My daughter sent me this story today. I got goosbumps watching this the first time, the second time, and even the twelfth time . . .

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21904047-2,00.html

I goodgled Paul Potts afterwards and found another story that said that he has since been offered three recording contracts. I love stories like this.

I heard him sing through YouTube. He was a brilliant operatic voice. Bravissimo!

The opera version of Elliott....

WOW! Don't know what more to say. He is AMAZING! I loved the judges faces when he said he was going to sing opera and then he started loved seeing how their expressions changed especially when Peirce was rolling his eyes . I can take Simon over him ANY DAY! Amazing thanks for posting this C!

Thank you so much for posting this! That was a brilliant performance.

Wow. For some reason I found myself near-teary eyed with that. It was almost like he was unsure of himself and filled with self doubt and he found validation with the amazing reception of the audience. I am happy that he is now being given offers but his very unassuming nature makes me definitely want to root for him to have success in the music industry.

Yeah, that guy is great!

Did you guys see the 6-year-old girl Connie? She blew me (and Simon) away as well!

Connie

I was crying from almost the first note out of his mouth....here is another example of a God given talent, that was just waiting to be discovered.

Wow! This 6 year old girl sings better than a lot of other idol wannabes. The way she goes up to hit the high notes is so exceptionally well controlled for a kid, and she does it with virtually no strain nor effort. Jordin Sparks is 17? Well Connie is 6!

Wow - I think we have a real competition between Connie and Paul!

That aria never fails to make me cry. Wow! That guy is amazing! I hope he wins and gets to perform in front of the queen. Or better yet, I hope he gets offered a good recording deal.

And Connie is sooo adorable. She also blew me away.

My ex was english & his name was paul Bott..we called him botty..he couldn't sing though.. I know that was random.

I am also proud of the fact that I'm 3/4 Welsh 1/4 english. Not much comes out of Wales...but man that guy can sing.
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Actually..there's Tom Jones, Katherine Zetra Jones, Catatonia..can't think of anyone else at the mo...

what I love about the little girl, is that she is the opposite of most kids on these typed of shows, who try to sing like adults..she is just pure, and sincere and beatuiful.

My favorite from America's Got Talent is now 12 year old Bianca Ryan. She won the million dollars last summer. Simon gave her a contract. Her cd is at Target www.myspace.com/biancaryan I met her at the opening of an amusement park. She was very sweet and down to earth.

I love this Paul Potts. Does anybody know when the finale is? Did you notice he has a mole on his face, like somebody else we know?

Here's the latest on Paul. This is from the semi-final round (8 competitors). He's singing one of my most favorite songs of all time, "Time to Say Goodbye". When he hit that last note, I was in tears.

http://vipglamour.net/2007/06/15/paul-pott...ins-got-talent/

That was another ''Wow!'' performance. Whether he wins or not, like Elliott, he's already won.

Cfans, thanks for telling us about Paul Potts. Now, I have 3 future cds on my too get list, Elliott's Christmas cd, Melinda Doolittle's cd and now, Paul Potss' cd.

You're welcome. And I love Melinda too!

thanks cfans...he is amazing...I love his voice and his story....very moving

Have you guys heard/seen this car cellphone salesman's talent?? I was in tears!
And for those who a have Myspace, check his out:
http://www.myspace.com/paul_potts

Paul Potts

nice to see he has a myspace page now.

here's another thread where some discussion about this has gone on - http://etrainstation.com/index.php?showtopic=12317

paul truly is amazing and such an underdog. the other person discussed in this thread is connie talbot. check out the thread when you can and dig up the links. they are all worth watching.

Paul WON!!!!! On his blog:
the performance of Nessun Dorma was PHENOMENAL......

Time to celebrate with the champagne everyone, and lets raise a glass to the magnificient PAUL POTTS who has changed the face of opera FOREVER, brought a smile to faces ALL over the world, and made people weep tears of joy through the passion of his singing.

One thing is for sure, this ordinary mobile phone salesman from Port Talbot, South Wales, with an extremely extraordinary talent, will be going far in this world we live, his life has just changed forever and he's made the world a happier place for being in it.

Lets CELEBRATE EVERYONE.....
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...80-e3d5d1d75b5f

Did you see Simon's reaction at the very end of the clip on Paul's My Space page? Where he said that this was the best show he had ever been associated with? He seemed extremely emotional, and I believe almost on the verge of tears. Congratulations to Paul on his well-deserved win!

I've been following this story for several days and have read everything I can get my hands on. There have been some who have criticized him even being in the competition because Paul received professional singing lessons. Well, his former voice teacher spoke to the press and said that Paul would ride miles on his bike in all kinds of weather to get to his lessons. He would be completely disheveled, out of breath and sometimes wet and cold, but would give his all immediately. And he did have a master class in front of Paviorotti (spelling?), but it was because he earned it and was never paid a cent for any performance he ever did. He got very sick in 2003 (burst appendix and tumor on his adrenal gland, which was benign, and broke his collarbone from a fall from his bike), and hasn't sung since.

His is truly an inspirational story.

cfans, I'm in tears again reading your post!! ^^^ I love this guy and can't wait for his album!!

I just heard about him yesterday from someone on myspace. My comment to her after watching his audition video was "Wow, I think Simon's found the fifth member of II Divo." But then the more I thought about it I realized that he's ten times better than those guys in II Divo. He has an incredible voice.

I'm glad to hear he won the competition. :thumbsup:

Emjay, you're too funny!! I love Il Divo and it was hilarious that you thought that! Paul is great...and when David from Il Divo sings, like Paul, both of them give me goose bumps!!

Cfans,
I never would have known about Paul Potts if it hadn't been for you. Thanks so much for posting about him! I told all of my friends about him. Even non opera lovers got teary listening to him sing and listening to his story.

CONGRATULATIONS PAUL POTTS!

I'm so glad I was able to pass this on. When I first heard of him, I wanted to tell the world. I'm grateful that we have this space to talk about him here, so thanks to whomever is responsible.

Tears flow whenever I listen to Paul. Thanks for introducing me to his incredible talent.

Paul has been signed to a million pound record deal by Simon Cowell. Simon is flying him to NY and he will be appearing on the TODAY show tomorrow morning (Thursday).

That's great for him. He is a fantastic opera singer.

Cfans,
Thanks so much for letting us know! I'll be watching. I was reading how Paul and his wife didn't have enough money to have kids. Now, they do. His whole story is very touching. Again, thanks so much for letting us know about Paul Potts!

Here's a link to Paul's performance this morning on the Today Show. I think he turned Meredith Viera into a fan girl!

Paul Potts Performance on Today Show

Thank you for the link! I had my DVR supposedly to record but for some reason, it recorded a few minutes and that was it....arrggghhhh!! It shows it recorded 3 hours of the Today Show and I get a minute or two and it tells me it's done....I'm so bummed! :arg:

The interview and performance and a bunch of other stuff is on www.myspace.com/paul_potts He was awesome!

THANKS AGAIN CFANS!

This is a bulletin from Paul Potts myspace. Thought it would be nice to post it here.



NEWS JUST IN + FIRST FOR NEWS ON MYSPACE.............

THE whirlwind rise to fame of Paul Potts continued yesterday as he started work on his album - and invited the Sunday Mirror Newspaper to share the moment.

The former mobile phone salesman, 36, had just jetted in from New York to record his debut release after signing a £1million global deal with Simon Cowell.

It will be one of the quickest albums of all time - thanks to huge demand - going on sale on July 11.

Britain's Got Talent winner Paul - dubbed Pavapotty - revealed the album tracks but became quite emotional when mentioning the most important.

It's a song version of Cavatina - the tune from Robert De Niro movie The Deer Hunter - and Paul is dedicating it to his wife of four years, Julie-Ann.

At a secret Surrey studio, he whispered: "Cavatina is for my wife who has stuck by me through all the hard times when we were barely surviving on our wages. I'd reached rock bottom and was hardly even singing. So this is a big day for us both."

It was just three weeks ago that Paul sold his last mobile phone - earning himself £1.50 in commission - working at the Carphone Warehouse. Paul was due back in last week, but had to contact his boss to say he's too busy.

He said: "I had to ring my manager to make sure I wasn't in trouble for not going in. They were fine about it."

In fact, Carphone Warehouse are delighted with all the publicity Paulhas generated for them.

He said: "I got a jokey email from the chief executive asking why I haven't told them to stick their job yet. But I haven't had the nerve to hand in my notice. I worry I'll need the job back. They say, 'Don't pee in the pot as you never know when you're going to need to drink from it again'.

"I could go back to a normal job tomorrow, no problem. I'm not afraid of graft - it's all I've ever known."

But it looks like that will never happen since Paul is set to become a millionaire - especially when his album becomes a huge hit. His choice of tracks is a mixture of his favourite big songs from musicals and opera.

They include Maria from West Side Story, Music Of The Night from Phantom Of The Opera and patriotic hymn Jerusalem. He has also picked opera classics Caruso, Nessun Dorma and O Sole Mio.

Paul said: "The songs were easy to choose. I've had a fantasy playlist on my iPod for ages. I used to listen to them in the bath. I never thought I'd get to sing them.

"I've come a long way from when I got bullied on the school bus for listening to classical music too loud when the other lads were into heavy metal! I was listening to Tchaikovsky when they wanted Def Leppard on."

Following his two-day trip to New York - his first trip to the US - Bristolborn Paul has yet to return to Port Talbot in Wales where he shares a home with Julie-Ann. And he is almost embarrassed to be here - as the centre of attention with lots of people fussing around him.

He added: "I keep expecting someone to wake me up and say I'm late for work. But this is my new job. I am now a professional singer. That's what I gave as my occupation when I went through immigration in America."

Yesterday, I heard Paul record the first vocals with producer Nigel Wright, who has worked with greats such as Jose Carreras, Madonna and Barbra Streisand.

Tomorrow, they go into London's Air Studios with the London Symphony Orchestra for two weeks of recording.

Despite his huge success, Paul insists he will never change from being a regular guy. He said: "Now I'm being driven everywhere. But the man who brought me here today was having problems with his ringtone - so I sorted it out for him.

"I'm keeping my hand in with the old job - just in case this all goes wrong!"

WHAT HE'LL BE SINGING

NESSUN DORMA - from Puccini's Turandot. Famous from World Cup 1990.

CARUSO - made famous by Luciano Pavarotti.

MARIA - the famous ballad from West Side Story.

JERUSALEM - the hymn.

MUSIC OF THE NIGHT - from Phantom Of The Opera.

CAVATINA - originally theme song to The Deer Hunter.

TIME TO SAY GOODBYE - made famous by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman.

O SOLE MIO - Italian song made popular by Caruso.

'I haven't had nerve to hand in my notice at work'

The album will will be available for pre-order from amazon.co.uk from tomorrow.

I'm excited and loving the song list on his first album!

Don't forget Bonnie Tyler and Mick Hucknall from Simply Red (who was actually her boyfriend before she married her father...sorry I mean husband...Michael Douglas!!)

Paul's CD is now available for pre-order from Amazon (US). It will be shipped mid-July.

Check out this guy..

http://www.maniacworld.com/Phone-Salesman-Amazes-Crowd.html

Awww - this guy was great wasn't he? This was several months ago and he went on to win that competition. He is just awesome!