Britain's Got Talent — Paul Potts, we speak your name!

[zridling]

It was the hottest show on the planet and we Americans missed it. So check out the South Wales opera singer Paul Potts' debut on the show which demonstrates the power of opera:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exyJ2CSfrHo



During an interview on the show the former phone salesman, who has now been dubbed 'Pava-potty' by the British press, told the audience of how opera singing has helped him overcome difficulties throughout his life. "My voice has been my best friend. When other things got me down, my voice has always been there," he said. The singer spoke about how he had been bullied in his youth and hoped that his story would serve as a "source of inspiration" to victims of bullying. He revealed that he still could not believe that he had won the contest saying: "I'm waiting for someone to pinch me and say: 'Get out of bed. You've got to work. You're late again.'" Asked about his first performance in public, Potts revealed that he had dressed up as Luciano Pavarotti while performing at a karaoke bar in 1998. The video is from UK TV Show: Britain’s Got Talent and the performers are judged by Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, and Piers Morgan.

[cranioscopical]

The singer spoke about how he had been bullied in his youth and hoped that his story would serve as a "source of inspiration" to victims of bullying.

I'm not so sure about opera, but I seem to recall that some of the bullying I experienced caused me to sing falsetto for a while!

[nudone]

haha, brilliant.

[katykaty]

I remember seeing him in the first round of auditions - where they mix in the hilariously bad acts with the real talent.

This nervous, sweaty man in a cheap suit shambled onto the stage, looking exactly like you'd expect an underachiever who worked in a mobile phone shop to look.

He then said he was going to sing opera, and I just thought 'how bad is this going to be?'.

Except when he started singing it just blew me away; you could see he was taken to another world when he was singing.

By the time he'd finished, I was crying with emotion. Though I did cry for Connie. And the baton twirler. And the guy looking after his brothers kids. And a few more besides ...

Incidentally, why were Simon and Piers so nice to all the acts? Even the really bad ones didn't get the mauling they'd get on X Factor.