He looked like an unlikely star when he took to the stage in

front of Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan. But

as Paul Potts began Nessun Dorma for the judges of the

Britain's Got Talent show the power of his astonishing

performance left few in doubt that this was no ordinary

singer. He received a standing ovation from the 2000

people in the audience and left Amanda Holden with tears of

joy rolling down her face. Even Simon Coswell and Piers

Morgan were pleasantly surprised.

He went on to win the talent show and received the chance

to perform in front of the Queen at the Royal Variety

Performance 2007. Paul also received a record deal from

Simon Coswell. His first C.D. is called 'One Chance"

Paul was born in 1971 in Bristol from Port Talbot in south

Whales. He had appeared in four amateur opera productions

and in a concert for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and

had plans for a summer tour with the Orchestra.

Potts is said to have first sung Opera in 1999 in a karaoke

competition,[when he was 28 years old] dressed as Pavarotti,

although he had said during the show that his voice had

always been a source of solace in the past when bullied, so

he would have sung from a younger age. That same year he

appeared in the Michael Barrymore talent show "My Kind of

Music". Although he did not win the competition, he won

£8,000, which helped to pay for singing lessons in Italy.

For the Bath UK based amateur company Bath Opera, he has

performed on four occasions in the roles of Don Basilio

(Marriage of Figaro), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni) and the

title role in Verdi's Don Carlos, and Turandot as Prince of

Persia and Herald. He also sang for the Royal Philharmonic

in front of an audience of 15,000 and toured Northern Italy

as a soloist.

However, after spending £20,000 on his career hopes,

including a masterclass in which he sang for Luciano

Pavarotti, doctors discovered a benign tumor during

treatment for appendicitis in 2003. Then, shortly after his

recovery, he broke his collar bone in a bike accident

Instead of thinking about singing, he was lying on the sofa

in agony. Now when he goes on stage his wife of 4 years

Julie doesn't want people to say "break a leg" because

Paul probably would. For a time he worked as a shelf-stacker

in Tesco and ended up as the manager at Bridgend's

Carphone Warehouse,

After winning Britains Got Talent, Paul has been busy

circling the globe on promotion tours. It is amazing how

fast his life has changed since the show. He is one of

those rare individuals that has found out what can only be

described as an "Over Night Success" His videos on the

Internet have already received over 10 million views. He is

a person who has been blessed with a great talent and

deserves as much recognition as he is receiving. I do believe

that there is a little Paul Potts in every one of us.