By Eric Ditzian
Lily Allen learned an important lesson this weekend when she took to Twitter to question Boyle's singing chops and to respond to fans who angrily disagreed with Allen's sentiment. Granted, it's a lesson Allen probably should have learned already, having feuded publically with Amy Winehouse, Kylie Minogue and Katy Perry, among others. But apparently Allen hadn't — nor did she seem to take into account the hallowed ground upon which laughingstock-turned-superstar Boyle now treads — and she took the Scottish singer to task after her somewhat shaky "Britain's Got Talent" rendition of the "Cats" musical number, "Memory," this past weekend.
Allen started off by writing, "Susan Boyle is so overrated."
An hour passed before she offered a French-ish addendum in an attempt to backpedal — "Je suis overrated aussi" — that roughly translates to, "I am overrated too."
That admission didn't seem to quiet Allen's detractors, and the singer turned huffy on them. "Listen, I'm allowed to have an opinion," she Tweeted. "I thought her timing was off, no control, and I don't think she has an amazing voice."
And five minutes later: "Yes, she can sing, but it's not about talent with her is it? She seems like a lovely lady but if it's about talent, that Shaheen [Jafargholi] kid should win."
Allen could have stopped there — after an attack, a lighthearted self-deprecation, a lengthier restatement of the original attack and a grudging retreat — but she didn't. Instead she plowed forward with some whinier self-deprecation: "I have never in my life claimed to be talented," she wrote. "I do work hard at writing songs and putting on entertaining concerts though."
Finally, Allen responded to a fan who said the singer does not hold a candle to Beyoncé, saying, "No, but we do have similar thighs."