Paul Potts back in Manila next year

MANILA, Philippines - Billed as An Evening of Music & Wine at the grand ballroom of The Mira Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui, Paul Potts’ return to Hong Kong last month was a mixture of showcase, wine tasting and schmoozing.

Amidst a capacity audience of socialites, VIPs and more than a few fans, the unlikely opera singer from the UK amply demonstrated why he’s a Britain’s Got Talent winner, even if the entire event wasn’t so much of a concert as it was a grand time to taste the best of Gerard Depardieu’s acclaimed 2005 vintage red wine.

The accompaniment may have been piped in, but there’s no doubt Potts has the pipes, as the classic Italian opener Nessun Dorma by Puccini demonstrated. “It’s good to be back in Hong Kong,” he enthused at the song’s conclusion. “I remember my last time here when I had laryngitis and could only sing with a quarter of what I’ve got.” No such problems this time. Potts — dressed in an elegant, tasteful tuxedo — proceeded to launch into Tristesse off his latest release Passione. Based on a piece by Chopin, his vocals were only getting started.

Potts took on the Italian-based keyboard song Memory after that, yet he really seemed to be saving himself for the conclusion of the four-song set.

“My next song usually starts shows,” he lightly joked before making a fond connection between meeting his wife Julie-Ann and The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face by Robert Flack. La Prima Volta was an Italian rendition of that track, and it was here that one became entranced by both Potts’ lyrical command of the Italian language and his soaring vocals, which, at their best, were spine-tingling and dramatic.

Then it was exit stage right for Potts, while the introduction to the chardonnays, reds and roses were just beginning. Potts, who knows a bit about wine from his days at Tesco in the UK, chimed in. But by this time, his vocals were drowned out in favor of conversation and another round. All in all, the showcase that only hinted at what Potts is capable of. But the wine was terrific.

You performed in the Philippines last year. What were your memories and what did you like most about it?

“Manila is a very mixed city. It’s a very cosmopolitan city and the people are incredibly polite and very, very welcoming, and they love music there. It’s the first thing that struck me really — how much people love music and you know, fill their soul with music. I enjoyed the performance. It was a very welcoming atmosphere and people gave me a really great reception, and I would like to return there next year. I’m doing another tour of Asia next year. We’ll find a date or two in the Philippines.”

Did you have an impression of the Philippines, or for that matter Asia, before you came out?

“I didn’t know what to expect, it’s always difficult to know exactly what some place is like until you’ve been to it, so I don’t really go into a new place and have any real expectations. I know my wife was concerned whether she’d like India, the food, but I’ve got her try to a few things. She’d never eaten prawns before, so I’ve got her to try prawns, as long as the heads are off. She doesn’t like the eyes looking at her.”

Alright, so how different is your new album from your first?

“A lot more time was taken on this one. The first one was made in nine days and was released within three weeks after recording had started, so that was a fast release. Bear in mind that an incredible job was done on that album and it was very, very successful. But this album we spent a lot longer planning the repertoire. We started when I was still touring in North America last year. I’ve sent lots of tracks to Simon (Cowell) and the record company to look at what we’d do on this album, and as a result of all that I think we’ve ended up with a really good album that is better produced. I think the orchestra is better on it even though we used the London Symphony last time. The orchestra sounds better on this one. That would be partly due to better production as well, because the producers work hard. But I think the balance of music is similar. It has a slightly more classical feel, but the balance is quite similar to the first one and where we’ve put in more classical pieces we’ve tried to keep them accessible — tunes that people know but don’t necessarily remember that they know. Un Geirno Per Moi is a song that’s quite famous in the UK because it was used in a radio station. It was used on Radio One as a ‘my story’ type thing. Start with the cello, and everybody does the violins and then the full symphony. In the UK everyone was doing that ‘this is the world’s smallest violin playing just for you.’”

What’s on your iPod though?

“A huge mixture. There is, of course, some opera, some rock, there is some Queen, Genesis, Dire Straits.”

Do you have a favorite track on your album?

“I think the duet Sei Con Me with Hayley Westerna, worked very well and I hope we get to perform that live together very soon.”

Did Simon Cowell have a hand in this album?

“Yeah, he’s very involved because he co-runs the label, so he’s a great A&R guy. He really knows his stuff and has got very good instincts. He’s been fundamental in the making of the album.”

How is your wife Julie coping with the changes that have happened in your life?

“Well, I’m the same pain in the neck I’ve always been. I handle the traveling slightly better than she does. She gets more jet-lagged than I do, and she sometimes struggles to sleep on flights. Like me she’s quite short and we’re fortunate. We’ve traveled business-class most of the time, and you get a bed that’s not quite flat, and she slides down. She’s tried to sleep on the floor in the past and got told off for it.”

Were you surprised by anything that happened to you (this question is talking about having two albums and traveling a lot)? Did you think that these things would happen? Or are you kind of rolling with what’s taking place?

“I always just kind of roll along with what’s taking place. I never go into anything with any expectations. Of course I’d like Passione to be very, very successful, but I think if you just expect it to happen then you’re running the risk of getting disappointed.”

Did you ever have any dreams before all this happened that something like this might happen?

“I’d be sitting in a bath or walking and listening to music and just imagining that it might be my voice on the recording. And I thought, ‘Ah, don’t be silly, that’s never going to happen.’”

So no premonitions of “Here I am, in front of all these people” or anything?

“No.”

Interesting, okay. What keeps you motivated to give a good performance every show? What do you think about when you’re on stage?

“I’m very self-motivated so I always challenge myself to make each performance better than the last. It’s not always possible, because you cannot always get better singing a song like that. I want it to be like that but the reality is it goes like that. You don’t get a straight line. But I give myself a hard time when I don’t. You have to give yourself a kick in the backside when things don’t quite work.”

Do you have a vocal regimen before you go on, like you won’t speak the night before or anything like that?

“No, I try to not to eat a meal within two hours of a show because it tends to line your throat. And no garlic on the day of the show. Mind you my wife doesn’t like garlic anyways so I don’t get to eat it very often. She hates the smell of garlic. I love garlic but my wife hates it.”

And free time? Got any? What do you do? Just relax?

“Photography, I’ve got my camera... I try not to lose the lenses. I’m walking.”

Okay. Message to your fans in the Philippines?

“I’d like to say thank you to all of the support that you’ve given to me in the last two years. It was great actually going to Manila and I hope to return there very soon.”