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Here is a classical rags to riches story if I ever heard one. It’s also a story about a man who lost his confidence but persevered to win it back.

I became aware of this story today after a friend emailed me a video clip. It was of Paul Potts‘ performance of Puccini’s Nessun Dorma at the Britain’s Got Talent competition earlier this year. Turn up your speakers.

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It brought tears to my eyes, which happens to me when I perceive the Divine expressing its transcendent nature through ordinary people. My first impression of his voice was that I was hearing music from the celestial spheres.If you live in Great Britain or follow the classical musical recording industry, you surely know who he is. But just a few months ago, he was a young man without any confidence selling mobile phones. If you like stories of transformation, this is a good one. This man, just recently without confidence or money, now has a debut album, One Chance, ranked number 1 in 13 countries.It’s amazing that such a life of worldwide fame could be so hidden as a possibility. It’s as if this whole new life was patiently waiting, out of sight just around the corner, so to speak, as he worked trying to get out of debt. I’m reminded of Nietzsche’s comment that “The immortals are swift to the mortals that persevere.” And Marsha Sinetar’s famous book title: “Do what you love, the money will follow,” and Joseph Campbell’s word’s of wisdom: “Follow your bliss.”

For Potts, his change of fate started when he entered the Britain’s Got Talent competition. But he had already paid his dues. The BBC summarized his background in the following manner:

The tenor, from Port Talbot in south Wales, first sang opera at the age of 28 when he dressed as Pavarotti at a karaoke event. In 1999 he appeared in Michael Barrymore’s My Kind Of Music, and won £8,000 (consolation prize), which he spent on singing courses in Italy.

Between 1999 and 2003 he appeared in four productions for the Bath Opera Company, including The Marriage Of Figaro, Don Giovanni, Don Carlos and Turandot. He also performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and toured northern Italy for three months as a soloist, training under teachers Mario Melani and Svetlana Sidrova.

However, after spending £20,000 on his career hopes, including a master class 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.

“It meant for a couple of years, instead of thinking about singing, I was lying on the sofa in agony. Now when I go on stage my wife Julie doesn’t want people to say break a leg, because I probably will.” For a time he worked as a shelf-stacker in Tesco and attempted to put dreams of singing behind him.

Paul said “I wasn’t even sure whether to actually enter the competition.” He flipped a coin to decide whether to enter or not. It’s hard to fathom a coin flip changing a life so much, or enhancing the musical enjoyment of so many people.

“It’s transformed me from a guy who has no confidence in himself whatsoever and shown me that I can achieve things. I just need to believe in myself.”

In the interview that was broadcast before his performance in the semi-final, he stated that he had trouble with being bullied in school, and that it may have had an influence on his lack of self-confidence. But yet, it was his unassuming presence, and his rags to riches story that adds such a human dimension to this story. In the competition, you can see his broken tooth. You won’t see that anymore. It’s been fixed.

The faces of two judges looked skeptical when Paul told them he was going to sing opera. But when he started singing, all skepticism vanished. He was ready for his chance to shine. As he sang in the competition, the camera showed the female judge, Amanda, crying, which added to the emotion. And the camera showed the crowd of 2,000 people giving him a standing ovation, which convinced everyone watching that this was a sensation in the making.

At the end of his final performance, Simon Cowell, the producer of the event, told him he didn’t need to go back to his day job. He would be going into the recording studio. He ended up with a recording contract worth £1,000,000, which converts in US dollars to $2,068,790.

He’s getting ready now to sing before the Queen.

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