Britain's Got Talent - Paul Potts

[Talon87]

I totally forgot that most Americans have probably got no exposure to this guy at all, so ... sorry to our British members, but the following links are going to be totally repetitive for any of you watched C4 this last June. :P :)

Mobile phone salesman sings Pavarotti for Song #1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0dzZTPWrSM)
Paul sings Andrea Bocelli's Time to Say Goodbye for Song #2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDB9zwlXrB8)
A repeat of his Pavarotti audition for Song #3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_5W4t_CBzg)

His CD is coming out in America soon, I'm told, so I thought I would raise awareness for any Americans who are interested in what I call "pop Opera", i.e. Andrea Bocelli's vein of opera where amateurs who sing nigh-on professionally take up opera and give it a somewhat modern feel with modern orchestration, synth, melody, etc.

Is the guy perfect? Hell no!
Is the guy better than Andrea Bocelli, widely considered "opera's most professional amateur"? Again, I'd have to say No to that, too.
But is the guy good? No doubt. This guy has got a gift, real talent, and with proper instruction, he could hope to at least achieve Bocelli's level of excellence within the next decade. Who knows, we could see this guy singing at the Olympics in London in a decade or two.

[Sylar]

I still think the other guy should've won. :P

Actually from what I remember, Simon Cowell said even if he didn't win, he'd offer him a music contract, so if he's that good he deserved to win. Opera's not really my thing, so I didn't know if he was good, or just another one of many who can do the same thing.

Also, isn't there an America's Got Talent too, with Pierce Morgan? xD You'd think they'd get somebody better than that cunt.

[Talon87]

We had America's Got Talent last summer. It was our first season (or, as you guys call it, "series"), and the judges were Piers Morgan, Brandy, and David Hasselhoff; the host was Regis Philbin. This season, the judges are Piers Morgan, Sharon Osbourne, and David Hasselhoff; the host is Jerry Springer.

Piers is really sick. We didn't learn this until watching Britain's Got Talent this June, but remember how he seemed to be genuinely serious about putting that fat ugly warty bitch through to the finals and he told her she was beautiful? Well, there was somebody similar this time on Season 2 of America's Got Talent (minus the warts). "Boy Shakira" is the name of the act, and it consists of the most square-jawed man you have ever laid eyes on (he has the jaw and nose and teeth of Shrek; not being cruel, giving you an accurate description!) dressing up as the performer Shakira. The man is flamboyantly gay, given his mannerisms, and he genuinely believes that he passes for a decent Shakira. Piers Morgan loved the act and was smiling all googley-eyed the whole time while the guy shook his tubby tummy on the stage, while David Hasselhoff was completely disgusted (aren't we all!?). Piers also put through one of the looniest contestants from Season 1 who has made a return: Leonod the something-or-other. I think he's out of the running now, but man was he crazy. Actually, Sharon Osbourne liked him, too. ¬¬

This season is really awkward because a lot of the filming for auditions and Las Vegas boot camp took place during David Hasselhoff's messy crisis with his alcoholism being exposed to the public amidst his divorce with his wife and his custody battle for his children. David is clearly way too emotional, swinging from moods of "over-the-top friendly, a little too happy, clapping wildly and telling people how much they are awesome" to moods of complete depression, where just sits there with his hands on his jaw and he looks miserable and he says very nasty things almost at Piers' level. I'm pretty confident that if the series returns for a 3rd season (err, "if the programme returns for a 3rd series" :P), David Hasselhoff won't be coming back. NBC will tell him he's been let go. That's my guess, anyway.

We really envy you guys. You guys got to have Simon Cowell on your show. Simon's so awesome, and we've been wanting him on our show since the very beginning of Season 1 (when people noticed his name in the credits and asked, "Well then why isn't he doing it!? :? :("). And he seemed so genuinely compassionate on this show as compared with American Idol and (from what I have been told, not seen) the X-Factor.

[Arnold]

I watched The show from the start, and it was pretty cool, i'm not really into the po idol/x factor area..cept the start with all the idiots who think they're awsome and are actulyl crap, but Paul Potts was Awsome as well as Little Connie who had a huge chance of winning

Connie Video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=En0A8KGMgq8

and Everyone loved the Monkey Man, loved the little bubbles

MOnkey Video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=IZpjYd0sTT0& ... ed&search= (http://youtube.com/watch?v=IZpjYd0sTT0&mode=related&search=)

Paul, Connie and Monkey were m top 3, was awsome

[Talon87]

My mother hated the ventriloquist act, but I thought he was very talented m'self. I don't think he deserved to win, but he was very talented. We had a ventriloquist act here (for America's Got Talent 2), and the girl's lips were going all over the place. And her act sucked. But she was really cute (physically, like a Lizzie McGuire clone) and Sharon Osbourne liked how such a cute girl could make freaky puppets so charming.

Connie ... *sigh*. I felt that Connie's audition was amazing. Then her Mary Poppins routine for Semis was so-so. :? And then her final performance was a major disappointment. :| I think if she had done them in reverse order, it would have been sensational. There's no doubt about it: the little girl can act and deserves to be seen at West End more than that dweeb Daniel Radcliffe! :P But I think she really shot her chances by going from Awesome Greatness to (quote unquote) "Simple" Greatness. You know?

I mistook Ant and Dec for Irishmen. I'd never heard of Geordie until I watched this show and had friends of the family explain to me (chuckling) that these guys don't sound Irish to Brits at all. They sound Irish to me. :? :(

[Arnold]

Connie wasn't the musical star, Connie was the little girl who sang Over the Rainbow *points to video*, Can't remember the other girls name who did the west end musical stuff, I wasn't a fan of her though she sucked, she was good, but not my cup of tea.

Ant and Dec are awsome, shame they left SMTV saturday morning TV has been on a downfall ever since =/

[Talon87]

Ohhhhhhh. Well, if Connie is the little girl ... then frankly, I thought Connie was the one who sucked the most out of all the hyped-up acts for the finals. :lol: Even for a little girl, she was not that good -- I have childhood VHS cassettes of my kid sister singing for us with a mic and amp, and my sister at the age of 4 was about the same as Connie. Frankly, Connie struck me as "typical for a small child who has perfect pitch." Her voice was weak, her lung capacity was too small to sing well [not her fault! but still a valid point], she did a lot of warbling, etc. If she had not had the microphone and if the audience had not been perfectly silent, you would not have been able to hear her -- her voice was so soft (i.e. weak) that most amps would have had ear-splitting feedback with how high they had to turn it up for her. Also, she had a very limited range -- she really struggled to hit that final note.

What bothers me most about Connie, though, is this: VOCAL CHANGES. A girl who sings well at age 4 may not have the same voice of an angel at age 16. Puberty can be a blessing or a curse, and for Connie, chances are it will be a curse.

She was very cute, but I was so glad she lost. -_- I would have thrown a fit if she had won.

[Sylar]

Wow.

ITV2's been showing America's Got Talent, and for some reason I've been watching it. xd And one act that's really stuck out for my is the Rapping Granny, and she's just amazing. xD When they first said "The Rapping Granny!", I was like, "wtf, are they serious?!121!!?!" and when she came on, it was hilarious. :O Tis the first season I think, since Regis and Brandy are on it.

There's some magician too who scared the shit out of Brandy and Piers, he was awesome. =3

[Talon87]

Yeah, that's Season One from last summer. I wasn't a big fan of the Rapping Granny though. :P I was a fan of Quick Change and Solaris (iirc, that was their name ... the acrobat act :P). I thought that Bianca Ryan was pretty blah for a child singer (I've heard better; good example being this summer's Britain's Got Talent), I thought that Leonov was just a freaky glittery gay Russian dude with crystal blue eyes, and I thought the Irish dance act was sort of meh. I can't even remember the other acts, lol.

Regis Philbin is sooooo annoying. I'm so glad they canned him for this season and brought on Jerry Springer.

[ForeverFlygon]

I probably shouldn't say that the last talent-contest-show here was won by a ventriloquist. Watched almost half an episode though, but I saw her live a few days ago (through walking past the stage, not particularly wanting to see it, mind you =P), and it wasn't really that good.

[Waterlight]

I wasn't overly keen on Paul Potts, I've no idea why really. Connie was alright and even though she wasn't that good a singer I'd have prefered her to win. xP