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Ouch! Susan Boyle’s Lifelong Idol Calls Her a “Virus”

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When Susan Boyle began her unlikely rise to stardom as a contestant on Britain's Got Talent, she told a skeptical Simon Cowell and other judges that she dreamed of becoming "as big as Elaine Paige." Paige is a world-renowned singer and musical theater veteran.

But Paige — with whom Boyle had a life-fulfilling duet in December –isn't that impressed with Boyle, 48.

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At a recent event in London, the British Paige, 61, slammed Boyle as "a virus really that spread across the world in a nanosecond."

And although Paige helped inspire Boyle, Paige quipped "I don't particularly feel any pride for her." Crediting Boyle's overnight success to her famous YouTube clip (played over 100 million times), she dismisses the Scottish woman as an amateur. "She is a girl with no experience of anything to do with theatrics, the music business, or art in any way."

Related: More outrageous star behavior -- see the slideshow

Paige isn't very enamored of talent competitions like Britain's Got Talent and the X Factor (which Cowell will bring to the U.S. soon). She quipped that they "just take a bunch of people from real life who think they can sing and try and turn them into overnight 'stars' with a couple of songs..Ha ha. It's not entertainment.'"

Related: Susan's not the only overnight singing sensation: remember these sudden stars?

Despite blockbuster sales of her debut album (eight million copies already sold), Boyle isn't having a great week: on Tuesday, she returned to her home in Scotland to find an intruder. "I'm fine," she told Britain's Press Association Wednesday. "It's in the hands of the police now."

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