)可是大有來(lái)頭，它由美國(guó)藝術(shù)家Andy Warhol于1968年提出，原句為:“Everyone has fifteen minutes of fame.”(每個(gè)人都能當(dāng)15分鐘的名人。)現(xiàn)在這個(gè)短語(yǔ)被廣泛用來(lái)表示(因媒體輿論關(guān)注而)短暫出名、大出風(fēng)頭。

Opinion 5

I’m head over heels for any type of talent shows: singing， dancing， whatever. I think it’s a great way to uncover hidden gems in the world.

Tips 5: “head over heels”從字面上很好理解，就是從頭到腳。從頭到腳都傾慕于某人或某物，這還不是神魂顛倒的意思?這位說(shuō)話(huà)者喜歡看各種類(lèi)型的“選秀”節(jié)目，包括歌唱、舞蹈，一切一切(whatever)。她認(rèn)為這是挖掘潛在人才的好方法呢。

Opinion 6

The talent show formula is not a one-way ticket to success. Sometimes they produce some real duds， but every now and then they find a true star.

Tips 6: 從“選秀”節(jié)目出來(lái)的明星也不能打包票一定會(huì)獲得成功。“a one-way ticket”本為“單程票”的意思，這里可以理解為“通往成功的必然路徑”。因?yàn)椋斑x秀”節(jié)目選出來(lái)的有一些人最終都?xì)w于平凡(duds)，只有少數(shù)幾個(gè)成為真正的明星。

Opinion 7

I couldn’t care less about that rubbish. Those shows are just like factories， pumping out cookie-cutter “artists”.

Tips 7: “I couldn’t care less.”=“I don’t care at all.”在非正式場(chǎng)合里，“I couldn’t care less”用來(lái)表示對(duì)某事毫不在意，毫不關(guān)心。說(shuō)話(huà)者覺(jué)得這些節(jié)目好像工廠一樣，制作出大量沒(méi)有什么特色的樣板明星出來(lái)。“cookie-cutter”是個(gè)很有意思的詞，它本來(lái)指那些做餅干用的模子，說(shuō)話(huà)者把“選秀”明星們比喻成餅干模子，就是諷刺他們千篇一律，沒(méi)有個(gè)人特色。

Opinion 8

Some people are quick to write talent shows off， but if they bothered to watch and listen， they would realize the talent. These people can actually sing， and a lot of the time they can sing better than “real” recording artists.

Tips 8: 有些人覺(jué)得看這類(lèi)“選秀”節(jié)目都是浪費(fèi)時(shí)間(write sth. off)，不過(guò)如果留心觀看一下，說(shuō)不定能聽(tīng)到或看到比職業(yè)人士更好的表演。“write sth. off”也作“write off sth.”，表示在沒(méi)有任何證據(jù)的情況下就斷定某事是不好的、不會(huì)成功的。無(wú)論是對(duì)“選秀”節(jié)目還是其他事情，這種態(tài)度可不太好哦。