Diamond in the Rough

[Carlawarla 1]

Someone sent me this link, and it's awesome. Just wanted to share it with you. Never give up on your dreams.

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

Carla

[Jasman0717 9]

Damn.....no sound

[Toshtishtash 1]

I saw that on YouTube a while ago. It is amazing.. Sends shivers down my spine.

[C and J 1]

Every time I see that the emotion he puts through in those first few sentences almost brings a tear to me eye. It's very beautiful

The reactions from the crowd and the judges is just priceless.

Edited October 25, 2007 by C and J

[Ta Ta 1]

Absolutely awesome............made me cry. The second video on the bottom is one of my favorite songs. Standing ovation !

[Laynie 0]

Someone sent me this link, and it's awesome. Just wanted to share it with you. Never give up on your dreams.

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

Carla

OH my God !!1 that brought tears to my eyes! That was awesome!!!

Thank you for that just made my day!!!

[calamitka 0]

It was absolutley great. More talented Britains below

http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=U7Uhgm5Ox9Q&NR=1

Cheryl with all this touches in 23,24,25 hopefully you got your approval by tomorrow. God luck.

[jundp 191]

Amazing! My son's choir director told him about this a while ago apparently. I just showed him the video and he said "yeah, Mom, I know" in the way of all teenagers

Thanks for sharing the link!

[Fandango 1,439]

That brought tears to my eyes. Like I'm actually sat here with tears rolling down my face.

Thank you for posting that Always remember, follow your dreams!

And how wonderful is this story below?!?!?!?!

http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/NewsArtic...r=0&summit=

Potts enjoys wild ride from penury to opera star

Wed Oct 24, 2007 2:34 PM EDT163

By Michelle Nichols

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Just five months ago, amateur opera singer Paul Potts was mired in debt and selling cell phones in Britain. Now he has a hit album and is due to tour the world.

Potts, a stocky 37-year-old Englishman with crooked teeth, entered and won the "Britain's Got Talent" television show in June in front of more than 13 million viewers and then signed a recording deal reportedly worth $2 million.

His debut album, "One Chance," has topped charts around the world including Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

"I have done more things in the last four months than I would ever have expected to do in my whole lifetime," Potts told Reuters in an interview. "It's mind-boggling."

Now his teeth are fixed, although he vows he won't end up with a "full mouth of veneers," he wears designer suits instead of the $70 suit he donned for his initial audition and he is ready to crack the United States.

"One Chance" was released in America on September 18 and has already sold nearly 70,000 copies. He has appeared on television's "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" and filmed an appearance for "The Oprah Winfrey Show" due to be broadcast next month.

"I never believed that I would end up doing this for a living," said Potts. "I wasn't sure whether I really had it because I always felt that to get anywhere in it I would need to have proper formal training and I couldn't afford that."

Potts said he had been singing most of his life and had private lessons "when I could afford them."

He also used hard-earned savings to spend a couple of months training in Italy, where he had the chance to sing for one of opera's greatest tenors, Luciano Pavarotti, who died in September.

CINDERELLA STORY

After his performance, Pavarotti told Potts "not to run out of breath at the end of an important phrase" and then asked him to sing again. "I was the only one who got to sing twice," said Potts, who used to perform in unpaid amateur operas.

When he returned to Britain, Potts said he sent off some tapes to agents. But nobody even acknowledged receiving them, so he figured he wasn't good enough.

Then he suffered a string of health problems -- a burst appendix, a tumor on his adrenal gland and a broken collarbone when he was knocked off his bike by a car -- that crippled him financially and stopped him from singing altogether.

"We were literally using credits cards to buy food," said Potts, who lives in Port Talbot, in south Wales, with his wife Julie-Ann. He said his success has allowed the couple to pay off nearly $80,000 in debts.

Now he struggles to comprehend why so many people want to see him perform. His appearance in Denmark last month drew tens of thousands of people even though he sang only two songs.

"That's bonkers, that's just crazy ... . Are they mad?" he said.

Next year Potts will tour Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Scandinavia singing songs from "One Chance," which includes "Nessun Dorma," known as Pavarotti's most famous aria.

As well as more traditional opera fare, his album includes some unusual arrangements -- a Spanish rendition of Frank Sinatra's "My Way" and an R.E.M. hit, "Everybody Hurts," translated into Italian and sung in an operatic style.

"At the time I was unconvinced. But I never ever say no to something until I have tried it. In the end it turned out quite well, it's one of my favorites," he said of the R.E.M. song.

As for the next album, which he hopes to start working on next year: "I always used to enjoy doing Queen on karaoke."

"One that would work really well is 'Who Wants to Live Forever,' a classic tune," he said.

[Jenn! 918]

That was lovely!

I hate how they had to ruin the moment with that damn cheesy Aerosmith song though.