Compare and contrast

Courtesy of the Internets...

I invite you to compare and contrast these two singers who shot to some measure of fame this past week--not just in terms of the technical skills (or lack thereof) on display, or the repertoire, or the vocal types, but more specifically the way that each is packaged, presented, and edited (marketed already, even!) for a live and television audience.

Guess who is already the bigger "star"?

[Clip one: 23-year-old Chinese bass-baritone Shen Yang, who just won the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition. Prize: £15,000, a trophy from Welsh Royal Crystal and engagements with the BBC and with Welsh National Opera. And some amount of prestige. Clip two: 36-year-old Welsh tenor Paul Potts, winner of "Britain's Got Talent." Prize: £100,000, lots of eyeballs--reportedly 13.5 million UK viewers tuned in, which is theoretically more than 50% of the British television audience--and Simon Cowell's stamp of approval.] 

Update: Word comes this morning that the renowned opera impresario Simon Cowell has signed Paul Potts to a 1 million pound worldwide deal with his label Syco (also home to Il Divo), and that Potts will begin recording next week. Not wasting any momentum, are they?

Comments

[Peter Matthews]

Thanks for this - definitely some food for thought here. Obviously, Yang is the bigger talent, but Potts has the better story, at least as presented on TV. (Boy, they sure like their pyrotechnics in the UK) And, of course, there's the whole viral aspect that transformed a TV show contestant into a cultural phenomenon. Doesn't surprise me at all that Cowell signed him with such celerity: he knows he needs to strike while the iron's hot.

Thanks,
Pete Matthews

[aulina]

Thanks for posting them together. Although I have no knowledge in opera singing, the Chinese baritone certainly sings a lot more touchingly than Paul Potts (who seems to be a bit showy in his technicality... ). Tenor is much easier to fake than baritone afterall.

[Stefanos Nasos]

well, this is not even serious...

Isn't it what they want to do? Market classical music as pop business? Il divo is fine with me, though it has nothing to do with the real stuff. And the crowd cheering in the second clip is just amazing.

No ma'am, thank you. I like my classical as classical. No pop here too!!!