Volume 39, Number 08
Diversions/Arts
By Owen Schaefer
From Cellphones to Dulcet Tones
When it comes to changing careers, you can’t get much more extreme than newly discovered opera-singer Paul Potts. While his name may not drip with the Italian romance of a Luciano Pavarotti or Andrea Bocelli, his voice most certainly does. And less than a year ago, Paul Potts was a cellphone salesman in Wales.
If you haven’t heard of Paul Potts already, he was the 2007 winner of Simon Cowell’s UK reality TV competition, Britain’s Got Talent. When the very average-looking Potts shuffled nervously onto the stage during his audition, giggles were stifled and eyes rolled; but when he launched into the Nessun Dorma aria from Puccini’s Turandot, the giggling ended. Potts’s voice roused the audience into a spontaneous standing ovation and left one judge in tears. The YouTube video of that triumphant moment became one of the most viewed clips ever.
The media and blogosphere immediately seized on this story of the perfect ingénue, unaware of his own talent, suddenly launched into stardom. But the fact is that despite his fairy-tale-like rise from humble salesman to celebrity, Potts had always had his eye on the stage. There was a minor kafuffle when it was discovered that he had taken lessons in Italy, and performed in four opera productions with a volunteer group called Bath Opera. But regardless of one newspaper’s assertion that his fans had been “duped,” it seems he was quickly forgiven for the sin of actually knowing what he was doing.
With a ¥100,000 grand prize, a shiny new album, and a performance for the Queen under his belt, Potts is now on a world tour and coming to Tokyo. He is one of those rare stars that can be credited with bringing an art form to a whole new audience, and whether you’re planning to go for his silky-smooth voice or just because of a fascination with his story, you’ve got two appearances at the Bunkamura Orchard Hall to do so.
Potts will doubtless do a number of pieces from his new album One Chance. As with many crossover albums, it is a mixed bag of pop and classical. Naturally, it includes his competition favorites, Nessun Dorma and Andrea Bocelli’s Time to Say Goodbye, but it also has versions of Secret Garden’s You Raise Me Up, R.E.M.’s Everybody Hurts, and Paul Anka’s My Way—all sung in Italian. Why? Because it sounds cultured, of course! But you can certainly expect a few more standard arias in the mix, and that is where Potts tones ring the most true.
Paul Potts (Apr. 29–Apr. 30) Bunkamura Orchard Hall. Shibuya Station (JR, Metro). ¥9,500–¥10,500. Various times. Tel. 045-671-9911. www.bunkamura.co.jp