Paul Potts

Infobox musical artist
Name = Paul Potts


Background = solo_singer
Birth_name =Paul Robert Potts
Born = birth date and age|1970|10|13|df=y, Bristol, England [cite web|url=http://www.paulpottsuk.com/article/biography|title=Biography]
Died =
Genre = Classical, Opera
Occupation = Tenor
(Formerly employed by Carphone Warehouse)
Years_active = 2007–present
Label = Sony BMG, Syco
URL = [http://www.paulpottsofficial.com/ Official Website]

Paul Robert Potts (born 13 October 1970, Bristol, England) is a British tenor who in 2007 became the winner of the first series of ITV's "Britain's Got Talent", singing an operatic aria, "Nessun Dorma" from "Turandot". Potts had appeared in amateur opera productions from 1999 to 2003.

Biography

Potts was raised in Fishponds, Bristol, by his father Roland, a bus driver, and mother, Yvonne, a supermarket cashier. [http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2001320029-2007280255,00.html - Don't Talk out of Your Arias] He has two brothers and one sister. Potts attended St. Mary Redcliffe school, where he developed his love of singing. [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmedm/70620e01.htm - Early Day Motions] He also sang with the choir at Chester Park Junior School and with the choirs at several Bristol churches, including Christ Church.

In the interview that was broadcast before his performance in the semifinal, Potts said that he had been bullied in school, and that experience may have had an influence on his lack of self-confidence. He made a similar remark in 1999 — that his voice had always been a source of solace in the past when bullied.

Potts was on a six-month sabbatical as manager at Carphone Warehouse in Bridgend, a mobile phone store some eight miles from his hometown. On 5 March, 2008, he resigned from his management position via email. Live in concert at Foxwoods Hotel and Casino in Ledyard, CT, 5 March, 2008]

He earned an Honours degree in 1993 from University College Plymouth St Mark & St John, majoring in Humanities, and was a Liberal Democrat councillor in Bristol from 1996 to 2003. [ [http://roadturn.com/2008/02/21/mystery-solved-paul-potts-is-a-marjon-graduate/ Paul Potts is a Marjon graduate.] roadturn.com] [ [http://www.bristolwest-libdems.org.uk/news/000338.html Lib Dems Site] Retrieved 22 July 2007]

Previous work and experience

Potts first sang opera in 1999 in a karaoke competition, dressed as Luciano Pavarotti. That same year he appeared in the Michael Barrymore talent show "My Kind of Music". Although he did not take first place, he won £8,000 — enough to help pay for vocal lessons in Italy, during which he was selected to perform in front of singers Pavarotti and Katia Ricciarelli.Fact|date=July 2008 He did not however, as was claimed at the time by newspapers such as "The Daily Mail" and "The Sun", receive tuition from Pavarotti.Fact|date=July 2008

For the Bath Opera of Bath, Somerset, an amateur company, he performed leading roles on four occasions, after beginning in 1999 in the minor roles of The Prince of Persia and the Herald in Puccini's "Turandot": Don Basilio in Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro" in 2000; Don Carlos in Verdi's "Don Carlos" in 2001; Don Ottavio in Mozart's "Don Giovanni" in 2003; and Radames in Verdi's "Aida" in 2003. [http://www.bathopera.co.uk/Past%20Productions/Aida/aida_biographies.htm Bathopera.co.uk - Aida Biographies] ] [http://talent.itv.com/page.asp?partid=332 ITV - Britain's Got Talent - Paul Potts] ] He also performed the role of the Chevalier des Grieux in Puccini's "Manon Lescaut" for the Southgate Opera Company in London, an amateur company, in May 2003. Additionally, he sang with a small ensemble from the Royal Philharmonic in front of an audience of 15,000 and toured Northern Italy as a soloist as part of his music classes there.

In several interviews, Potts revealed that he performed "Aida" despite doctors' wishes to remove an adrenal tumor they had discovered during his illness from a burst appendix, and performed "Manon Lescaut" shortly after the surgery to remove it. Potts broke his collarbone and suffered whiplash in a bicycle accident in 2003, which prevented him from pursuing opera as a career or as a vocation. The mishap and financial difficulties that followed led him to enter "Britain's Got Talent" despite not having sung for four years.http://forum.unrealitytv.co.uk/index.php?topic=1533.0 Retrieved 30 December 2007]

"Britain's Got Talent"

On 9 June 2007, Potts' audition for Simon Cowell's new search-for-a-star show "Britain's Got Talent" was televised on ITV1 in the UK. The audition was held at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff on 17 March 2007. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/music/sites/paul_potts/pages/biography.shtml - BBC - Wales Music] Potts sang Giacomo Puccini's "Nessun Dorma," for which he received a standing ovation from the audience of 2,000 people. Contrary to popular belief, Potts did not sing a condensed version of the aria, but rather the full rendition. The editing process did not produce a "perfect" condensation, as one can see his lips getting ready to sing the next line after his second "...Nessun Dorma...", which starts with "Tu pure, o, Principessa...". [ [http://forum.unrealitytv.co.uk/index.php?board=26.0 Britain's Got Talent] ] This performance has been viewed on the video upload site YouTube over 34 million times. [ [http://www.unrealitytv.co.uk/britains-got-talent/paul-potts-youtube-clip-most-highly-rated-ever/ Paul Pott’s YouTube Clip Most Highly Rated EVER! - Unreality TV] ] [youtube|1k08yxu57NA|Paul Potts sings Nessun Dorma]

In the semi-final on 14 June 2007, Potts performed the main verses of "Con te partirò" ("Time to Say Goodbye"). [cite web|title=Paul Potts - Time to Say Goodbye|url=http://www.asterpix.com/console/?avi=7743321] He progressed to the final after receiving the highest public vote in that show. [cite news|last=|first=|title=Semi-final one - the public decides|publisher=itv.com|date=2007-06-14|url= http://talent.itv.com/page.asp?partid=329|accessdate=2007-06-15] He performed "Nessun Dorma" for his finale on 17 June 2007, as well as an encore after he won the competition. Potts defeated co-favourite with the bookmakers, Connie Talbot, and received the highest percentage of two million votes cast to win "Britain's Got Talent", and the chance to perform at the "Royal Variety Performance" on 3 December 2007, in front of Queen Elizabeth.

Post-"Talent" Career

In the United States, he was profiled on a National Public Radio programme called "Day to Day" on 15 June 2007. On 18 June 2007, a commercial US Television network, NBC, highlighted Potts' victory on its broadcast network's "NBC Nightly News" and on its Cable news outlet MSNBC. Then on 21 June 2007 he appeared live on NBC's programme "Today".

During the programme there was some controversy [http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2001320029-2007270918,00.html - Controversy from Viewers] as to the "undiscovered" nature of Potts' talent. He was portrayed on the show as simply a mobile-phone salesman, whereas he had in fact appeared in six amateur opera productions and in a concert for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra [http://www.bathopera.co.uk/Past%20Productions/Don%20Carlos/don_carlos_biographies.htm Bathopera.co.uk - Don Carlos Biographies] ] and had plans for a summer tour with that Orchestra. Potts responded to his critics saying that he had not claimed to be completely untutored, that he had never performed any concert for pay and was therefore amateur and that the lessons he had received in Italy had been paid for from his own savings. [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2104959,00.html This is my lifelong dream, says the singing salesman] The Guardian, 17 June 2007]

On 8 July 2007, Potts performed at a Katherine Jenkins' concert at Margam Park, "Katherine In The Park". Jenkins extended an invitation for him to sing his rendition of "Nessun Dorma" at the concert. [" [http://entertainment.aol.co.uk/talent-show-winner-in-opera-concert/article/20070708033709990001 Talent show winner in opera concert] ", aol.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-07-09.] On 16 July 2007, his debut album "One Chance" was released in UK, and on 22 July 2007, the album claimed the number one spot in the UK Album Chart. On 6 November 2007, Potts appeared on the "Oprah Winfrey Show" to perform on a show whose topic was YouTube. ["Oprah Winfrey Show", 6 November, 2007.] On 24 November 2007, Potts was interviewed on the National Public Radio programme Weekend Edition Saturday.

In December 2007, Prime Minister Gordon Brown presented Potts with a discography plaque for having sold 2,000,000 copies of his album "One Chance" and for showing that "Britain really does have huge amounts of talent." [ [http://pavarotti.wordpress.com/ Luciano Pavarotti ] ]

On 13 December, 2007, he performed in Leipzig in the live television broadcast of the 13th annual José Carreras Gala, accompanied by the Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg under the direction of Scott Lawton.cite news
title = Schenken Sie Hoffnung, schenken Sie Leben!
language = German
publisher = Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk
date = 2007-12-13
url = http://www.mdr.de/tv/4920451.html
accessdate = ] On 17 January, 2008, exactly seven months to the day after winning "Britain's Got Talent", he began his 2008 Concert Series at the Pavilion Theatrecite web
title = Paul Potts Home page
publisher = Paul Potts
url = http://www.paulpottsuk.com
accessdate = 2008-06-21] in Rhyl, Wales, which covered 65 cities across 13 countries and ended on 9 June, 2008, exactly one year after his first appearance on "Britain's Got Talent". Potts performed at three outdoor classical music concerts in Swedish castles with the Finnish violinist Linda Lampenius and the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. The concerts took place on 24 July at Sofiero Palace in Helsingborg, on 25 July at Sundbyholms Castle in Eskilstuna and at Slottskogsvallen in Göteborg on 26 July.cite episode
title = Good Morning Finland, 12 June 2008
series = Good Morning Finland, MTV3
airdate = 2008-06-12] On 15 August, 2008 he performed before the German soccer season opener match Bayern Munich - Hamburger SV in front of 69,000 visitors as well as on 2 September, 2008 during the farewell game for Oliver Kahn between Germany - Bayern Munich.

In July 2008, Deutsche Telekom began using a TV & cinema advertisement centred on his Britain's Got Talent performance. [ [http://www.telekom.com/dtag/cms/content/dt/de/543732 "Commercial Deutsche Telekom"] ]

Personal life

Potts has been married since May 2003 to Julie-Ann (née Cooper), whom he met in an Internet chat room. They connected in person for the first time at the Swansea Railway Station in February, 2001. She had the upper hand at this "first meeting" as she had a photograph of Potts, but he had no idea what she looked like.cite episode
title = Interview on BBC Radio 2
series = BBC Radio 2
airdate = 2007-07-07 ]

Discography

Albums

Across the countries to date, One Chance has been at No 1 on the album chart for a total of 56 weeks.

ingles

In Germany, Nessun Dorma by Paul Potts became the highest ever single available on download alone in the history of the German Chart. It was also the highest ever classical song on the German chart, Luciano Pavarotti's Nessun Dorma of 1990 having made no 61.

References

External links

* [http://www.paulpottsuk.com/ Paul Potts] (official website)
*myspace|id=officialpaulpottsmusic
* [http://www.sonybmgmusic.co.uk/artists/paul_potts Paul Potts] at Sony BMG
* [http://www.itvlocal.com/wales/documentaries/?player=WAL_Documentaries_26&void=133514 Paul Potts interview] on ITV Local
* [http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/video.php?id=1746 Paul Potts interview] on The Hour