The Paul Potts Story

These are my two favorite Paul Potts videos. Paul Potts began as a mobile phone salesman in Wales. After being hit by a car while on a bicycle, out of work, he became desperate paying bills, borrowing just to pay debt. Finally, as a means to make money, he signed up for a brand new talent show in its first season, Britain's Got Talent, not knowing even if he qualified for the show or was too old. Nervously he showed up for his audition, and the rest - - - well it's history. His audition launched the whole 'Got Talent' phenomenon, an experiment that was about to fail. For the entire fantastic Paul Potts story see the documentary By Royal Command. The story is more interesting than it may sound.

Why am I talking so much about these new musicians? Because I think this phenomenon is more significant than people realize. It marks a revitalization of Western classics. To quote Meher Baba, "I have not come to establish anything; I have come to put life into the old" (LM 3638). Meher Baba is said to have not liked Western classical music. I believe it is because it had no heart. But these new musicians from humble beginnings are infusing it with genuine heart, singing for love, untrained in the soul-crushing regiment of technical training -- and Western audiences are responding. It is truly a new life being breathed into the old order of things.