Knights of the Pain Table

Tale of Paul Potts

Paul Potts, our Welsh Tenor, turned the Internet upside down after his audition on “Britain’s Got Talent”. I remember the first time I saw the clip of this gentle man, coming to the microphone and announcing to the judges that he was there to sing “Opera”.    His first few notes of “Nessun Dorma” caught us all by surprise as his voice was gentle and beautiful and then he swept up the judges,  along with the 2,000 people in the audience and over 10 million people viewers with his passionate performance.   Something in his voice touched everyone watching, bringing tears to many.    If you missed this performance listen to this defining moment.

Paul continued to sing and won the “Briain’s Got Talent” contest, which included the opportunity to perform in front of the Queen at the end of this year.    Since winning, he has released his debut album, “One Chance” to worldwide acclaim.    His album has been released in 15 countries and reached #1 in six countries, which is an amazing feat.

Along with acclaim there have been critics that seem unimpressed by his voice.    I just recently heard an interview with an opera singer in Montreal, Canada, who worked with Luciano Pavarotti when he was just starting in opera as a young man.    He observed that Pavarotti did not have the great range in octaves when he began.    It was not until 5 years later when he was working with Beverly Sills in Sydney that she taught him how to increase the range of his voice.    As in any art form, the voice has to be trained and developed with teachers.  Paul Potts has just begun to really sing.    I believe he has an innate talent to be able to sing this well with so little practice.    We must give him time to really develop.   Personally I loved his voice from the first moment.

When Paul sings I feel he sings from a very deep part of his heart and that is what makes him so unique.    As a child he was bullied for being poor and his voice became his best friend.     Over his adult years he did attempt to study singing paying for a three month course in Italy.    The highlight was a master-class with his hero, Luciano Pavarotti.

His pursuit of music was halted when he burst his appendix and the doctors found a 10cm benign tumour on his adrenal gland, which had to be removed.   Then during his recovery he was knocked off his bike shattering his collarbone.   For two years he could not work and he accumulated 30,000 Pounds of credit card debt.   During his illness, he lost his singing, which he said was like loosing an old friend.   Paul did however fall in love with his wife Julie Ann, who he serenaded at their wedding.

Paul had not sung for 4 years when he auditioned for “Britain’s Got Talent” and touched all our hearts.    His tale has moments of great pain and moments of great joy.   So when our Welsh Minstrel stands up to perform, we hear his tale in the words he sings.   In the translated lyrics for Nessun Dorma there is one line that Paul sings, “But my secret is hidden within me”.  I see something secret hidden in Paul Potts and whatever it is it touches us all.

We are proud of our Welsh Tenor and will ride with him as he travels the world.  Listen to Paul sing “Music of the Night” from his new album in Seoul, Korea. Bravo!

To hear samples of “One Chance” and information where to buy his new album click here.
To visit more posts on Paul Potts, click here.

We pray thee a safe voyage Paul, wherever thou must go,

Your Scribe,

The Rose of Sharon (Lady Sharon)

Knights of the Pain Table News

Lyrics for Nessun Dorma with English Translations
Nessun dorma!
Nessun dorma!
Tu pure, o Principe,
Nella tua fredda stanza guardi le stelle,
Che tremano d’amore e di speranza!
Ma il mio mistero è chiuso in me,
Il nome mio nessun saprà!
No, no, sulla tua bocca lo dirò,
Quando la luce splenderà!

But my secret lies hidden within me,
No-one shall discover my name!
Oh no, I will only reveal it on your lips
When daylight shines forth!And my kiss shall break
The silence that makes you mine!

[Choir:]
No-one shall discover her name!
And we will, alas, have to die, to die!

Depart, oh night!
Set, you stars!
Set, you stars!
At dawn I shall win!
I shall win! I shall win!

Tags: Culture, Entertainment, Nessun Dorma, Nessun Dorma Lyrics, Opera, Paul Potts

This entry was posted by Lady Sharon on Friday, September 28th, 2007 at 9:55 am and is filed under Music and Minstrels, Television and Talent. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.