The Moving Point

Sunday, June 17, 2007

It was lucky that I knew about this video and this show through the Taiwanese news. There I saw this plump, short and a "potential William Hung" on the latest reality TV "Britain's got Talent", a British version of "American Idol".

Again Simon Cowell is the chief judge with his co-judges Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden. And you thought Paul Potts will perform like William Hung and make a fool of himself. He looked as if he was not prepared to sing. But no, he made Simon Cowell's jaw drop. He made Piers Morgan speechless. And he made Amanda Holden cry. Everybody's nodding, cheering and giving him a standing ovation.

Then I went to search the video on youtube. The video of Paul Potts singing Nessun Dorma was posted only for 1 week (1 week since the telecast of the show) and it was already a 2 million hit. (I've never really recommended any music / youtube video before, I'm recommending it because it's really very inspiring and touching...)




I found myself suddenly really pulled by the music and really gets absorbed by it. Then when he was hitting the high notes I started to cry uncontrollably. It's very strange but I'm really touched and inspired by his singing.

It's not like anything you find in American Idol, let alone Singapore Idol or any Superstar. This is really superstar performance. It's really music. It's really singing, singing with all his heart and full of his own sincerity and emotions. I watched it again and again, and I was still astounded and continued to tear again (I really can't help it). It's really good music. This totally defines what makes a good singer and what is a sincere rendition of the song.

I personally like this opera song a lot. It's actually the ending song for Sisy's World News on Ch 52 (which also is my favourite show now) but it never made me so emotional. Not even after hearing Pavarotti's rendition of the song. I don't know why but Paul Potts really have this magic and making music alive.

Paul Potts is not a very confident man, and he was troubled by a lot of health problems so much so that he could not continue to develop his talent. He attended some lessons on opera singing, but he did not continue to pursue his passion. He's really going against all adversity. I am rooting for him to win on today's (17th June, 10.15pm UK time) final of "Britain's Got Talent".

(For full story about him, go to http://paulpottsofficial.com/)

He is a normal salesman, with much of his talent undiscovered. From his example, I realised that when people have the talent and do the right things, your talent and work will eventually get recognised. An extraordinary talent and power is hidden within all of the ordinary people. All of us do need patience to discover it.

This song Dessun Dorma is a song from the opera Tunradot by Giacomo Puccini, a play talking about an exiled prince attracted to this Chinese princess. This princess promised that she would only wed the person who answered her riddles correctly.

Q: What is born each night and dies each dawn?
A: Hope

Q: What flickers red and warm like a flame, but is not fire?
A: Blood

Q: What is like ice, but burns like fire?
A: Tunradot (The princess's name)

But the princess backed on her words. So the prince thought of an idea to make her accept the results and carry out her promise. He asked her to find out his real name before dawn. If he wins, he will get to marry her and if he loses, he will be beheaded. The song Nessun Dorma, is the song sung when the prince was celebrating his victory and winning over the princess.

The song's lyrics:

_______________________________

ITALIAN
Nessun dorma! Nessun dorma!
Tu pure, o, Principessa,
nella tua fredda stanza,
guardi le stelle
che fremono d'amore e di speranza.

Ma il mio mistero e chiuso in me,
il nome mio nessun sapra!
No, no, sulla tua bocca lo diro
quando la luce splendera!

Ed il mio bacio sciogliera il silenzio
che ti fa mia!
(Il nome suo nessun sapra!
...e noi dovrem, ahime, morir!)

Dilegua, o notte!
Tramontate, stelle!
Tramontate, stelle!
All'alba vincero!
vincero, vincero!

ENGLISH
None must sleep! None must sleep!
And you, too, Princess,
in your cold room,
gaze at the stars
which tremble with love and hope!

But my mystery is locked within me,
no-one shall know my name!
No, no, I shall say it as my mouth
meets yours when the dawn is breaking!

And my kiss will break the silence
which makes you mine!
(No-one shall know his name,
and we, alas, shall die!)

Vanish, o night!Fade, stars!
At dawn I shall win

_____________________________________

This singer, this song has really added my interest and love in opera. It all brought me to the "moving point" - it moved me and it makes me want to get my life moving. And I'm really thankful for what Music has given me. It is indeed a common human language that can pass through all language, racial and even time barriers.

It was Phenomenal.

Labels: Inspiration, Recommendation

Influence

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

To start off this entry in a very GP sense - I find that we are all experiencing influence from so many sources. All the cultural influence, all the different ideas, all the different views... It's almost as if I'm "bare-naked". The mind now needs to be so open to different ideas and views, or in a very scientific sense - the mind needs to be such good conductor of ideas - so that we can live in this current world.

We can get so many ideas from different forms of media, not to mention we can get information from so many different groups of people and friends. Things can be so breath-taking. Just a small example. Now we have wikipedia. Actually what does that mean...is that everyone around you is just a small wikipedia of their own. There are so many different "good songs" that people have, there are so many "good movies", "good shows"...

And sometimes it's just so hard to listen to all the "good songs" or "good shows" people recommend. There are so many kinds of influence around. People at the end still have to choose. There's not enough time to do everything.

Recently I found out something quite intriuging. Do you behave differently in front of person A as compared to person B? That I find it's a kind of invisible influence that people exert on you - causing you to behave differently. Of course you can't behave the same in front of your teachers and in front of your cousins. But in front of friends, peers?

In front of ex CCA mates I think I'm more towards crappy. Towards ex classmates I'm more towards the listener side. Towards the platoon mate I'm more of also talkative side. There are so many different sides of me - but which side is the real me?

Being comfortable of who you are under all kinds of influence is probably the best thing that people can do. The kind of self-confidence will definitely make one a more influencial person as compared to someone who has low self-esteem.

Labels: Thoughts