Every once in a while something happens that sets the world of pop culture on its head. The latest in these events is the emergence of Susan Boyle – an unassuming charity worker from a small village in Scotland. The most basic of digging on the internet shows that Ms. Boyle spent the last ten years caring for her ill mother before she passed away and that she’s never had a relationship with a man or, as she calls it, she’s “never been kissed.”

Ms. Boyle appeared on Britain’s Got Talent, more specifically the episode that aired last weekend. And the reason why it’s important to note that she appeared on last weekend’s episode is because of how big of a phenomenon she’s become since then. As of this writing, the video of her on YouTube has garnered 29.9 million hits. In a week! Ms. Boyle is an internet sensation if there ever was one and she’s probably the most deserving one in history.

What is remarkable about Ms. Boyle is that the judges on Britain’s Got Talent (of which Simon Cowell is one) immediately wrote her off as a bland, hopelessly untalented wannabe. And the crowd in the theater was no better. They immediately fell back on to the sad innate biases of the 21st Century – that a 47-year-old, homely, somewhat frumpy looking virgin charity worker had nothing of significance to offer the world and thus, let’s laugh at her. In fact, if you watch the video linked above, you’ll hear that people are laughing at Ms. Boyle just as she stands on the stage. It’s ridiculous.

But the laughter immediately changes to adoration a few seconds into Ms. Boyle’s rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables. It’s stunning. It’s the type of real world reaction that the entertainment types cannot recreate and that no money can buy. And the humiliation embodied by the judges after Ms. Boyle’s amazing performance shows that there is at least some large degree of remorse that comes along with judging a book by its cover.

So, during a time when the global population is concerned about local, regional, and the worldwide economies and at a time when we’re not sure what the next day holds, it’s good to know that a person like Susan Boyle can become not just an internet sensation, but the hope of a generation. Like the rest of the world, America – and New Jersey – is pulling for Ms. Boyle to win this season of Britian’s Got Talent. Good luck!