I needed this today. You might, too.
So I'm just bumping about the blogosphere, minding my own business, when I bump into this:
A world with cell-phone salesmen who not only want to sing "Nessun Dorma," one of the most beautiful arias ever written, but can also sing it like this cannot be completely unsalvagable.
(Hat-tip: Andrew Sullivan)
UPDATE (June 15): My friend Fearful Syzygy provides some more background on Paul Potts (the fellow in the video) and has a nice smack-down of Potts's would-be smack-downers.
8 comments:
John,
Thanks so much for posting this. "Nessun Dorma" is one of my favorite pieces of music.
For those of you who are interested in what the song means/it's significance in the opera, you can go here to read a bit more about it.
Unfortunately the reason why Nessun Dorma is so well-known in the UK isn't anything to do with our appreciation of opera: it will be forever associated in the popular imagination with the England football team's not-completely-disastrous performance in the 1990 World Cup, for which it was the theme tune.
Gymbrall,
Thanks for the link to the explanation of the song. I'm impressed by just how integrated the song is into the story's plot and themes.
Grobie,
What can I say? Such long memories.
I just hope y'all aren't still holding a grudge over the irony of our appropriating "Yankee Doodle," too.
I am not British and do not follow futball and just LOVE "No one sleeps."
Such passion.
It's crazy, but it never fails to choke me up. I'm sitting in my office trying to dab the moisture out of my eyes before anyone sees.
Just F---ING beautiful John. Thankfully the judges behaved.
Thank you so much.
Hank,
You're welcome, and I hear you. I guess I've watched it about 5 or 6 times just since I posted it here, and I still get misty-eyed each time.
I think what's especially compelling is that that this fellow isn't Pavarotti. He's just a guy, you know? And yet.
This kind of surprise is why I keep coming back to read your blog. It's a lovely piece of television....but I am a cynic, and think everything is scripted in "reality" TV. I wonder if he really is just a regular guy selling phones? He certainly has had some training along the way.
Bonnie,
Thanks for stopping by and for the kind comment about being surprised when you drop by here. That's one of the nicer things anyone has said about this place.
This guy has had "some" training, yes; to sing like that takes some work. That said, he's not a polished singer. That's not a knock against him, mind; rather, it's to say that I don't think he's a ringer.
It's a real live Cinderella story. I'd like to believe that fairy tales come true every once in a while. Wouldn't we all?
Check this one out:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En0A8KGMgq8
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