Footnotes: Boyle reaches out to unsung talent

Susan Boyle is offering to sing a duet with a talented unknown.

The Scottish singer Susan Boyle.

Everybody from 50 Cent to Lady Gaga has claimed they want to collaborate with her, but now Susan Boyle, 49, the unlikely singing sensation from Scotland who found fame on the reality TV show Britain's Got Talent, is opening up the opportunity to the public. If you've ever dreamed a dream of singing a duet with the Scottish songstress, this could be your chance. Advertised on her website as "Susan's Search - Giving Back the Gift of Music", the competition invites participants to upload a video of themselves singing Silent Night for the chance to record a duet with Boyle on her second album, The Gift. Boyle seems to be furthering her image as the neighbourhood dear, announcing that "not everyone has the confidence or the means to be able to enter a big public competition and so I feel that this way it will afford people the same opportunity but in a less daunting arena." Boyle even promises to listen to all the entries and claims that she will choose the winner herself.

Despite this down-to-earth demeanour, Boyle was named the seventh most influential person in the world by Time magazine in May, leaving her fourteen places above the US President Barack Obama. Her first album was also the biggest selling record of 2009, shifting nine million copies. Singers wishing to participate in what could be the ultimate album of weepy singalongs must submit their entries soon - the competition ends on July 23 and the winner will be announced on July 26. And if it leads to global fame, well at least Boyle, after her well-documented problems dealing with her sudden notoriety, should be able to provide some sensible advice on dealing with the press and the paps.