09/17/2009 11:49 PM

Far be it from me to say 'I told you so!'

Far far from me to remind the nay-sayers and the gloaters who said she was "fragile" and "ill" that Susan Boyle blew them all away with her performance last night on "America's Got Talent."

The TinselTown crowd - and that's a tough crowd to impress - got to their feet and gave her a standing ovation after she sang her version of "Wild Horses" from the Rolling Stones.

Another 25 million viewers in their homes across America must have done the same.

I know I did.

From the moment she nailed that first difficult note, I thought "you've done it girl. You've come a long way from Blackburn now!"

Wearing a floor-length black gown, Susan showed just how far she - and we - have traveled.

It seems like light years ago when she first burst on to our screens in "Britain's Got Talent."

Sure, there's been road bumps along the way, and Susan was straightforward when she described the exhaustion which overtook her at the end of the "Britain's Got Talent" run.

"All I remember is being put in an ambulance and being taken to a clinic. I've never felt so tired. I look back at it now, it was a necessity because I was tired."

"I used to be a kind of spectator looking out at the world, but now I'm part of that world," she said. "And although frightening, I'm going to embrace it, because I feel a bit more confident within myself, more able to cope, more able to take part in the dream."

It's a dream come true alright, People were crying and cheering at the end of her song.

And even better,the girl they called "Susie Simple," at school has proved them all wrong.

I just wish her mother was here to see the success her daughter has become.

I expect she's looking down from heaven with tears in her eyes.