SUBLIME SPIRIT: Wondrous!

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Wondrous!

Hubby and I are in love! ………with Paul Potts.

My half hour commute to work and half hour back everyday have been laced with classical notes lately. Suffice it to say, recent days have been spent being awed, admiring and short of venerating this amateur-well-not-completely-untutored-but-yes-still-amateur tenor’s voice. You ought to hear his rendition of Nessun Dorma, Contepartiro, and my personal favorite, Caruso (“THE” one that makes the hair at the back of my neck stand ----there always has to be that one song!!!)

Eversince my hubby’s buddy at work showed him Paul Potts’ YouTube clip from Britain’s Got Talent (Thank you, Barry!), Aldred has undergone a 180 degree conversion, akin to the religious kind. He, who is a big follower of deafening and angry music and he, who is a loyal advocate of noise, all of a sudden is quick to shush me out while Paul Potts belts out songs once given justice only by the likes of

Plácido Domingo, José Carreras and Luciano Pavarotti, and lately the ever gorgeous Andrea Bocelli, Russel Watson, Josh Groban and IL DIVO…and oh did I mention the sex appeal that came with the packages!

Wondrous! It’s not about my better half’s cultural epiphany. I’m talking about this ordinary guy who pulls off a really extra-ordinary thing! Paul Potts is the typical shy and insecure guy who, apart from not being blessed in the looks department, also leads a really ordinary life, perhaps even less. He worked for Carphone Warehouse in UK as a cell phone salesman (though rumor has it that he was a Sales Manager). Still!!! He is awesome. He draws you in as high and low operatic notes roll by. Jaw-dropping indeed. He may not be technically superior to his predecessors and may not be able to please everybody especially those with well-trained ears, but when he sings, it’s enough to make tears fall, and make one’s hair stand --that, they say, is the hallmark of a good singer. From what I’ve heard, he is not at all well-off and could not even finish the music course that he has always aspired for. Maybe that’s why he rather unintentionally charms the audience despite the lack of the so-called “audio-video lock” in advertising lingo (voice=face). We develop an emotional attachment and identification to his persona. There is a certain emotional quality in his performance that tugs at your heartstrings. His story burrows deep into our hearts (almost painfully) as a
typical “underdog shines through” fairytale would. Why do we, humans, enjoy themes of vindication? Of the right outshining the wrong? Of the weak overcoming the strong? I don’t want to digress farther into a dissertation on the psychology and appeal of cinderella-like tales. All I want to say is that it is so damn true that there is always something beautiful and special in each of God’s creations. You just have to find it, give it a chance and let it shine through. Paul Potts is a prince charming in his own right. I can hear God singing through his voice. You’ve got to watch and hear him too!