Usually it's a bad sign when e-mail arrives with "you have to check this out" written in the subject line followed by five or six exclamation points. Most of what is sent my way is either certifiably evil -- or close to it. It's something that comes with the territory, so why should this be any different?

Clicking on the link, the face of Simon Cowell suddenly loomed. Great, it was going to be another one of those painful displays of non-talent by one of the hundreds of guileless reality show contestants who hasn't figured out that he or she has been trotted out as comic relief on one of the half-dozen freak shows Mr. Cowell has created over the years. This time the skewering would happen on "Britain's Got Talent" instead of its more familiar Yankee cousin, "American Idol."

There was the usual chit-chat before Mr. Cowell and his fellow judges would commence throwing pies. Their target would be a woman who, charitably speaking, bore an uncanny resemblance to the late John Candy crossed with Leonid Brezhnev.

That's when the world got its first look at an unemployed 47-year-old Scottish woman named Susan Boyle. She told hosts Ant and Dec that she had never been kissed. She had taken care of her elderly mother until she died in 2007 at 91. Since then, the native of a Blackburn, a small town in northeast Scotland, hadn't sung a note. Her cat Pebbles was home watching, waiting for the big moment as it unfolded live last Saturday.

Ms. Boyle told the judges she wanted to be like Elaine Paige. That brought the usual round of smirks and suppressed guffaws. Simon Cowell asked her why she never made it big. She told the judges with a smile that she never had the opportunity.

The reaction shots of the judges said it all. They believed Yeti and a family of Abominable Snowmen would scamper down from the Himalayas long before Susan Boyle would ever see her name on a marquee.

She was blissfully unaware that she was facing an audience that was more offended by her homeliness and belated ambition than the calculated cynicism of a Sanjaya Malakar or William Hung.

Ms. Boyle chose "I Dreamed a Dream" from the musical "Les Miserables" as her audition song.

From the moment she opened her mouth to the closing notes of the song, the audience and judges found themselves on a journey they never anticipated. Because Susan Boyle has a voice we've all been brainwashed into believing doesn't fit the way she looks, we weren't prepared for the stunning beauty that filled the theater.

Judges Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden gave Susan Boyle a standing ovation, as did the audience. She acknowledged the audience's generosity before turning and attempting to walk off the stage. She had no idea about the show's format, so the judges had to scream to get her back.

"I am so thrilled because I know that everybody was against you," Ms. Holden said. "I honestly think that we were all being very cynical and I think that's the biggest wake-up call ever. And I just want to say that it was a complete privilege listening to that."

Even Simon Cowell was effusive, feigning confidence in her abilities all along. Watching the video clip, I was stunned by the scope of Ms. Boyle's talent and the extent of my own shallowness for assuming the worst based solely on her looks. Maybe that explains why I had to blink back tears even on the second and third watch on Tuesday afternoon. It was already an Internet sensation by the time I stumbled on it.

Looks can be deceiving, but not always. We all "knew," based solely on his crazy eyes and weird hair, that legendary music producer Phil Spector was guilty of murder. The jury's verdict earlier this week merely confirmed what we knew in our hearts. Bulging eyes in a mug shot don't lie.

A colleague pointed out a profound observation in the comment section of YouTube that summed up our contradictory notions of beauty perfectly: "Isn't it something that Susan Boyle can sing and Victoria Beckham can't?"

Victoria Beckham, aka "Posh Spice" conforms to our culture's hyper-feminine ideal. She's emaciated and looks like a lollipop on steroids. Her face refuses to move no matter what the provocation. Despite her resemblance to an android, this synthetic concept of beauty and talent is embraced by men and women all over the world.

Will Susan Boyle have to get gastric bypass surgery and her eyebrows waxed to conform to our antiquated notions of what a singer should look like, or will she stick to the fundamentals of who she is? Will becoming one of the superficially Beautiful People compromise her soul?