Paul Potts: Big in Germany

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And in Sweden, Mexico, Japan... As the UK remains gripped by the Susan Boyle saga, original 'Britain's Got Talent' star Paul Potts has been steadily − and politely − charming the rest of the world

An hour into the show, the opera singer Paul Potts takes to the stage. The 2007 winner of the television programme Britain's Got Talent, Potts has been a huge success in Germany, selling one million copies of his first album. As he approaches the microphone, the woman next to me stiffens with excitement.

Potts is dressed in a dinner jacket, a white handkerchief in his breast pocket, and stands on a stage bathed in a soft, orange light. He delivers a brilliant rendition of the old German standard, Dein ist mein ganzes Herz. When he finishes, the audience goes wild. They jump to their feet – my female neighbour included – and applaud for what seems like an eternity. It is an astonishing reception. 'I'm quite pleased,' Potts tells me later, with masterful understatement. 'I think it went well.'