[ ClassicalX ] Potts’ no flash in the pan

It's been a struggle but Paul Potts, winner of the first season of Britain's Got Talent, is making inroads.

It’S hard not to feel awed and inspired when you’re in the company of Paul Potts, the winner for the first season of popular reality TV show Britain’s Got Talent in 2007.

His journey to stardom reads like a fairy tale, one that is laced with drama, tragedy, personal triumph and a little bit of 21st century magic courtesy of TV and the Internet.

One would remember him performing Puccini’s emotional aria Nessun Dorma (from the opera Turandot) during the show’s audition that eventually went on to become a sensation on YouTube with millions of hits to date.

Just like the show’s recent finalist Susan Boyle, Potts’ talent came as a huge surprise.

Here’s an awkward Bristol cell phone salesman in a US$70 dollar suit looking like a deer caught in headlights on stage.

Naturally, the show’s judges Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden were sceptical at first.

And then he sang. At the end of the dramatic piece, where he hit the high B note with “vincero!” (victory), Holden was seen wiping her tears while Morgan and Cowell were clearly moved. The rest, as they say, is history.

Potts, 39, released his first album One Chance, featuring the winning Puccini composition, shortly after winning the show.

One Chance chalked up impressive sales in Europe and the Asia Pacific and went to No. 1 in some countries.

His second album, Passione, was released recently and features more opera favourites (E Lucevan le Stelle from Puccini’s opera Tosca) and original materials including La Prima Volta (the remake of The First Time I Saw Your Face).

There’s also Piano, an operatic take on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Memory (the ageless classic from the musical Cats) and a duet with the young New Zealand soprano Hayley Westenra on Sei Con Me (There for Me). “Sei Con Me works incredibly well for Hayley and I. I’d always wanted to work with Hayley since we performed a song (Sir Edward Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance) together two years ago at a show in Woburn Abbey in England,” he said in an interview in Hong Kong recently.

Dressed in black suit and a grey tie that afternoon, Potts seemed a bit disheveled, probably because of the full schedule during this promotional tour.

He had performed at a private function the night before and wowed the guests with his renditions of Nessun Dorma, Tristesse, Piano and La Prima Volta.

Nervously fixing his tie and jacket from time to time, Potts looked like he’d be more comfortable in a pair of shorts, a T-shirt and flip flops, especially in this hot Hong Kong summer.

“It felt like I stepped out into an outdoor sauna last night for dinner after the show, but I had fun,” he said, referring to his visit to The Peak, Hong Kong’s popular hilltop attraction where he spent time taking pictures of his wife Julie- Ann, whom he met in an Internet chat room in 2003.

Our conversation went back to Hayley: “She is probably one of the nicest people that I’d met during my journey in the last two years.” It’s easy to see why Potts said this. For a classical tenor in the pop music scene, Potts’ presence in the industry has been met with mixed reactions from those in the “snotty” classical music industry and opera purists; especially the singers.

“For me, the most important people are those who go and grab the albums and buy my tour tickets. They’re the ones who let me do what I love doing,” said the Humanities degree holder from University College Plymouth St Mark and St John, in England.

As for the “classical-crossover” tag, “I don’t really give myself any kind of classification at all — I’m just a singer who gets to perform beautiful music. Music is music and the label is not something that bothers me.” Even during the TV show, Potts saw the ugly side of showbiz. His meteoric rise to stardom after the audition piece fed the British tabloids. And just like in the case of Boyle, Potts was dismissed and judged just as quickly as he was embraced and complimented.

It is the classic story for at home to see if there’s anybody at the door and I’m thankful that I never had to deal with that.” He said Susan has a great voice and “she handled the situation (the instantaneous celebrity status) incredibly well.” Potts said he attended Pavarotti’s masterclass because “I love singing, not because I’d hoped it would take me somewhere.

“It was not the most sensible thing to do at that time because I spent all my money on it, but I knew I had to do it. It was my dream.” Singing in front of Pavarotti, he recalled, was “a nerve-racking experience”.

“I did Che Gelida Manina (from Puccini’s La Boheme) and E Lucevan le Stelle. He later asked me to sing Che Gelida Manina the second time. I was the only one whom he had asked to repeat a performance during the session.

“He didn’t say a lot, but in my nerves I forgot to take a breath where I should have, to hit the high notes. Even though I made it to the top C, I would’ve gotten to the end of the phrase quite comfortably if I had had more confidence in myself.

That’s when Pavarotti spoke.

“Roldolfo (the tenor character in La Boheme, who sings the aria) was breathless, but for a very different reason. He wouldn’t have gone out of breath there,” he said with a chuckle.

“I was told he generally liked it and wanted to hear me again.

Unfortunately he died before I could see him again.” He said the experience with Pavarotti made his much-publicised first audition on Britain’s Got Talent even that more difficult.

“I hardly sang since the masterclass (a bicycle accident and personal financial problems almost broke Potts’ spirit and his passion for singing). I knew what to expect and I wasn’t sure what would happen. So I wasn’t very confident about the audition. I was scared I’d let myself down.” Renowned vocal coach on British reality TV shows Yvie Burnett, a mezzo-soprano, is now Potts’ teacher.

“We work as and when we can and not when I am travelling. I would also send recordings to her when I’m doing a new song and she’d tell me what to do.” Back to the album, how much creative control does he have this time? “A lot more. Most of the tracks in the albums are the ones that I chose. We had more time with this album. We had more time to plan and record too.” Tristesse, for example, is a song that Potts loved as a child. Having developed a passion for music at a young age, he went on to sing with local church choir groups, his “outlet for solace” as a victim of bullies in school.

Potts named Puccini as his favourite composer of all time.

Recording E Lucevan Le Stelle for the album, he said, was an emotional experience.

“You have to put all your feelings into it to make it work. We did it in three takes and I was drained at the end of it. It’s a tormented tune of a lover about to be killed for love.” Potts, who had starred in amateur opera productions between 1999 and 2003 with Puccini’s Turandot, Mozart’s Le Nozze de Figaro, Verdi’s Don Carlos, Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Verdi’s Aida and Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, said he woud love to return to operas.

“It’s something I’d love to do if the opportunity comes. I’m not holding my breath, but I’d definitely do it when the time comes.” Which role would he like to do? “Oh, definitely Rodolfo.” ¦ The writer’s trip to Hong Kong was courtesy of Sony Music Malaysia.

n faridulanwar@nst.com.my anybody with TV viewers as the fairy godmother. In Potts case, he was was accused of receiving professional singing lessons from legendary Italian tenor, the late Luciano Pavarotti and acted in opera performances in the past.

The fact is that he paid with his savings to earn a spot at Pavarotti’s masterclass in Italy.

“I was not trained by Pavarotti — it’s just one session. And as for the opera productions, I was not paid for them and they’re purely amateur shows.” Did Potts have to endure the media frenzy that Boyle went through? “Susan (Boyle) had the Press outside her door for seven weeks. I can’t imagine what it was like to deal with because when I did the show, it was only for nine days. I was never at home to see if there’s anybody at the door and I’m thankful that I never had to deal with that.” He said Susan has a great voice and “she handled the situation (the instantaneous celebrity status) incredibly well.” Potts said he attended Pavarotti’s masterclass because “I love singing, not because I’d hoped it would take me somewhere.

“It was not the most sensible thing to do at that time because I spent all my money on it, but I knew I had to do it. It was my dream.” Singing in front of Pavarotti, he recalled, was “a nerve-racking experience”.

“I did Che Gelida Manina (from Puccini’s La Boheme) and E Lucevan le Stelle. He later asked me to sing Che Gelida Manina the second time. I was the only one whom he had asked to repeat a performance during the session.

“He didn’t say a lot, but in my nerves I forgot to take a breath where I should have, to hit the high notes. Even though I made it to the top C, I would’ve gotten to the end of the phrase quite comfortably if I had had more confidence in myself.

That’s when Pavarotti spoke.

“Roldolfo (the tenor character in La Boheme, who sings the aria) was breathless, but for a very different reason. He wouldn’t have gone out of breath there,” he said with a chuckle.

“I was told he generally liked it and wanted to hear me again.

Unfortunately he died before I could see him again.” He said the experience with Pavarotti made his much-publicised first audition on Britain’s Got Talent even that more difficult.

“I hardly sang since the masterclass (a bicycle accident and personal financial problems almost broke Potts’ spirit and his passion for singing). I knew what to expect and I wasn’t sure what would happen. So I wasn’t very confident about the audition. I was scared I’d let myself down.” Renowned vocal coach on British reality TV shows Yvie Burnett, a mezzo-soprano, is now Potts’ teacher.

“We work as and when we can and not when I am travelling. I would also send recordings to her when I’m doing a new song and she’d tell me what to do.” Back to the album, how much creative control does he have this time? “A lot more. Most of the tracks in the albums are the ones that I chose. We had more time with this album. We had more time to plan and record too.” Tristesse, for example, is a song that Potts loved as a child. Having developed a passion for music at a young age, he went on to sing with local church choir groups, his “outlet for solace” as a victim of bullies in school.

Potts named Puccini as his favourite composer of all time.

Recording E Lucevan Le Stelle for the album, he said, was an emotional experience.

“You have to put all your feelings into it to make it work. We did it in three takes and I was drained at the end of it. It’s a tormented tune of a lover about to be killed for love.” Potts, who had starred in amateur opera productions between 1999 and 2003 with Puccini’s Turandot, Mozart’s Le Nozze de Figaro, Verdi’s Don Carlos, Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Verdi’s Aida and Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, said he woud love to return to operas.

“It’s something I’d love to do if the opportunity comes. I’m not holding my breath, but I’d definitely do it when the time comes.” Which role would he like to do? “Oh, definitely Rodolfo.”

Source: New Straits Times