MANILA, Philippines?British TV talent search winner Paul Potts, whose rendition of ?Nessun Dorma? was seen and heard by 30 million followers on YouTube, will perform for the first time in Manila on Oct. 8 at the Philippine International Convention Center.
Potts will be accompanied by an ensemble of Filipino musicians. He told the Inquirer, ?I will sing the ?Brindisi? duet from ?La Traviata? with Filipino soprano Rachelle Gerodias.?
Life has certainly changed since he won ?Britain?s Got Talent? last year, Potts said. For his audition, he sang ?Nessun Dorma? from Giacomo Puccini?s opera, ?Turandot.?
?I have gone a long way from cycling 13 miles to work ... to flying thousands of miles for an engagement,? he said. ?I am fortunate to be able to do what I love doing.? His first album, ?One Chance,? sold 2 million copies last year.
No expectations
?No two weeks are the same for me these days,? explained the 37-year-old British tenor (born Oct. 13, 1970), who has appeared in amateur opera productions since 1999. ?Sometimes it?s a full week of promotions across Europe. These past two weeks have included performances in Germany at a football match, in a talk show, and a music concert for 11- to 18-year-olds that was attended by 12,000 people.?
How did he react when his first recording sold millions? ?With absolute disbelief,? he said. ?Also with incredible gratitude. I thank all those who bought my records and tour tickets?
When he joined BGT, he had no expectations. ?In later stages, I worked as all singers do on the show with Yvie (Burnett),? he said, referring to the mezzo soprano vocal coach. ?What I learned was to never give up.?
What does he require of a voice teacher? ?A lot of training is based on trust, you need to respect, and get along well with, a teacher. Yvie is a great teacher and friend.?
The son of a bus driver and a supermarket cashier in Fishponds, Bristol, Potts attended St. Mary Redcliffe School, where he developed love of music by singing in the choir at Chester Park Junior School and with other choirs in several Bristol churches.
Almost quit
Before BGT, he said, he had given up on singing due to financial difficulties. He could not work for nearly two years on account of poor health.
?Soon after I returned to work, I got knocked off while biking to the workplace and broke my collar bone,? he related. ?What has happened in the last 15 months, I would never have predicted. I always regarded singing as something I did for myself, [not] as a career.?
Potts doesn?t even come from a music-loving family. He got hooked on classical music after watching the Steven Spielberg film, ?ET.? ?I progressed from there to Tchaikovsky, then Brahms and on to Dvorak.
Coming across a cheap recording of Jose Carreras, my love of opera began. I heard him sing ?Che Gelida Manina? from ?La Boheme? and there was no turning back.?
For tickets to ?Paul Potts: Live in Manila!,? call (0906) 510-4270.
