The 48-year-old Britain’s Got Talent runner-up shifted more than 130,000 copies of her debut album as it went on sale yesterday. Susan has already sold two to three times the estimated pre-release total for retailers and set a record for the highest preorder record of all-time at Amazon.

She’s expected to move over 500,000 copies of her debut album and outsell Rihanna, Adam Lambert, and even Lady Gaga — who are all releasing discs this week.

I Dreamed A Dream features her version of I Dreamed A Dream from the stage productionLes Miserables, which catapulted her to fame when she performed the song on Britain’s Got Talent earlier this year.
The album also includes the standard Cry Me A River, as well as covers of Madonna’s You’ll See and The Monkees’ Daydream Believer.

I Dreamed a Dream: The Susan Boyle Story will also feature performances by Boyle, 48, plus interviews with friends and celebrities, including Simon Cowell, a producer of the special.

On Thursday, the online entertainment store announced that the eagerly-awaited album, which is scheduled for release on Nov. 23, has exceeded the record previously set by Japanese rock group Mr Children’s Supermarket Fantasy in 2008.

“Just eight months ago, no-one was aware of the talents of Susan Boyle. Now, she has generated more Amazon pre-order CD sales globally than any other artist,” Julian Monaghan, Head of Music at Amazon, said in statement praising the shy native Scott. “That is an incredible achievement and is testament to the fact that she has captured the hearts of people all over Britain, America and the rest of the world.”

Columbia Records Chairman Steve Barnett added: “One of the things that is so unique about Susan Boyle is her ability to touch people around the world. We’re excited that I Dreamed A Dream holds the new record for global pre-orders and that Amazon’s customers have supported her album in this way.”

Susan Boyle rose to prominence as a contestant on the British talent competition Britain’s Got Talent last spring. Susan lost her shot at the championship during the show’s finale. Instead, settling comfortably into second place behind popular dance troupe Diversity.

The Scottish singer — who claimed international fame when she appeared on the UK reality competition Britain’s Got Talent earlier this year — says she was hit with a belt every day by teachers and taunted by classmates.

Speaking to London’s Daily Mirror in her first interview since finishing her debut album, I Dreamed A Dream, Susan, 48, said: “You’re looking at someone who would get the belt every day… ‘Will you shut up, Susan!’ – whack!”

She continued: “I was often left behind at school because of one thing or another. I was a slow learner. I’m just a wee bit slower at picking things up than other people. So you get left behind in a system that just wants to rush on, you know? That was what I felt was happening to me.”

Susan added referring to her experiences of being bullied at school: “There was discipline for the sake of discipline back then. But it’s all very different now. I think teachers are taught to understand children with learning disabilities a lot better,” she said. “There’s nothing worse than another person having power over you by bullying you and you not knowing how to get rid of that thing.”

During an appearance on Sirius Radio’s Opie & Anthony last week, Osbourne, 57, slammed the Britain’s Got Talent runner-up, 48, for being hit by “the ugly stick.”

In September, Susan performed on America’s Got Talent — the show for which Sharon is a judge.

After her daughter Kelly was forced to defend herself against a Twitter user who took her to task over her mother’s SuBo slam, the Osbourne matriarch issued a public apology to the talent show sensation:

“Susan Boyle is a lovely gracious woman and I took advantage of that by poking fun at her. I would never want to be responsible for hurting Susan, and I must apologize for getting a cheap laugh at her expense,” Sharon wrote.

Susan Boyle’s debut album, I Dreamed A Dream, drops on Nov. 23

Boyle, who finished in second place in Simon’s Britain’s Got Talent TV series, was left shaken after the “middle-agedd American woman” began bombarding her with letters and showed up at her home in West Lothian, Scotland last week, an insider dished to London’s The Sun on Thursday.

Simon is particularly concerned about the stalker after “Bleeding Love” hitmaker Leona Lewis, who was mentored by the Idol judge on The X Factor in 2008, was punched in the face by a 29-year-old man at a book-signing event in London last month.

“Simon is not taking any chances. This woman is constantly following Susan around the world. It is a middle-aged American woman who has become obsessed with her. At first, people thought it was no more than a nuisance. But after what happened to Leona (Lewis) everyone is taking extra precautions,” say the snitch.

Late Friday evening, ABC confirmed that Susan will perform on next week’s Dancing With the Stars. Susan will likely perform material from her upcoming CD, I Dreamed A Dream, due out Nov. 24. Ironically, DWTS is the same ABC hit where Sharon’s daughter, Kelly Osbourne, is a contestant.

Sharon has been known to pop up periodically throughout the season to support Kelly. In interview on “The Opie & Anthony Show” earlier this week, Sharon slammed Susan’s looks as she talked about seeing a picture of the Britain’s Got Talent star next to her rock ‘n’ roll husband, Ozzy Osbourne.

“There’s this great picture of Susan Boyle, smiling, looking like a slapped ass next to Ozzy,” Sharon said bursting into laughter.

She also added that Susan appears to have been hit with a “fucking ugly stick.” For the record, this is what Sharon looked like before she dropped a few G’s on gastric bypass and plastic surgery…

Pot, kettle, black?

Simon Cowell, for one, is not surprised by Sharon’s attack on the Britain’s Got Talent star.
According to The Daily Mail, Simon — who signed Susan to his SyCo Record Label earlier this year –thinks that the incident was not out of character for the TV personality, who he worked with on the UK series The X-Factor.

A source close to the music mogul blabs: “This is so typical of Sharon. She never knows when to keep her mouth shut.”