Gordon Cook, 55, has used the bizarre "DIY dentistry" technique on a loose crown for the last three years
William Kelly, 43, extracted part of his own tooth, leaving a black stump. He plans to pull one more.
Posted on 06/19/2007 2:05:17 AM PDT by beaversmom
Singing mobile phone salesman Paul Potts woke up £100,000 richer today after winning television show Britain's Got Talent, and revealed that he will spend part of his prize money clearing debts and improving his teeth.
Paul Potts, 36, won over the nation with a performance of Nessun Dorma in the final of the hit ITV1 talent show, watched by 12.1 million viewers.
The former Tesco shelf-stacker from Port Talbot, South Wales, will now perform in front of the Queen at the Royal Variety Performance.
Potts said that his win had not yet sunk in but that he was planning to pay off his £30,000 debts - although he was not 100-per cent sure about giving up his day job. Related Links
Potts spent £12,000 on singing lessons before deciding his dream was not meant to be. He began stacking shelves in Tesco but had to quit work because of a spell of ill health.
Doctors treated him for appendicitis and removed a benign tumour, while Potts also broke his collarbone.
He landed a job at Carphone Warehouse after battling back to health and married a woman he met on the internet.
Today Potts said: "There are a few people who are going to want me to pay off some debts.
"Two years off sick knocks you for six when all you have to live on is your credit card. I had to work hard just to keep my head above water.
"I still can't believe I'm in this position. I don't know how long it's going to take to sink in. At the moment it's all a bit of a haze."
Potts, who has also landed a record deal with Simon Cowell, the TV show judge, said of fixing his teeth: "I'm not sure about veneers but I do want to get the crown repaired. It would be nice to be able to smile naturally. I feel very self conscious about it at the moment. But whatever I do I'm not going to change who I am."
"I'm a team leader at Carphone Warehouse but I don't think anybody is expecting me back. I'll just see what happens," he added.
Potts said of his wife, Julie Ann: "I would like to treat her to a nice holiday, maybe a safari. That would be a nice luxury item."
..."He said, “I wasn’t truly aware of the effect my voice can have on others so the reaction has been a surprise. It’s just incredible.”
“It’s been a great privilege to be on the show and to be with everybody on it. It was like a support network between us.”
“There are many people in Britain that don’t have this great opportunity that I’ve had and I’m so fortunate to have it.
“I’ve been singing for myself. I wasn’t doing it to earn money. It was something that I was doing for me. It was just a passion, I hope that comes across.”
Pointing to his chest, he said, “I really do feel it here.”
He added, “I’m an ordinary bloke who just loves singing.”
Potts spent £4,000 on master classes with the likes of Pavarotti but has not had any tuition for four years.
He recalled, “Pavarotti took me aside and asked me to sing again. There were 10 other people there and I was the only one he asked so I took that as a compliment.”
Potts ran out of breath on one note. Pavarotti told him he should not have and asked him to try singing a classic from the opera Tosca instead.
But on Sunday night things went swimmingly.
“My feet haven’t touched the ground,” he said, adding that he had celebrated with a beer.
“I did suffer bullying when I was going to school so having confidence in myself has been a bit of a struggle.
“So to go in front of some of the most feared judges on this planet was taking a considerable risk and I’m just glad that people in this country believed in me enough to make that risk pay off.
“I always will be slightly nervous.
“It’s just one of those little things.
“I always will be slightly awkward. This is all fresh and new and I want it to remain that way.”
The new star added that he would like to duet with Welsh singer Katherine Jenkins – and Jenkins is said to be game.
Jenkins said last night that she would like Potts to perform at a festival she is organising, Katherine In The Park, in Margam Park.
She said, “I’m very happy that he won because he’s from Port Talbot, which is the next town to mine.
“I might ask him to come along to the festival.”
A peak of 12.6 million people tuned in to see the final performances last night.
According to ITV, the figure makes it the most successful entertainment show on British TV so far this year.
The final averaged 11 million viewers, 44% of the TV audience.
The results show, broadcast later, won an audience of 10.6 million, 45% of the audience, and peaked with 12.1 million.
This is a great story. Congrats Paul!
Good grief.
If this were a thread about breakfast cereal, you’d probably try to change the subject to illegal immigration.
Is there a link to that, I hope?
She may have lost the final of Britain's Got Talent, but Connie Talbot could become a global star. So far, her performances have been watched more than five million times on YouTube.
And the six-year-old has also reportedly clinched a £1million record deal.
The Birmingham Mail reports that the Sutton Coldfield schoolgirl has been signed up by Simon Cowell for the Sony BMG label.
"She could easily make a million quid-plus this year, " said Cowell, who once declared that he hated children but has now confessed that Connie has made him think twice.
"I was practically allergic to kids, but I've got to say this show's softened me," he said.
Bookmakers Ladbrokes have offered odds of 2/1 that Connie will have a number one single by the end of the year, and 10/1 that she'll have this year's Christmas number one hit.
She has become an international YouTube sensation since she first appeared on Britain's Got Talent last Monday. Comments ranging from 'her voice sounds like an angel!' and 'she touch my heart' to 'she got the classic English teeth' suggest she could have a career to rival Charlotte Church.
...how did I know, as soon as I saw the title of this post, that the “bad dentistry” prejudice would pop up?
At least it was the eighth post.
Very true. There is going to be a reckoning with that one day.
Personally I own no credit cards and have no intention of ever getting one.
Very true. There is going to be a reckoning with that one day.
Personally I own no credit cards and have no intention of ever getting one.
you had to make me mist up at 5:30 in the morning by showing me her singing didn’t you ? :)
I hope fixing his teeth doesnt affect his voice. He should keep them because they offer him a certain vulnerability. A common folk look that is appealing.
This individual is potentially a global phenomenon. His vocals trigger deep seated emotions. You can hear him expressing the song. Making you wonder what well of experience he’s drawing from to paint it so true that everyman recognizes it somewhere deep inside the innermost circles.
Respect to Mr Potts...
“In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts; they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Oops..sorry about the double post.
William Kelly, 43, extracted part of his own tooth, leaving a black stump. He plans to pull one more.
Thanks for the update on her. I didn’t know about any of these people except for Potts—only heard about him a few days ago.
She’s definitely a cutie—she reminds me sadly of the poor little English girl that went missing recently in Portugal.
Good point.
Amen to that...
Thanks for posting the piece about him. Nice pictures of him too. In the top one with his wife, you can tell he is self-conscious about his smile the way he is smiling. Seems like a decent, hard working guy. I’m glad some good things are coming his way.
I think the right guy won. But, of the four acts I saw, I would place her second. Wonderful dancing, excellent costumes, tremendous dancing, and poise far exceeding any 12 year old I know.
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