Paul Potts

Paul’s Blog From Asia

Posted 12th August 2009

After the release of the album in the UK, and my brief visit to Sweden, it was time to get on our way for my 6th time around the world in two years.  We picked Julz up on our way through Heathrow for our flight to Tokyo where my next promotional trip would begin.

It was quite a long journey to Tokyo, but we had plenty of time to watch a film and have a sleep on the way.  We arrived in the heat of the afternoon, and made our way to the hotel.

The next morning was one of 6 very early days. I have never done so many breakfast shows anywhere than here in Japan, but the enthusiasm amongst the people on set is incredible. As soon as I walked forward for my rehearsal there was a hive of activity and a loud shout. Although very energetic, this energy was infectious and also friendly. Nothing was too much trouble for the people working with me on the TV shows. It was incredible to think that in the course of one week, I appeared in front of over 200 million people.  I tried not to think too much about the fact that some of the audiences I was performing live to exceeded 22 million! 

Before the week was out, I performed a short performance in front of over 5,000 people in a mall, and although there wasn’t time for a signing event I had the incredible feeling of having the audience rush across to to try and get their hands out over the barriers where I ‘high fived’ them on my way out.  One of the security guards got knocked sideways by the rush.  Thankfully he was ok! 

One of the last things I did while in Japan was to give Julz a surprise before we left.  One of the most important TV shows in Japan is called UnbelievableTV who had done a feature on me about a year ago, and they wanted me to surprise Julz by singing to her at a restaurant.  I have to admit to shedding more than a few tears as I performed Cavatina to her in a full restaurant (having changed the words to “You are beautiful, beautiful to my eyes”).  Julz has always been there for me and is someone that I will always describe as a perfect wife for her support to me through thick and thin, something that is sworn to by every couple on their wedding day, but not necessarily the easiest thing to carry out. 

I thought that she deserved to have this very public recognition of all she has done for me.  It was probably the most emotional performances I have ever given in my life. 

After a very successful and enjoyable week in Tokyo, with stunning weather, it was time to fly to one of my favourite capital cities, Seoul.  Seoul is a very busy city, but has a charm about it that is difficult to resist.  One of the first things I did was a performance in the main square of the city that was to be in front of an estimated 4,000 people. I looked out of my hotel room that was quite close to the square and thought that there were more than 4,000 there more than an hour ahead of my performance. 

I walked out on to the stage to find a huge crowd of people, the largest crowd I have ever performed to anywhere. It is estimated that in excess of 25,000 people were in the square watching me perform. Although initially very nervous, I truly enjoyed my 5 song performance in front of a great audience, and the atmosphere was incredible.  It goes down as one of the most incredible nights of the last two years to find so many people come out to watch me, all I can say is, THANK YOU! 

I had one task to do before I left, and that was to fly to the beautiful city of Busan, although this time I was not to have time to walk along its beautiful beaches and coastline. I was to be a judge on the Korean version of X Factor or American Idol. I had never been a judge before, and suddenly finding myself having to decide on the future of a singer was quite a daunting prospect. I am always quite nervous about doing something for the first time, especially as on one or two instances, I had the deciding vote.
 
After my day as a talent show judge, it was time to get on another two flights, stopping off in Seoul on our way to Hong Kong.  We arrived in Hong Kong very early the next morning where I would spend a couple of days doing a round of interviews, plus an evening of wine and music.  I started off by performing some music from Passione, and then changed mode to work with the sommelier of the hotel introducing wines and matching them with tracks from both Once Chance and Passione.  I used to be a wine advisor in one of the larger Tesco stores in Bristol, and as a result I have a healthy appreciation of wine.  It was a good and a very educational evening, and after having a great traditional Cantonese meal, it was time for our Asian adventure to come to an end and for my next world tour to begin.  We had a long flight to Vancouver, where we would actually, thanks to time difference land before we took off!

Thank you Asia and we look forward to seeing you again when the Passione World Tour hits Asia next Spring!