Opera idol woos the world

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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