It's opera in primetime, of course I'm aware

[winter]

Just in case anyone's managed to miss it so far: Britain's Got Talent (Brits might recognise Simon Cowell in the jury), mobile phone salesman, opera.

See Simon Cowell jawdrop to Nessun Dorma:

And the git got better in the semi-finals:

I mean, honestly. The guy's got vibrato, he's got a lovely scale, and that depth there - so many tenors have voices that have been squashed flat. He's good, and since he hit even Polish papers, he's going places :)

Comments

[alice_montrose]

Oh yes... he definitely won't remain a mobile phone salesmen for long. I loved this one, even more than the little girl.

[winter]

The thing is, the guy gets maybe a year's more worth of professional lessons, and he's ready for any of the big houses. I absolutely hate the way tenors, in particular, get squished so often by formal schooling, and his voice is so natural :D

[artela.livejournal.com]

Proper Welsh Tenor he is... have you heard some of our others (like Bryn Terfal, John Davies, Crwys Evans and Robin Lyn Evans)? It's quite a tradition here in Wales. I think the reason they're so good is that they manage to keep all the emotion in their voices while singing :-)
Mind you, this is also the land that managed to bring Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey to the world *G*.

[winter]

Emotion is key :) I'm more oriented towards musicals, and I freely admit that John Owen-Jones is the best tenor-Phantom and tenor-Valjean ever (and that only because I need to make allowances for Yuichiro Yamaguchi's knock-you-dead baritone). Yay for Wales indeed.

[artela.livejournal.com]

There's a not very well known saying over here, part of which is:

...two Englishmen together will form a queue, two Welshmen together will form a choir...

Unfortunately for those of us females who like to do choral singing the tradition here in the Welsh valleys is *very* much Male Voice Choirs :-(

[-leareth.livejournal.com]

I saw that linked online -- the reactions of the judges when he tells them he's doing opera to when they change to OHWOW is just PRICELESS.

And yes, all hearts to an amateur tenor -- give him a year or so of solid training and he could go far :P

[winter]

I think that's pretty much a given by now :) I love how much his self-confidence strengthened between the auditions and the semi-finals. Plus for all his physical looks, he suits a dinner jacket, so the one handicap is not so much of a handicap after all.

[artela.livejournal.com]

having found this page (from the official site for the show) http://talent.itv.com/page.asp?partid=332 he isn't exactly "untrained"... just a very very well trained amateur :-)

[winter]

Tiny bit misrepresented in the papers, then ;) Still for starting at 28 and really only doing it for four years, he's damn amazing. After years and years of formal musical academy, most people don't sound nearly like that.

[artela.livejournal.com]

Where so you get "only 4 years" from?... quote: "He went on to perform in Barrymore’s ‘My Kind Of Music’ (1999)", and appears to have been performing ever since... I make that 8 years? Yes, he's good, but he has been doing it a while now :-)

[winter]

*blinks* Says there accident in 2003 and things taking a downturn since then? I assumed that meant no more lessons or major performing, though of course he'd keep up the practice.

[artela.livejournal.com]

I took that as after his accident he had to give up the semi-pro stuff (or rather, they gave him up when he had to drop out for a while), not that he'd stopped performing completely (and given his technique I'd say he practices a lot). Without more digging it's difficult to tell, but yes, I'd missed the bit about the accident stopping him being semi-pro.

[winter]

Since he made the national evening news in Poland today, I think he's going places ;)

[armadillogoddes.livejournal.com]

Wow. Just gorgeous... and the stunned looks on all the judges faces make it even better. :-)

[winter]

Every once in a while, talent shows are worth watching :) Britain... has had more than its due allotment of luck in that regard, I think, because I've seen half a dozen very nice acts.

[amelia-petkova.livejournal.com]

I've played Nessun Dorma on the flute, and I can imagine how it feels to get those tricky parts to sound wonderful. This is why I should pay more attention to the media. Thanks for posting. Yay for the Welsh!

I also love everyone's musical icons in these comments.

[winter]

I've long stopped watching TV, but I can trust the net to point me to the few worthwhile things ;) And this is certainly one.

[ariss-tenoh.livejournal.com]

*laughs*
I don't pretend to understand opera but the looks on the faces of those judges... XD

[winter]

Classic jawdrop there, I believe ;)

[ariss-tenoh.livejournal.com]

No kidding. But the guy has a really strong voice, compelety at odds with his ordinary man appearance.

[winter]

I'm kind of used to that by now. Blond guy in the icon, an inch or so less than me, thin and with a slightly nasal usual speaking voice. And something like what, four octaves at least, once he starts singing, with pitch and vibrato to die for, and he keeps bloody improving each time I hear him.