Paul Potts Articles

Click for a complete Paul Potts Article from thisisshouthwales.co.uk 

On the eve of his first Australian tour, tenor Paul Potts says he is still surprised that his singing can bring tears to his audience's eyes - in a good way.

The Port Talbot singer, whose operatic arias won him the first series of ITV's Britain's Got Talent show last year, is making his second trip to Australia in 12 months after travelling to promote his debut album One Chance last year.

This time he will be performing a full tour with venues across the country expected to sell out.

And the talent show singer may have made a mint from his singing, but he is travelling light with only his wife Julie-Ann and tour manager for company. And the former car phone salesman knows just how lucky he is to be doing what he loves.

"A lot of people seem to like what I do," he said.

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Click for a complete Paul Potts article by couriermail.com.au

PAUL Potts opens his mouth and people cry. The mobile phone salesman has only to wrap his tonsils around Puccini and grown men and women go weak at the knees.

Even those who have only seen Potts, perform on YouTube get a bit misty-eyed. "When Paul sang Time to Say Goodbye, I wept," one blogger admits.

"The voice gave me goosebumps," writes another. "I was in tears."

But ask the man who sang his way to fame on a British TV talent quest to explain his emotive power and he draws a blank.

"A lot of people seem to love what I do," the 37-year-old singer says on the eve of an Australian tour.

How, then, does it feel to have that power?

"Like I say, I just love being able to sing."

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Click here for a complete Paul Potts Article from remembering.ca

I was quoted in Grania Litwin's preview article regarding Paul Potts (March 20). My colleagues and I were asked to give our opinions on his potential as an opera singer, which we did. If Potts is going to be marketed as an opera singer then he must be judged as one. I know that every time I go on stage, I will be judged by the public and the critics (many of whom are not part of Victoria's "classical crowd") and I accept that. It's all part of the performance game. People must be free to voice their opinions and to have choices.

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Click for a complete Paul Potts Article from icwales 

THE rags-to-riches story of Port Talbot singing star Paul Potts is to be made into a Hollywood film.

It will be produced by Simon Cowell, who steered Potts to fame after he won the first series of Britain's Got Talent.

The former Carphone Warehouse salesman is to get the big screen treatment after Paramount Pictures snapped up the rights to his story, according to industry magazine Variety. It is being hailed as the next Billy Elliot.

Cowell, a judge on Britain’s Got Talent, was approached by a Hollywood executive whose daughter had shown him YouTube clips of Potts’ performing Nessun Dorma.

Cowell told Variety: “Most of these calls result in absolutely nothing, but this company got that it’s another Billy Elliot, a story anyone in the world can understand.

Click for complete Paul Potts Article & Pictures - by Yahoo

Blimey, there's something in the Thames water these days!

First Leona Lewis, the winner of the third season of Simon Cowell's British reality show X Factor, wowed America by going on Oprah. And now the winner of Simon's Britain's Got Talent competition--the similarly alliteratively named Paul Potts--is taking the States by storm as well.

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Click for complete Paul Potts Article from latimes.com

VANCOUVER, CANADA -- Paul Potts -- the British cellphone salesman turned singing sensation and YouTube phenom after dazzling skeptical judges with the operatic aria "Nessun Dorma" on "Britain's Got Talent" -- steps onstage at the Vancouver Centre for Performing Arts with a slight limp. "I'll be Mr. Hobble-Potts today," he says, a hesitant smile indenting his dumpling face.

Must have something to do with the surgeries, one thinks. In 2003, Potts suffered a burst appendix, and during treatment doctors discovered a benign tumor on his adrenal gland. Or maybe it's a leftover from the accident: Though both the appendix and the tumor were successfully removed, just two weeks after he returned to work following a yearlong recovery, a car knocked Potts off his bicycle, resulting in a complicated collarbone fracture that sidelined him for an additional nine months.

No, at his Vancouver performance with the Three Graces diva trio, Potts, 37, is a tuxedoed Quasimodo because of a nerve problem in his ankle that is radiating pain up his leg despite a chiropractic adjustment during his previous tour stop, Edmonton.

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click here for a complete Paul Potts article from KoreaTimes.co.kr 

A humble-looking man stood anxiously in front of the crowd as the judges stared indifferently at the stage. But a few minutes later, the audience and the judges were suddenly enraptured by the operatic number, Puccini's operatic classic ``Nessun Dorma.''

The man, the show's hero, was Paul Potts. Before lifting the crowd to standing ovations on "Britain's Got Talent" last year, he worked as a mobile phone salesman.

The 36-year-old rising star was a shy guy with some financial difficulties and didn't draw much interest from people around him. He was sometimes bullied in school and that experience may have had an influence on his lack of self-confidence.

But after he shot to stardom and his rendition became one of the all-time most-viewed clips on You Tube viewed by 13.5 million in the final rounds, he saw a lot of changes around him.

``The support I've had has been incredible and I feel so touched and humbled by it. It has done so much for my confidence and I really can't thank people enough for giving me the chance to realize my dream,'' Potts said in an email interview with The Korea Times.

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Click for a complete Paul Potts article from Canada.com

What: Paul Potts with special guests Three Graces
When: Last night
Where: McPherson Playhouse

Everyone loves a fairytale, especially the one about a wretched, forlorn commoner who suddenly discovers a hidden talent that magically transports him or her to another realm.

That's the secret behind the overnight success of Paul Potts, who looked so anxious and uneasy last year, standing on a stage in front of Simon Cowell and the other judges at the Britain's Got Talent show.

He didn't look unsteady or unlikely when he stepped out onto MacPherson stage last night, despite the fact his handlers said he had a serious cold earlier this week. His wide-legged stance looked confident and promising, but his voice wasn't great. It was downright embarrassing in spots, but then it doesn't really matter because Potts has a life story that appeals to people. His rise to fame is a testament to the power of YouTube and media messaging that can turn a puff of success into a flash fire before you can say: Hand me the remote.

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Click for a complete Paul Potts article from canada.com

PAUL POTTS
Where: Winspear Centre
When: Wednesday night (March 19)

EDMONTON - Paul Potts is the anti-Il Divo: far from being carefully market-researched and groomed for mass audiences, he's a funny little guy who, less than a year ago, was selling cellphones in England.

But, as it turns out, England's Got Talent. Potts won the televised talent competition last year, and suddenly he's an international sensation, as much for his underdog story as for his voice.

Now, he's on a North American tour, with Paul Potts merchandise being sold in the lobby like he was a rock star. You can get T-shirts, CDs, glossy photos and even teddy bears bearing his likeness, all selling well despite his podgy, ordinary appearance.

But as he says during his performance, "I've learned never to say no to something I haven't tried before."

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Click here for a complete Paul Potts Article from Canada.com 

The guy at my mobile-phone store handles my cellphone needs well. I've never asked him to sing for me. Maybe I should.

By now everyone knows that Paul Potts formerly managed a Bristol, England mobile-phone shop. Then the TV program Britain's Got Talent broke the pudgy, gap-toothed opera fan into the pop-era world of Il Divo, Andrea Bocelli, and others. With evil American Idol judge Simon Cowell helming his career, the guy is selling out mid-size venues across North America.

Thursday night he wowed 'em at the first of two sold-out performances at the Centre. He also plays Saturday night.

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This page contains visitors' comments on Paul Potts

Tenor Paul Potts played a sold-out show at the Winspear Centre in Edmonton on Wednesday.

The 37-year-old former cellphone salesman became an international sensation last year when he appeared on a British reality show and knocked the judges' socks off.

Did you see the show? We'd love to hear what you thought. Send us your review below. (Some reader reviews may be published in The Journal at a later date):

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Click here for a complete Paul Potts Article on Canada.com

EDMONTON - Paul Potts is the anti-Il Divo: far from being carefully market-researched and groomed for mass audiences, he's a funny little guy who, less than a year ago, was selling mobile phones in England.

But, as it turns out, Britain's Got Talent. Potts won the televised talent competition last year, and suddenly he's an international sensation-- as much for his underdog story as for his voice.

Now he's on a North American tour, with Paul Potts merchandise sold in the lobby like he was a rock star. You can get T-shirts, CDs, glossy photos and even teddy bears bearing his likeness, all selling in spite of his podgy, ordinary appearance. But as he says during his performance, "I've learned never to say no to something I haven't tried before."

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Click here for a complete Paul Potts Article from canada.com

Published: Tuesday, March 18, 2008
We all know that music can be transformative. To see it actually happen is rare, but judging from his sold-out show Monday at Centrepointe Theatre, it's one of the key reasons for the phenomenal success of pop-opera star Paul Potts.
 
The South Wales native - a cellphone salesman until shooting to international attention after winning the Britain's Got Talent television contest last year - is an unremarkable-looking chap. Short, plump and scuffing his soles as he walks, the 37-year-old Potts has minimal stage presence. When talking to the audience, he hangs off the mike stand with his right hand and looks frequently at the floor as he makes self-deprecating remarks.

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Click here for a complete Paul Potts Article from nowmagazine.co.uk

March 15, 2008

Paul Potts has revealed that he suffers from somnambulism. The Britain's Got Talent star gets out of bed while he's asleep and potters around.

'This is quite embarrassing, but a long time ago I once sleep walked and found myself actually sat on the shelf in my wardrobe completely naked,' the opera singer confesses.

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click here for a complete Paul Potts Article 

Concerts could provide a new niche market for Rotorua and event promoters say the city is well placed to take advantage.

The Paul Potts concert next month will be Rotorua's biggest indoor show yet and with 2000 of 3000 available tickets already sold, it's headed for a sell-out.

Promoters of the Potts concert say they took a gamble including a smaller city on his New Zealand tour but it appears to be paying off and if successful, could see more shows headed for Rotorua.

Events and Venues Rotorua general manager Peter McLeod says Rotorua is well on its way to becoming a leader in hosting events and should grab any opportunity to attract shows like the Potts concert.

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Click here for a complete Paul Potts Article 

Paul Potts says he's been "blown away" by the response from US fans during his North American tour.

The Britain's Got Talent winner has been playing dates around the States before heading to Canada for more shows.

The British tenor wrote on his website: "I have to say that I've been blown away by the reaction!

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Click here for a complete Paul Potts Article from Boston.com
Popup Alert

Last year, tenor Paul Potts became a British television star - and an American YouTube star - singing "Nessun dorma," from Puccini's "Turandot," on the Simon Cowell-produced "Britain's Got Talent." Potts, a mobile-phone salesman whose musical aspirations had fallen victim to the vagaries of life, won the televised competition, signed a record contract, and embarked on a tour, which brought him to the Berklee Performance Center on Sunday.

It was a pop concert with a classical veneer: a conductor in tails (Mark Agnor) leading a 13-piece orchestra (like the singing, amplified) in crossover repertoire drawn largely from Potts's debut album. Many of the pop songs - including R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts" - were sung in Italian, in harmonically unadventurous arrangements of sober rhythms and yearning strings. Schubert's "Ave Maria," conversely, had pop touches, from the opening bell-tree tintinnabulation to a rising modulation into a final chorus.

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Click here for a complete Paul Potts Article 

“POTTSY Goes To Hollywood,” trumpeted the Echo headline. “Friends tip Crowe to play singer as his success story is turned into a film.”

Blimey, I thought, check the date. I must have missed something. But no, it wasn’t April 1.

There followed my celebrated impersonation of Victor Meldrew: I DON’T BELIEVE IT.

We’re talking Paul Potts, routinely described as Port Talbot’s “salesman-turned-singer” or, more misleadingly, “opera singer Paul Potts,” winner of Britain’s Got Talent with Nessun Dorma, maybe the only aria familiar to voters because Pavarotti made it the World Cup anthem.

I can see your archetypal Hollywood mogul getting the presentation.

“Opera star, izzee? Well, it grossed big bucks when Mario Lanza played that Neopolitan guy – Robinson Crusoe, was it?”

“No Boss. Enrico Caruso. Greatest tenor ever. Dragged up in Naples slum. Gave the record industry a kickstart. A hero to Italians all over the world. State funeral when he pegged it. And – “

Well, you get the picture. Caruso was not just a megastar. He was a mega-megastar. He was unique. And he had a past worth celebrating.

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Click here for a Complete Paul Potts Article by bostonherald.com

Paul Potts seemed surprised to be on the Berklee Performance Center’s stage Sunday night. Plucked from obscurity by England’s equivalent to “American Idol” and recently retired from mobile phone salesmanship, Potts is an amateur operatic tenor starring in the surreal musical drama of his own life.

In his set of well-tested chestnuts from operas by Puccini, Verdi and others, odes to drinking from “The Student Prince” and “La Traviata” were particularly rousing; he encored with the moving “Nessun Dorma” that rightfully put Simon Cowell’s eye-rolling in its place.

Potts’ renditions of popular songs and show tunes were less sure, as if they had been penciled in to give his vocal cords a break and his audiences an Anglophone toehold, though R.E.M.’s “Everybody Hurts” felt strangely apt translated into Italian and into an idiom hospitable to plus-sized emotion.

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Click here for a complete Paul Potts article from thesun.co.uk 
Popup alert

BRITAIN’S Got Talent star Paul Potts has finally quit his job selling mobile phones – NINE MONTHS after winning the show.

Opera singer Paul, 37, only handed in his notice to Carphone Warehouse last Thursday despite scooping £100,000 on the talent show in June.

He was on extended leave as he toured the world performing to thousands, but was too scared to resign in case it had all been a DREAM. Paul told The Sun: “Part of me was scared in case I handed in my notice for real – and then found out I was dreaming everything else.

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Click here for a complete Paul Potts article from Malaysia Star 

Paul Potts needs some time to cultivate some new dreams. His reality has surpassed his old ones.

The 37-year-old unknown became an international classical music sensation last year after winning the Britain's Got Talent reality show with his big, operatic voice and his underdog life story.

"I love what I'm doing now and I could never have forecast how any of this happened," said Potts, calling from London the day after his performance at the famed Hammersmith Apollo. "I'm taking each day as it comes, but it's all slightly unbelievable."

It sure is. In the past year, Potts has gone from a mobile phone salesman who had essentially given up on singing after a string of health problems to one of classical music's biggest stars. His debut album, One Chance, went to No. 1 in 13 countries and now Potts is in the middle of his first headlining tour of the United States.

"Touring the States is not something very many people get to do," Potts said. "I never even dreamed of it."

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Click here for a complete Paul Potts Article from CanadianPress

NEW YORK — Although Paul Potts has had worldwide success singing soaring opera songs - first as a winner of a British TV talent show and later with his successful debut album - there are some who don't consider him a pure classical singer.

And that's fine by Potts.

"At the end of the day I'm just a singer and I just enjoy singing," he told The Associated Press in a recent interview. "I love the music that I perform, and I've always loved opera. ... I think the world would be very boring if everyone agreed on everything."

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Click here for a complete Paul Potts Article from Mirror.co.uk 

Opera star Paul Potts has finally quit his job as a mobile phone salesman.

Eight months after winning Britain's Got Talent - and well on his way to becoming a millionaire - Potts said on his website: "I have finally handed in my resignation at Carphone Warehouse."

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Click here for a complete Paul Potts article from sfgate.com 

Although Paul Potts has had worldwide success singing soaring opera songs — first as a winner of a British TV talent show and later with his successful debut album — there are some who don't consider him a pure classical singer.

And that's fine by Potts.

"At the end of the day I'm just a singer and I just enjoy singing," he told The Associated Press in a recent interview. "I love the music that I perform, and I've always loved opera. ... I think the world would be very boring if everyone agreed on everything."

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Click for a complete Paul Potts Article from ICWales 

REAL-LIFE stories have been made into Hollywood movies for years – from Sheffield steelworkers-turned-strippers in The Full Monty to WI members-turned-nude models in Calendar Girls.

Now the story of how Paul Potts has risen from a mobile phone salesman from Wales to a world-famous tenor is to follow suit.

And it will be produced by Simon Cowell, the man who helped the nation “discover” the reluctant star on his ITV series Britain’s Got Talent.

But Western Mail film critic Gary Slaymaker is uncertain a film about Potts’s life would be a success, despite the fact that the singer’s debut album, One Chance, has sold three million copies so far and this year he is headlining 65 concerts in 13 countries.

“It doesn’t surprise me that someone wants to turn the Paul Potts story into a Hollywood film,” he said. “He has already appeared on every TV chat show in the States and has been a huge feel-good story in America.

“But you know that such a film is going to be really cheesy and the Hollywood image of Wales will probably feature Cockneys, apples and pears.

“The fact the film’s being considered shows a complete lack of ideas within the film industry.

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Potts tale 'to be made into film'
Mar 4, 2008

The story of talent show-winning tenor Paul Potts is being developed into a Hollywood film, according to a report.
The project will be produced by Simon Cowell, who steered the mobile phone salesman to fame after he won the first series of Britain's Got Talent.

Industry paper Variety reports that film company Paramount agreed to the project after watching YouTube footage of Potts performing.

His debut album One More Chance has sold some three million copies.

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Potts story to get Hollywood treatment
Mar 4, 2008

Simon Cowell will produce the movie which will chart the humble beginnings of the former Carphone Warehouse salesman, to his success as the winner of TV talent show Britain's Got Talent.

The singer from South Wales won the hearts of the nation with his performance of opera classic Nessun Dorma and went on to sign a £1 million deal with Cowell's record label after winning the show.

Paramount Pictures, who have produced a number of blockbusters, have reportedly snapped up the rights to the 37-year-old's story which is being hailed as "another Billy Elliot".

Cowell, a judge on Britain's Got Talent, was approached by a Hollywood executive whose daughter had shown him YouTube clips of Potts' audition.

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Paul Potts: The Movie?
Mar 4, 2008

You know, we here at Empire are generally out having wild parties on a Saturday night, hangin' with superstars and trying to escape our crowds of scantily-clad admirers. But if we were ever in, we might have seen Paul Potts on Britain's Got Talent, and we'd be amused to hear that his story is now set for the big screen.

Potts, for those of you who, like us, live it large and in no way sit at home glued to reality shows, was the mobile phone salesman with a dream of singing opera who went on British talent show, er, Britain's Got Talent and blew the judges away. Here's how it looked. We hope it's not too spoilerific to say that he's now sold 3 million records and lined up a tour across 13 countries.

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Are They Potty? Plans For Paul Potts The Movie Revealed
Mar 3, 2008

Unassuming opera singer Paul Potts, who found fame after winning a TV talent show, is set to have his life story transformed into a Hollywood movie.

Reports claim that Simon Cowell will be producing the film which will chart the rise of Potts from a mobile phone salesman to a global superstar (ahem) thanks to his victory on Britain’s Got Talent.

Simon Cowell, who was a judge on the show, told Variety Magazine of the project: "Most of these calls result in absolutely nothing, but this company got that it's another Billy Elliot, a story anyone in the world can understand. I'll never forget how much the room changed when he began singing.”

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Simon Cowell to make movie about Paul Potts' rise to fame

Britain's Got Talent winner Paul Potts is to have a movie made of his amazing rise to fame.

The film about the opera singer, 37, will be created by Hollywood giant Paramount Pictures and produced by Simon Cowell.

The mogul, a judge on the ITV1 show on which Paul found fame last year, was phoned up by a film chief suggesting the idea.

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Click here for a complete Paul Potts Article from Variety.com

Paramount Pictures will develop a feature film based on the unlikely overnight success story of Paul Potts, the wannabe tenor who sold cell phones until he won ITV's "Britain's Got Talent" in 2007.

Simon Cowell, who created the show and as a judge was stunned by Potts' prowess, will produce the film with Relevant Entertainment's Michael Menchel and Steve Whitney.

Studio acquired life rights from Potts, who quickly recorded a debut album, "One Chance," that sold 3 million copies. He also is headlining 65 concert dates in 13 countries.

Click for complete Paul Potts Article from sptimes.com

Paul Potts made the right call on a coin flip to decide whether to give Britain's version of American Idol a go, a move that transformed the cell phone salesman into an opera star.

When Paul Potts strode onto a TV soundstage last year, you could almost see the sarcasm dripping from talent show king Simon Cowell. The pudgy cell phone salesman, appearing on Cowell's British version of American Idol, announced he was going to sing opera, and the crowd cringed.

But then Potts opened his mouth, and out poured Puccini's aria Nessun Dorma. Instantly, he launched an Internet sensation and a musical career.

Now the Welsh tenor is living the great American and British dream, having been vaulted from obscurity into sudden celebrity after he won Britain's Got Talent over the favorite, a 6-year-old girl who sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

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click for a complete Paul Potts Article from sun-sentinel.com

The import version of Welsh tenor Paul Potts' debut CD contains an unlikely candidate for operatic treatment: Everybody Hurts, a loping ballad by the Georgia rock band R.E.M. Potts not only covers the 1993 hit, he sings it in Italian. That explains the song's parenthetical subtitle, Ognuno Soffre. It doesn't explain what a former cell phone salesman turned opera sensation is doing interpreting R.E.M.

"I appreciate good music wherever I hear it," Potts, 37, said in a telephone conversation about his first U.S. tour, which begins on Saturday at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood.

Though not officially released here, Ognuno Soffre has at least one American admirer in R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills. "I think it's beautiful," Mills said in an interview (to discuss the band's upcoming appearance at the Langerado festival in Big Cypress National Preserve). "My father was a tenor ... So I really appreciate it, and I appreciate the fact that our songs can translate to other styles."

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Click for complete Paul Potts Article from theday.com 

An unassuming Paul Potts, who often looks as if he's on the verge of tears, nearly missed his tryout last April for “Britain's Got Talent,'' a televised talent competition like “American Idol.”

The amateur opera singer was working as a salesman at a cell phone store, and he felt bad having a co-worker fill in for him on his weekend shift. The night before the audition, he flipped a coin.

“I couldn't decide whether to enter or not,'' says Potts during a telephone interview last week from a hotel room in the United Kingdom. “I didn't know whether I had the talent. I wasn't sure if I'd be considered too old. It was a big risk and I don't usually take risks. In the end, I left it up to the 10 pence.”

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