The Fredösphere

Paul Potts won the Britain's Got Talent semi-final last night.  Watch him do it.  He will appear this Sunday in the final, opposite a ventriloquist operating a singing, dancing monkey.  Think about that.  A ventriloquist and a monkey.  Paul, the contest is yours to lose.

The winner will receive a chunk o' change and a chance to perform before the Queen.  I imagine Her Grace is scrambling right now, demanding to know how she can circumvent the rules and vote multiple times.  Our royal person will not suffer the indignity of clapping for a mechanical monkey that sings Michael Jackson songs!  Show me how to run this bleeping vote-bot right nooooooow!!!

Let's speculate about what's going on, here.  The viewers were able to choose three of the eight semi-finalists.  Then the judges chose two of those three to go to the final.  I don't know anything about the third contestant the judges rejected, but come on -- a ventriloquist?  The judges say they chose him because of the variety nature of his act.  "Variety" -- that's an interesting way to put it.  I think the judges love Paul's voice, love his back story, and are greasing the wheels for him.  Not that he needs the help.  According to this report, bookies are already laying odds on whether Paul will score the Christmas number one hit in the UK this year.

We should keep in mind that this packaging of opera, the hype, the glitz, the screaming crowds, the silliness -- all the extra-musical ephemera that classical fans eschew -- is an example of opera returning to its roots.  It remains to be seen if Paul will make the commitment to return opera to its roots all the way.

Labels: VideoClip, vocal