And since it's been a while, I offer up this review of Paul Potts in concert by a highly experienced classical reviewer.

========

Paul Potts, tenor, with the Paul Potts Orchestra, Conducted by Mark Agnor
Associate singer: Elizabeth Marvelly

Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington
Reviewed by Lindis Taylor

From Dominion Post, New Zealand 09 April 2008

We live in an age in which a rare, naturally gifted voice can gain stardom without subjecting itself to the rigours of performance in opera itself. Formerly, a powerful, accurate and engaging voice such as Paul Potts possesses would have plunged into fulltime opera and learned the trade in the hot house of the real theatre. He would have mastered roles, stage-craft and moved rapidly through the ranks to become a Caruso, a Corelli, a Pavarotti or a Domingo.

But today, singers with attractive operatic voices like Andrea Bocelli and Russell Watson can, through TV, conquer the world, avoiding the hard graft of opera itself.

Potts' emergence has been slower, but no less dramatic, and based on no less native vocal talent. What seems to set him apart from the others is the lack of histrionic talent, and on the positive side, much showbiz manner.

He says what he needs to; sometimes more. Indeed, his somewhat rambling anecdotes engage the audience more through their home-spun naturalness than through panache. I came to the concert without the awareness of this singer that I assume most of the capacity audience had, and was thus impressed both by what I heard, and by the way he had arrived from winning Britain's Got Talent TV contest last year.

In spite of a slightly stiff stage manner - although he loosened up greatly in the second half - he injected into the mainly operetta and musical repertoire a genuine dramatic and lyrical instinct, a feeling for words and phrasing. On the whole he handled the pieces tastefully, and although a few like Everybody Hurts were musically trite, most were very worthy representatives of their genre and sung most persuasively. Sure there was very little pure opera, but enough to show where acting and stage skills might get him. The medley from The Student Prince, the duet (with Elizabeth Marvelly) Libiamo from La Traviata and the final, strong but inevitable Nessun Dorma left me in no doubt about claiming an operatic voice. They attracted some of the biggest applause.

With a huge screen offering perhaps pointless visual commentary, the charming, talented Elizabeth Marvelly with Piaf's La Vie en Rose and Tarakihi, conductor Mark Agnor and players from the Wellington Symphony Orchestra masquerading as the excellent Paul Potts Orchestra, and pianist Chris Taylor, the whole was a stylish package in which Potts has successfully reinvented himself.

I thought Paul Potts was fab - he made me cry on BGT (twice) and also when I saw the documentary about him last year. Rhydian's interpretations are not emotional enough for me. So Paul wins hands down.

Its totaly different, Rhydian has never really sand full on opera for us, and I dont think he will, from what I have picked up his album is going to have kind of a rocky feel to it. So I dont think they should be compared, but on stage presence and emotion Rhyd wins. Paul is a good singer but he is lacking something.

Suppose if you had to that would be ideal because....


Stop talking loserface.

LOCALS SOLD ON BLOKE NEXT DOOR

Review by Ingrid Tiriana

Wonderful. Fabulous. Entertaining. There's a reason Paul Potts of Britain's Got Talent fame has become adored around the world. The man's got talent!

Opera snobs may consider him a diamond in the rough, but that is perhaps why he's so loved by everyday people, including those that attended Paul's third of four New Zealand concerts at The Energy Arena in Rotorua.

The local audience found the self-effacing boy from Bristol charmingly disarming as he shared anecdotes from his life between songs, among them the sweet Everybody Hurts, Granada, Ave Maria, Music of the Night, Love Story and ending the programme with Time To Say Goodbye.

Meanwhile, Rotorua's own songstress supreme, Elizabeth Marvelly, had local people's chests puffed with pride over a local talent who looks destined for the stars. Looking every part the princess, Elizabeth was wonderful; performing several songs, including the Welsh lullaby Suo Gan and an uplifting duet with Potts.

Potts' trademark Nessun Dorma was a glaring omission from the programme, but it turned out to be his trump-card, delivered with great gusto when he returned for the most appropriate of encores at the urgings of his appreciative audience.

The world's most famous cellphone salesman certainly delivered.

Paul Potts for me.
Rhydian is talented but leaves me a bit cold.

From the Adelaide Advertiser
By Ewart Shaw

On a wave of internet-driven publicity, Paul Potts arrived in Adelaide to show just why he won Britain’s premier television talent show. He has a likeable personality and an attractive tenor voice.

For concert 49 of a 77-show, 12-country tour in 145 days, he wisely managed his voice and choice of material.

Popular songs, with a romantic flavour from being performed in Italian, are the staple of his repertoire. He was at his best in an unpretentious Bring Him Home from Les Miserables, accompanied by pianist Chris Taylor, and a Mario Lanza medley from The Student Prince. He does need to work on his patter between songs, though.

Potts shared the program with 18-year-old New Zealand singer Elizabeth Marvelly. Her distinctive mezzosoprano voice showed well in ballads from her latest album, but was totally unsuited to the Verdi drinking song from La Traviata. Her most successful number was a Maori song about the locust, which she performed with gusto and haka-inspired moves.

Conductor Mark Agnor guided his small band of Adelaide musicians with expansive gestures, taking up the violin at various points to great effect. The background was provided by some quite surreal visual images.

Both singers expressed surprise at the sudden success of their careers and the warmth of their welcome. How long those careers last is up to fate and good management. Potts may never need or indeed want to take on a full mainstage operatic role but he’s happy bringing joy to his audiences.

They called out for his signature Nessun Dorma, which he delivered in a straightforward manner and with the ringing top notes so familiar from his YouTube performance.

Whilst Paul may arguably be a technically better singer, I prefer listening to Rhydian.

I wouldn't buy either or go to see them in concert, but I prefer to listen and watch Rydian.

Paul or Rhydian? No contest, it’s definitely Rhydian for me. His brilliant voice, his personality, his aura and charisma, his very presence on stage far surpasses Paul. Rhydian can cross over from ‘popular’ to ‘classics’ like no other I’ve seen. He is only 25yrs of age; his classical voice won’t mature until he’s in his early forties. The best of Rhydian is yet to come.

I do love Paul singing Nessun Dorma, and he does have a lovely voice, but I’m not too sure if he is strong willed enough to survive the world of showbiz.

While you say "it’s definitely Rhydian for me", that's a personal choice and we're all entitled to them.

But then you go ahead and describe Paul Potts! Paul has a brilliant voice, has a great and engaging personality, has a well received aura and has oodles of charisma. Paul's only 37 and his classical voice has many years to go as well and the best is yet to come.

So with that, you're still "not too sure if he is strong willed enough to survive the world of showbiz"??? Hmmmm... With 52 sold out concerts across the globe under his belt (Rhydian has ZERO) and his performances getting stronger and stronger as time goes on and venues wanting to ADD performances "on the fly", I AM sure Paul has what it takes. He's as tough as hardened steel with a will to match.

THAT I'm sure of!

And now that Paul has completed his Asia tour of Japan and South Korea, here are updated stats on his debut album, "One Chance", in Korea:

14 weeks successive at NUMBER ONE!
(currently at NUMBER ONE)
19 weeks at NUMBER ONE in total!

The tour was a GREAT SUCCESS and there's an excellent chance he'll be back there before the end of the year. Here are Paul's latest concert statistics:

Travelled 43,818 miles (70,518 kilometres)
59 completed concerts in 112 days with 18 to go.

He continues to get stronger and stronger with each performance. I'd like to remind those of you who seriously doubted his abilities before he started his concert tour (based on NOTHING, I might add), that he is now WAY WAY PAST the point where some of you predicted he'd throw in the towel and give it all up.

How wrong you were.

Update on the Paul Potts 2008 Concert Tour

As of tonight, Paul has COMPLETED 70 sold out concerts with 7 to go in this concert series.

He has done 70 concerts in 132 days WITHOUT a single cancellation, delay or anything else that would have prevented him from singing for those fans that bought tickets to his concerts. And he's done that while travelling over 50,000 miles (80,000 km) all over the globe.

Can't handle the pressure? Wouldn't last? Doesn't have the strength to handle such an intense and grueling schedule?

NONE of those describe Paul. He has a tremendous will and nerves of steel and has demonstrated that throughout this last 132 days. The next 7 days will bring this concert series to a spectacular close, ending ONE YEAR TO THE DAY that he was first broadcast to the world on Britain's Got Talent.

Think and suppose all you want. I'm only interested in FACTS and Paul has provided the PROOF! He is in this for the long haul and has the determination to match his talent.

And for those that had the opportunity to go to one of his concerts and declined, you missed a golden opportunity to see a man in his element outshine the brightest stars in the sky with his passion and his voice.

How sad for you.

Paul Potts is amazingly talented, and his voice is stunning, i could listen to him for hours.
But Rhydian Roberts! Wooooow,
He's not only a treat for the ears, but the eyes as well!
I find his voice more pleasing and addictive to listen to.
Rhydian won it for me

Paull Potts!!! Its gotta be!

I dont get the comparisons.

At the mo, Rhyd isnt an opera singer.

Just because he has a classical training background, doesnt make it opera.

Same with Leona Lewis, she has a classicaly trained background. And people dont compare her to Katherine Jenkins.

Both Paul Potts and Rhydian have talent - but take it from an opera freak they're both opera lite - also one's a tenor and one's a baritone - totally different.

Paul Potts UPDATE!

The Paul Potts 2008 Concert Tour has completed and the votes are in..... It was an ABSOLUTE SUCCESS! He performed 77 concerts at sold out venues around the globe in 145 days with ZERO cancellations, ZERO concert delays, ZERO "diva" episodes and ZERO scandals!

Notice a pattern here????? So, what we have, in complete contrast to others portrayed in the media, is a guy who just wants to sing and wants to do it and please the audience as best he can. Trapped nerves, leg pain, shoulder pain, cold, chilly weather, a scratchy throat, a huge blizzard, the driest air imaginable and having to fly the equivalent of more than TWICE around the Earth couldn't stop Paul from doing what he loves to do. Talk about tenacity, nerves of steel, a rock solid commitment and love for his fans!

Adding to all of the above is that Paul is also a RECORD SETTER! He has established himself as the real deal, a committed and respected performing and recording artist and a guy that is WANTED at venues all around the world. On several occasions during his tour, requests were made to either add a particular venue to the schedule or extend his stay at a venue, all this while actively touring.

After analyzing his concert schedule and seeing how his concert "stops" were distributed, Paul had far less time "OFF" than he did "ON". This would be expected from a new artist with the powers behind him eager to strike "while the iron is hot". What was unexpected is how that same tour schedule became the launch pad for the new standard in commitment, respect and entertainment.

Paul Potts IS the new standard.

All of his venues were at 98% sold or better on the day of their particular concert. Most of those actually went to 100% sold before concert time and some of them went as high as 102% OVERsold! A majority of venues (for example, Denmark) were sold out within 72 hours of tickets first going on sale, causing additional dates to be added to the tour. He performed in 77 concerts across 145 days, never skipping a beat, never thinking of throwing in the towel, never once giving less than 100% to his audience.

No new artist has performed at this level out of the starting gate and NO classical artist of Paul's calibre has EVER done it! And while all that was going on, his debut album, "One Chance", broke the THREE MILLION mark.

And they call Clark Kent, Superman!

After a fantastically successful three concert mini-tour in Sweden this past July, Paul Potts finds himself as the toast of Germany!

Over one year ago, his debut album, "One Chance", was released and has racked up over 3 million sold since that time. But a surprising thing happened on the way to Berlin: "One Chance" hit the peak position on the German album charts and has been NUMBER ONE there for the past FOUR STRAIGHT WEEKS!

Already announced is his 15 concert tour planned for October and November covering Hong Kong, The Philippines, Taiwan and Germany, with Taiwan having the special privilege of celebrating Paul's 38th birthday with him.

One incredible year has passed with an even more incredible year coming up.

There is MUCH MORE to come from "The Velvet Voice of Port Talbot".

Stay tuned!

I'm pleased for Paul Potts, he's such a lovely guy and he'll go down great in Germany, I used to live in Berlin in the 80's and James Last and his Orchestra were prime time saturday night entertainment. I visited last year and he still was, at 80! They love good old fashioned opera and music in Europe and Asia and he could well end up being their biggest star for the next 30 years. It's not what I like at all, but he'll be by far the most successful X Factor/BGT winner career wise.

Paul's latest official blog post in his own words...

==

18.09.2008
Back to Germany for The Dome.

After a lovely week in two very different places, we found our way back to Germany, to Frankfurt Am Main for the first part of this second journey to Germany this year. We had a short drive down to the town of Mannheim. I had a performance in the SAP arena for a programme called The Dome. The Dome is a show very much like the Smash Hits! Party in the UK, or the MTV shows elsewhere.

It was something of a surprise for me to be on a show like this. Even though Nessun Dorma has now reached no.2 on the German singles chart, I never expected to appear and perform at such an event with its predominately teenage audience. I was very nervous about this performance indeed. I was completely uncertain about what the reaction would be.

I was even more nervous when I was told that there were 13,000 people there! The first thing I noticed when I was rehearsing was how well the crew had done with the set. I was genuinely impressed that they had gone into so much effort for me. When I was being introduced it was obvious how many people were there. They showed a few clips from Britain’s Got Talent, and when they showed the announcement of me as winner on BGT the whole place erupted. I walked out on to the stage and was really hit by the reaction. Once I started, I thought that it might get quieter, but it kept going! I really enjoyed my performance, even though at times I couldn’t hear myself or the music, so I had to trust technique and my memory. When I finished, the whole place erupted again, 13,000 people, with an estimated average age of between 16 and 18 all screaming at me, has to be the most surreal experience I have ever had.

I had never expected to be singing for a living 15 months ago let alone to be getting a reaction like this from a teenage audience on a pop music show. I have always felt that music is music and is the most universal language in the world. It can make you feel happy, make you feel sad, move you to tears and make you want to jump around. I still watch with wonder how 7 white notes and 5 black notes can cause so varied a reaction, and affect many people in so many ways. I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to be involved in music. It is all thanks to that ten pence piece that I tossed 19 months ago, and the people that kindly voted for me on Britain’s Got Talent, and not forgetting those that have bought my albums and come to one of my 85 shows so far this year.

From the bottom of my heart... Thank you!

Paul x

THIS JUST IN: Best-selling digital album in Q3 2008 was “One Chance” by Welsh opera sensation Paul Potts of “Britain’s Got Talent” fame.

FROM HAZ.de

http://www.haz.de/newsroom/kultur/ze.../art180,716975

Prelude to tour Germany: Casting Show-tenor Paul Potts

TRANSLATION:

From singing mobile phone seller celebrated tenor Paul Potts has appealed to kick his Germany tour in Hamburg, the audience excited. The British casting show winner occurs in nine other German cities.

Before 9500 spectators in the Color Line Arena presented the 38-year-olds with live orchestral accompaniment approximately two hours long known opera songs. Fans of any age group had gathered at the concert to the singer live. The northern Germans greeted him with warm applause as he opened the show. To the ice to break definitively, the British tenor kramte his German show: "It is unbelievable for me, I'm here. It is a beautiful city, "Potts said with a mischievous smile and a broad English accent.

While he "O Sole Mio" and later "Caruso" vortrug, he had the hall completely under control. If Potts sang, it seemed that the people stop breathing. The second half of the concert began with "The Music of the Night" from the "Phantom of the Opera." "Yours is my whole heart", he later his wife. Furthermore, the female opera singers gain fetched. The New Zealand soprano singer Elizabeth Marvelly gave a total of six songs for the best. Including "La Vie En Rose" by Edith Piaf and the duet "The Prayer" with Potts. Especially the song "Tarakihi", from their home in the language of the Maori, had the concert visitors are. The 19-year-old Potts had been in Australia and New Zealand on tour accompanied.

That the British succeeded in so many people for classical music to inspire, lies not only in his voice. His career reads like a modern fairy tale. By the summer of last year, the British mobile phones sold. In June 2007 he tried his luck in the television show "Britain's Got Talent". When he was seated in a bad suit uncertain announced that he wanted to sing opera, was the skepticism of the jury wrote in the face. These doubts were dispelled when the singer loslegte and the complete Puccini aria "Nessun Dorma" almost faultless vortrug. Both audience and judges were impressed. The singer's mobile phone seller won the talent competition and was a star in Britain.

Meanwhile, he wears his appearances in an immaculate tuxedo, has released his first CD and toured throughout the world. Nevertheless, there he is modest. On stage he drank tea and told anecdotes from his childhood and the time before the big breakthrough. "When I've sold more phones, I have never sweated so doll as now," joked the artist.

With "Time to Say Good Bye" the singer wanted to finally leave the stage. But minute-long standing ovations and roaring applause were clear: Without "Nessun Dorma" to sing, he would not go. With a grand finale goodbye to the Englishman from Hamburg.

Potts touring until 8 November through ten German cities simply for the concert in Leipzig are still cards to have. More stations: Berlin (October 27), Leipzig (28), Cologne (30), Bremen (November 1), Hanover (2nd), Mannheim (4th), Stuttgart (5th), Frankfurt / Main (6) and Nuremberg (8th).