Have you seen this guy? Britain's Got Talent...

[sc_curtis]

Did it occur to you that I might be going through a serious bout of insomnia and that I was CALMLY surfing the net most o the night? do you really think that I was up all night over this?



I even posted about that earlier in the thread. Uh . . .

Are you trying to start something with me? How about you PM me if you have a problem with what (and when?) I post. We can CALMLY discuss it. I will probably be available all night again.

PM sent.

[Leland]

Never mind, I googled it for details (his name + "fraud" got plenty of hits.. lol).

So... did an educational tour, sang with Pavarotti (couldn't that be like a tuba student playing with Pilafian?), won a talent contest for cash eight years ago, etc etc.

Out of work, sure.

Better at his talent than almost anyone else was at theirs? Sure.

Is this show supposed to be about undiscovered amateurs?

His day job was selling phones, not singing opera.

Did he claim to never have any training whatsoever? If so, then yeah, I'll call him a liar, too.

[CJ Krause]

i wouldnt normally chime in on this but on his interviews he said he had around 30,000 in debt he had to pay off and some of that was vocal lessons. it lists where he trained and how much he paid. he took voice lessons, he has a degree

alot of the people on these shows like the one going on in the US have been doing their job at their talent for many years. he even said he did opera w hardly any pay or no pay.

i listened to the interview on his myspace and the gal made a passing comment about his training and Paul said nothing and she kept talking. he did not say he did or didnt on the interview. she really didnt let him comment on it.

the guy has a good voice and can hold pitch well and did a great job of winning an audience.

on his myspace page before he started this, on his who he would like to meet he had the Queen and the Royal Family. he will get to meet and sing for them.

he had a goal, he went for it and he won,,, AMEN

[Doug@GT]

The guy … is a liar.

What he told you was true...from a certain point of view.

Naturally, his real goal is to become Obi-Wan Kenobi.

[Doug@GT]

Obi-Wan Pott?

He thought he could sing just as well as Yoda. He was wrong. The orchestra was more machine than man, twisted and evil.

[poomshanka]

I don't necessarily have a horse in this race, and in fact, know nothing of what dribbles out of the idiot box other than what clips I catch on YouTube. Honestly, although I've heard of American Idol, I'd never even heard of this show before the Potts post here.

His story piqued my curiosity, however, and in digging around I found some interesting stuff:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k08yxu57NA

In the expanded comments section on the right-hand side of the page, there's some trivia on Paul's career towards the bottom. I can't personally vouch for some of the fact-ish observations, but one thing said made sense to me - a voice like that didn't happen in the shower. Obviously he's had some training, regardless of whether or not anyone thinks he's the next Pavarotti, couldn't get hired in a "D" house, or is just deluding himself and throwing gobs of money away chasing a pipe dream. I know I spent over $100K studying with Tommy Johnson and Jim Self, but that didn't make me into a studio tuba player.

Another article:

http://talent.itv.com/page.asp?partid=332

Just a guess, but something tells me that if this guy truly was a wolf in sheep's clothing, he never would've passed through the vetting process to get on the show. No doubt he signed disclosure papers detailing his past experiences, especially given that they'd be relatively easy to fact-check. As for the other contestants on the show who weren't just brought on for Simon to tear apart, I'd imagine many of them have had training, performed in public, and perhaps even made some money doing so.

The question here would be to identify what the standard for "amateur" is as set forth by the show's producer's, then determine whether or not Paul willfully failed to disclose certain aspects of his career to sneak in under the radar. If not, then take his story at face value. The clip I saw said nothing about him being self-taught, only that he was selling mobile phones and had a dream of singing opera. In his Today Show appearance, it was actually the host who suggested he'd had no formal training, and although he didn't launch into a list of the classes he's taken and the folks he's studied with, it really was *her* statement.

Yeah, the media eats up stuff like his (Cinderella story, rags-to-riches, diamond in the rough, etc.), and whatever spin's been put on it extends far beyond whatever simplicity might be inherent in his story. Personally, I think he's just a guy whose path, like a lot of ours, has had some odds twists and turns in it. Good on him for following his dreams.

As always, just my $.02, your mileage may vary...

...Dave

[sc_curtis]

I don't necessarily have a horse in this race, and in fact, know nothing of what dribbles out of the idiot box other than what clips I catch on YouTube. Honestly, although I've heard of American Idol, I'd never even heard of this show before the Potts post here.

His story piqued my curiosity, however, and in digging around I found some interesting stuff:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k08yxu57NA

In the expanded comments section on the right-hand side of the page, there's some trivia on Paul's career towards the bottom. I can't personally vouch for some of the fact-ish observations, but one thing said made sense to me - a voice like that didn't happen in the shower. Obviously he's had some training, regardless of whether or not anyone thinks he's the next Pavarotti, couldn't get hired in a "D" house, or is just deluding himself and throwing gobs of money away chasing a pipe dream. I know I spent over $100K studying with Tommy Johnson and Jim Self, but that didn't make me into a studio tuba player.

Another article:

http://talent.itv.com/page.asp?partid=332

Just a guess, but something tells me that if this guy truly was a wolf in sheep's clothing, he never would've passed through the vetting process to get on the show. No doubt he signed disclosure papers detailing his past experiences, especially given that they'd be relatively easy to fact-check. As for the other contestants on the show who weren't just brought on for Simon to tear apart, I'd imagine many of them have had training, performed in public, and perhaps even made some money doing so.

The question here would be to identify what the standard for "amateur" is as set forth by the show's producer's, then determine whether or not Paul willfully failed to disclose certain aspects of his career to sneak in under the radar. If not, then take his story at face value. The clip I saw said nothing about him being self-taught, only that he was selling mobile phones and had a dream of singing opera. In his Today Show appearance, it was actually the host who suggested he'd had no formal training, and although he didn't launch into a list of the classes he's taken and the folks he's studied with, it really was *her* statement.

Yeah, the media eats up stuff like his (Cinderella story, rags-to-riches, diamond in the rough, etc.), and whatever spin's been put on it extends far beyond whatever simplicity might be inherent in his story. Personally, I think he's just a guy whose path, like a lot of ours, has had some odds twists and turns in it. Good on him for following his dreams.

As always, just my $.02, your mileage may vary...

...Dave

Agreed. Very well-put.

[Albertibass]

well its not paul potts, but this one was really good, and im pretty sure she isnt a fraud.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En0A8KGMgq8