We love “overcoming the odds” stories. There’s something inspiring about someone who uses his wonderful singing voice to escape from being bullied at school and working at Carphone Warehouse.
Paul Potts, a mobile phone salesman from South Wales, brought the audience for the ITV show Britain’s Got Talent to their feet by singing the Pavarotti favourite Nessun Dorma. More importantly, he turned the show’s judges (Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden) from cynical eyebrow raisers (On no! Not another phone salesman who thinks he can sing opera? Opera? Oh, for god’s sake…) to tearful admirers, full of praise for this unlikely winner.
So what’s the trope here? Well, Paul Potts is (to use a very British phrase) “an ordinary bloke” (American translation: “a regular guy”) and intends to remain an ordinary bloke in his Burton suit. Except that he’s an ordinary bloke, bullied at school as a child, who idolizes Luciano Pavarotti and can sing opera so wonderfully that he wins a “reality TV” talent contest. At least, that’s the Daily Mail’s take on the matter. And it’s the stuff of many folk and fairy tales. Beauty and the Beast sort of stuff.
Oh well (Barnabas Quotidianus pauses to wipe a slightly sceptical tear from his eye), we shall see. Showbiz makeovers don’t always have happy endings and real life stories don’t always have the punchline that we’d like. But – and here’s where an overcoming-the-odds story can beat cynicism into the ground – I really hope Paul Potts accomplishes what he wants to accomplish and can sustain it without destroying his life.
Watch the video here and – here’s a challenge – stay real.
Technorati Tags: talent contest, opera, Pavarotti, Nessun Dorma, makeover, transformation
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{ 2 comments }
It is interesting that the kind of suit a man wears plays that much importance in what the man is!
Interesting indeed! Paul Potts says he’s not interested in labels, and yet the Daily Mail tells us he wears a Burton suit. Burton are not an upmarket outfitters!
Does the suit make the man? No, but it can make a different to how people perceive him. Should he care?
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