Go on Paul Potts!

[malmo]

http://www.youtube.com/v/1k08yxu57NA

The English translation of Puccini's "Nessun dorma":

The Prince Nobody shall sleep!...(Nessun dorma...)

Nobody shall sleep!
Even you, o Princess,
in your cold room, watch the stars,
that tremble with love and with hope.
But my secret is hidden within me,
my name no one shall know...
No!...No!...
On your mouth I will tell it when the light shines.

And my kiss will dissolve the silence that makes you mine!...

The Chorus of women
No one will know his name and we must, alas, die.

The Prince Vanish, o night!
Set, stars!
At dawn, I will win!
I will win!
I will win!


"His former singing teacher, Ian Comboy, told The Observer he regards Potts's voice as 'amazingly authentic'.

'The top of his voice is almost totally natural. It does not strain,' explained Comboy, who gave Potts lessons until 2003. 'With most British voices in the Italian mode you can hear that it is still a British voice, but Paul's voice is Italianate.'

Comboy, 66, who has himself sung at Covent Garden, added: 'Paul used to cycle to lessons in Bath in all weathers, all the way from Bristol [his hometown], and arrive panting and sweating, but he would still sing like an angel. He lived for his singing. He would talk about nothing but the latest aria he was learning.'

The semi-final in which Potts triumphed once again on Thursday night was watched by 9.5 million people. 'Apparently, that is 41 per cent of the viewing audience,' said the singer.

National support has been boosted by the popularity of the video clip of his audition which, by the end of the week, had been watched on the internet site YouTube by more than a million people.

His fellow staff at Carphone Warehouse have also rallied to the cause. This weekend many of the stores are sporting posters of Potts.

He stopped singing completely four years ago following a series of misfortunes. An operation to remove a benign tumour followed an emergency appendectomy and then, once he had regained good health, his collarbone was broken when he was knocked from his bicycle. Bullied at school in Bristol, Paul first responded to classical music when he heard Tchaikovsky's Pathetique symphony (No 6). 'I remember I loved the theme of the first movement. Then I got into Puccini and the emotion of Italian music,' he said.

In contrast, his wife, Julie-Ann, 26, likes house music, but Potts has introduced her to the classical repertoire. 'She came down out of the audience to see me on Thursday and she was shaking with it all,' he said.

When the couple married four years ago the groom sang Greig's Ich Leibe Dich at the ceremony.

If Potts wins tonight he receives £100,000 as well his place on the Royal Variety bill. 'We could do with the money,' he said, 'but it is really about doing what I believe I was meant to do.'


http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/ ... 59,00.html

[gh]

I thought this was a Killing Fields pun.

[tafnut]

There's a little bit of a bait and switch here. He's presented as a mobile phone salesman, who has always wanted to sing, but lacks the self-confidence. Yet Wiki reports:

For the Bath UK based amateur company Bath Opera, he has performed on four occasions in the roles of Don Basilio (Marriage of Figaro), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni) and the title role in Verdi's Don Carlos, and Turandot as Prince of Persia and Herald [6][7][8]. He also sung for the Royal Philharmonic in front of an audience of 15,000. He also toured Northern Italy as a soloist.

Still has an amazing voice, though.

[malmo]

There's a little bit of a bait and switch here. He's presented as a mobile phone salesman, who has always wanted to sing, but lacks the self-confidence. Yet Wiki reports:

For the Bath UK based amateur company Bath Opera, he has performed on four occasions in the roles of Don Basilio (Marriage of Figaro), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni) and the title role in Verdi's Don Carlos, and Turandot as Prince of Persia and Herald [6][7][8]. He also sung for the Royal Philharmonic in front of an audience of 15,000. He also toured Northern Italy as a soloist.

Still has an amazing voice, though.

There's no bait and switch at all here, Mr Cynic. Those performances were part of a Summer course that he paid for. All rumors that Potts is a professional singer are catagorically false.

36 year old Potts, first sang at a karaoke contest when he was 28, and spent all of that money on lessons.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/ ... 59,00.html
"His former singing teacher, Ian Comboy, told The Observer he regards Potts's voice as 'amazingly authentic'.

'The top of his voice is almost totally natural. It does not strain,' explained Comboy, who gave Potts lessons until 2003. 'With most British voices in the Italian mode you can hear that it is still a British voice, but Paul's voice is Italianate.'

Comboy, 66, who has himself sung at Covent Garden, added: 'Paul used to cycle to lessons in Bath in all weathers, all the way from Bristol [his hometown], and arrive panting and sweating, but he would still sing like an angel. He lived for his singing. He would talk about nothing but the latest aria he was learning.'

The semi-final in which Potts triumphed once again on Thursday night was watched by 9.5 million people. 'Apparently, that is 41 per cent of the viewing audience,' said the singer.

National support has been boosted by the popularity of the video clip of his audition which, by the end of the week, had been watched on the internet site YouTube by more than a million people.

His fellow staff at Carphone Warehouse have also rallied to the cause. This weekend many of the stores are sporting posters of Potts.

He stopped singing completely four years ago following a series of misfortunes. An operation to remove a benign tumour followed an emergency appendectomy and then, once he had regained good health, his collarbone was broken when he was knocked from his bicycle. Bullied at school in Bristol, Paul first responded to classical music when he heard Tchaikovsky's Pathetique symphony (No 6). 'I remember I loved the theme of the first movement. Then I got into Puccini and the emotion of Italian music,' he said.

In contrast, his wife, Julie-Ann, 26, likes house music, but Potts has introduced her to the classical repertoire. 'She came down out of the audience to see me on Thursday and she was shaking with it all,' he said.

When the couple married four years ago the groom sang Greig's Ich Leibe Dich at the ceremony.

If Potts wins tonight he receives £100,000 as well his place on the Royal Variety bill. 'We could do with the money,' he said, 'but it is really about doing what I believe I was meant to do.'

[The Kitchen Cynic]

There's a little bit of a bait and switch here. He's presented as a mobile phone salesman, who has always wanted to sing, but lacks the self-confidence. Yet Wiki reports:

For the Bath UK based amateur company Bath Opera, he has performed on four occasions in the roles of Don Basilio (Marriage of Figaro), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni) and the title role in Verdi's Don Carlos, and Turandot as Prince of Persia and Herald [6][7][8]. He also sung for the Royal Philharmonic in front of an audience of 15,000. He also toured Northern Italy as a soloist.

Still has an amazing voice, though.

There's no bait and switch at all here, Mr Cynic.

I beg your pardon. I didn't say a word.

"His former singing teacher, Ian Comboy, told The Observer he regards Potts's voice as 'amazingly authentic'.

'The top of his voice is almost totally natural. It does not strain,' explained Comboy, who gave Potts lessons until 2003. 'With most British voices in the Italian mode you can hear that it is still a British voice, but Paul's voice is Italianate.'

Comboy, 66, who has himself sung at Covent Garden, added: 'Paul used to cycle to lessons in Bath in all weathers, all the way from Bristol [his hometown], and arrive panting and sweating, but he would still sing like an angel. He lived for his singing. He would talk about nothing but the latest aria he was learning.'

The semi-final in which Potts triumphed once again on Thursday night was watched by 9.5 million people. 'Apparently, that is 41 per cent of the viewing audience,' said the singer.

National support has been boosted by the popularity of the video clip of his audition which, by the end of the week, had been watched on the internet site YouTube by more than a million people.

His fellow staff at Carphone Warehouse have also rallied to the cause. This weekend many of the stores are sporting posters of Potts.

He stopped singing completely four years ago following a series of misfortunes. An operation to remove a benign tumour followed an emergency appendectomy and then, once he had regained good health, his collarbone was broken when he was knocked from his bicycle. Bullied at school in Bristol, Paul first responded to classical music when he heard Tchaikovsky's Pathetique symphony (No 6). 'I remember I loved the theme of the first movement. Then I got into Puccini and the emotion of Italian music,' he said.

In contrast, his wife, Julie-Ann, 26, likes house music, but Potts has introduced her to the classical repertoire. 'She came down out of the audience to see me on Thursday and she was shaking with it all,' he said.

When the couple married four years ago the groom sang Greig's Ich Leibe Dich at the ceremony.

If Potts wins tonight he receives £100,000 as well his place on the Royal Variety bill. 'We could do with the money,' he said, 'but it is really about doing what I believe I was meant to do.'

I think I've read that somewhere before.

[malmo]

I think I've read that somewhere before.

Yes, one line above the quote was the link to the original story.

[tafnut]

There's no bait and switch at all here, Mr Cynic. Those performances were part of a Summer course that he paid for. All rumors that Potts is a professional singer are catagorically false.

Touchy subject?! Fine, I stand corrected . . . but anyone who has sung opera in front of 15,000 with the London Philharmonic AND done a solo tour in Italy ain't no babe in the woods! (and if he was compensated in any way on the Italy trip, he IS a professional)