Posted on 06/17/2007 3:19:57 PM PDT by doug from upland
Britain's Got Talent: Paul Potts wins!
Sunday 17th June
Opera singer Paul Potts has won the final of Britain's Got Talent, after wowing the judges and public with his singing voice.
The mobile phone salesman, from Port Talbot beat competition from five other acts to take the title at the end of the nine-day series.
He wins £100,000 as well as the chance to sing for the Queen at the Royal Variety Performance on December 3.
Potts sailed through the competition after singing Nessun Dorma, which he also sang in the final.
Other acts who took part in the final included puppeteer Damon Scott, dance troupe Kombat Breakers and six-year-old singer Connie Talbot
"I can't think of anybody that I would rather see represent this show in front of her Majesty The Queen than Paul Potts," Piers Morgan said after the result was announced.
"I'm so proud of you," said Simon Cowell, revealing that Paul would be in the recording studio making his debut album next week.
Potts, meanwhile, said he was "speechless".
Over two million votes were cast by the public, with a percentage of the money raised from phone calls going to charity.
Who’s that? Pol Pot after anglicizing his name?
Can you find me a working link of Connie the six year olds final performance?
got it thanks
can’t wait to see the extreme makeover in a few months
I don’t know much about opera but he sounds very good to me.
I have had several in my family and church watching these threads and emailing youtube links all over.
Great job. This has been the first “Idol” type show that I have watched in many years. Clean, refreshing, does not seem staged at all.
Watch for it to get copied around the world many times.
‘Great job. This has been the first “Idol” type show that I have watched in many years. Clean, refreshing, does not seem staged at all.’
I’m afraid it was. It is illegal under english law for children under 16 to win cash in compeitions, therefore the decision not to award the win to anyone under 16 was made before the first show was filmed. An adult winner was always guaranteed as the prize was £100,000. Shame for the little kids who really thought they had a fair chance to win.
Thank you for the link... He seems to be a shy guy... All the attentions he got must be overwhelming for him...
LOL... But you are right!
Awesome!
I watched Pavarotti’s performance of the same aria, obviously his voice is much richer, but Paul is such a “Cinderella guy.”
This will get lots of people interested in opera.
I’m so thrilled for him!
Does anyone have the ability and the software to turn this performane into a file that I can import into Windows Movie Maker? If you can help, I may do something interesting for Hillary. :)
Let’s not feel too bad for little Connie. Her path to stardom has almost been assured. I am confident that interested parties will step in and see that she receives the support that will take her to the top one day.
DO NOT MISS THIS ONE -— http://youtube.com/watch?v=26PL-0BaJfY
But...
(There's always a but...)
And I know this isn't going to make me popular, but...
The "Cinderalla story" that I believe aided his win significantly has a few problems. I so wanted to believe the whole unassuming, shy cell phone salesman blowing the world away with his undiscovered operatic singing abilities. I still want to believe it. But, sadly, it's not entirely true.
In 2001 Paul Potts sang the part of Don Carlos in the BATH OPERA's production of Verdi's Don Carlos. This is from Paul Potts' biography entry on the Bath Opera website:
Paul Potts (Don Carlos) is a relative new comer to Grand Opera after an apprenticeship in Gilbert and Sullivan in Bristol.. His claim to fame is his 1999 appearance on Michael Barrymore's My Kind of Music. This was followed by singing for Bath Opera in Turandot as Prince of Persia and Herald. He has since performed with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and spent three months touring Northern Italy as a soloist, training under top teachers Mario Melani and Svetlana Sidrova. He has been invited back for a concert to be recorded and also for a masterclass with Luciano Pavarotti. Future plans include a summer tour with the RPO.
So, he's been professional trained and he has been singing professionally for some time.
The Sun had an article yesterday about the controversy. Here's an exerpt:
But yesterday angry viewers told how they felt DUPED after details of Paul’s classical training emerged.I'll bet anything that the show's producers knew all of this all along. They had to. I'm also sure that they intentionally crafted Paul's image to be just what we thought it was. Just what I wish it really was.Far from being a shy amateur, Paul has received extensive singing training.
He was a regular with Bath Opera, where roles included the lead in Verdi Don Carlos.
He spent two summers touring northern Italy with a major opera school and took master classes with top stars.
He even got to sing in one hosted by his idol, Luciano Pavarotti.
Paul isn’t even a newcomer to TV talent shows. In 1999 he won £8,000 on Michael Barrymore’s My Kind Of Music.
The Sun was flooded with calls from readers who felt conned.
Matt Young, 33, said: “On the show there has been no mention that he performed in front of Pavarotti.
“It is dishonest of the programme makers. The show is supposed to be all about undiscovered talent but it seems Paul’s talent was recognised a long time ago.”
Julie Shepherd, 29, of East London, said: “My husband and I are absolutely fuming. We feel duped. We voted for Potts and are thinking about asking for our money back.”
Last night Paul defended himself, claiming he was just an “ordinary bloke.”
He said: “I am not a professional. I’ve never been paid for my singing, all the training I’ve received I paid for myself, and I grafted hard to do so.
In total I have spent about £2,000.
“The judges said I was an ordinary guy doing an ordinary job and that is absolutely true. I have worked at the Carphone Warehouse for three years.
“The tour I did in Italy was part of a course, it wasn’t professional.”
It's too bad, really. It made a cool story.
He has had classical training (DUH!) but has only performed in the operatic equivalent of "community theater."
That does not make his a professional.
He took lessons and performed in amateur productions. Whoopity-do. He’s not a professional. My uncle has had golfing instructions and golfs in amateur tournaments. He’s not a pro golfer.
Sorry, you are wrong. He is a talented amateur with extensive training, an unpaid performer who won a competition or two. NOT a professional opera singer.
That was a tour he saved up and paid for, like fantasy sports camp.
To be fair, Pavarotti's been singing before Paul Potts was even born! Paul is fantastic...this is a rags to riches story. God bless him!
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